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International
Geological Correlation Program #464
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Continental Shelves during the Last Glacial Cycle:
Knowledge and Applications
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Past Regional Conferences
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Western
Pontine Archipelago
In February
2001
Unesco approved a five-year
International
Geological Correlation Project entitled “Continental Shelves
during
last glacial cycle. Knowledge and applications” (IGCP464). More than
120
emails and letters of support from some 25 countries, including several
from
groups of scientists were collected for proposal submission. The
project
is a follow-up of the previous
IGCP396 “Continental shelves during the Quaternary”.
At present (2003)
the project involves some 362 researchers from 39 countries,
conferences have been held in Hong Kong (China), S.Paolo (Brazil),
Vancouver (Canada), Gdansk (Poland), Wollongong (Australia). Next
conferences in Rome (Italy), Buenos Aires (Argentina), St. Petesburg
(Russia).
The project
aims
to define the palaeoenvironmental evolution of the continental shelves,
particularly leading into and since the Last Glacial Maximum.
This will include
the processes that have produced the present morphology,
stratigraphy
and sedimentology.
The project is
timely as continental shelves are under increasing pressure of
exploitation and require basic scientific understanding followed by
better management.
Shelf areas are being assessed world-wide, particularly up to 2004,
when
the Law-of-the-Sea convention on continental margins comes into effect.
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FAQ
(frequently asked question
s)
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FAQ frequently asked questions
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| What
is
IGCP? |
The International
Geological Correlation Programme (IGCP) is a joint endeavour
betweenUNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organisation) and IUGS (International Union of Geological
Sciences). It was launched in 1972 to facilitate
cooperation among geoscientists across frontiers and boundaries.
Its objective is to bring scientists from around the world together and
enhance interaction, particularly between North and South, through
joint research work, meetings and workshops.
This goal is accomplished by establishing 5-years long, subject
specific projects. Projects are typically world-scale; at present some
40 projects are active.
The level of funding is of some thousand of US dollars per year;
funding is mainly devoted to support scientists from developing
countries to participate to the annual conferences and meetings.
Additional information is available at
http://www.unesco.org/science/earthsciences/igcp/background.htm
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What is
IGCP464?
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IGCP project 464 was
approved and established in 2001 to discuss and compare data on
continental shelf
evolution during the last climatic/eustatic/depositional cycle. This
interdisciplinary project brings together researchers specializing in a
variety fields within geology, geography, archaeology, and
climatology. Through investigation, synthesis of ideas, and
collaboration with colleagues, greater understanding will be achieved
about the character and controlling factors influencing
global shelf evolution. It is anticipated that advancements will
be
made in the understanding of global shelf geometry, paleogeography,
paleomorphology, carbon budgeting, cultural heritage, as well as in
stratigraphic sequencing methods and models and training. It is
hoped that researchers from developing countries may find a scientific
environment where research topics are expressed in a "friendly" manner,
and ideas may be easily transmitted. For further information see project proposal
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How Can
I participate?
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You may participate in
the project by: a) sending an e-mail to francesco.chiocci@uniroma1.it ; you
will then be included in the mailing list and receive newsletters; b)
participating in the web discussion forum; c) participating in annual
meetings (2002 Brazil, 2003 Oceania, 2004 Italy, 2005 South
Africa/Egypt) or to regional meetings (May 2003 in Poland and May 2003
in Canada)
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Can I
obtain funding?
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Funding is not available
for data acquisition. The program is intended to advance knowledge
through communication and cooperation. IGCP is not a funding agency and
the limited funds available are for "catalytic purposes"; which means
that funds are available
only for RESEARCHERS FROM DEVELOPING COUNTRIES to participate in
Project
meetings. You may apply for such funds when submitting an abstract in
the
“call-for-papers” issued for each meeting, or by writing an email to: toschi@uow.edu.au
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Project Leaders
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Leader of Physical stratigraphy Working
Group
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Leader of Chemical Stratigraphy Working
Group
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Leader of Applied AspectsWorking
Group
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Leader of Influence on human
culture
Working Group
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Francesco L. Chiocci
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Allan Chivas
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Gilles Lericolais
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Allan Chivas
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Wyss Yim
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Renée Hetherington
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Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra,
Università
di Roma "La Sapienza "
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School of Geosciences, University of
Woolongong
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GeoSciences Marines IFREMER - Centre
du Brest DRO/GM
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School of Geosciences, University of
Woolongong
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Department of Earth Sciences, The
University of Hong Kong
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University of Victoria, Dept. of
Geography/Geological Survey of Canada
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PROJECT
PROPOSAL
Project division
Division 2. Quaternary, environmental and engineering geosciences
Also related to: Divisions 1, 3 and 4.
Short title of the project
Continental Shelves during the Last Glacial Cycle: Knowledge and
Applications
Full title of the project
Palaeoenvironmental evolution of Continental Shelves during the Last
Glacial Cycle
Proposed by
Prof. Francesco L. Chiocci and Prof. Allan R. Chivas
Mailing addresses, names, telephone, fax, e-mail
Francesco Latino Chiocci, Dipartimento Scienze della terra,
Università
di Roma “La Sapienza”, P.le Aldo Moro 5, 00185, Roma, Italy
phone 39 06 44585075 fax 39 06 44585080 e-mail
francesco.chiocci@uniroma1.it
Allan R. Chivas, School of Geosciences, University of Wollongong NSW
2522, Australia.
Phone 61 2 42213263 fax 61 2 42214250 e-mail toschi@uow.edu.au
Scale of the project
Global
Brief outline of the project
(a) To compare and contrast the global development of continental
shelves, particularly with respect to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM).
This requires compilation of various styles of shelves (e.g.
tidal/non-tidal, high/low
energy, well-fed/sediment-starved, glaciated/non-glaciated). The
definition
of a common terminology and the development of methods to depict
graphically
LGM features on shelves.
(b) To understand the geometry and palaeogeography of shelves (and
exposed shelves at/near the LGM), their incised or truncated river
valleys; and
the isolation and diversion of water masses as seaways narrowed or
closed
near the LGM.
(c) To understand the palaeoclimate and sea-surface palaeotemperatures
near the LGM from key areas, in particular those in tropical areas,
using combined trace-element and stable-isotope methods applied to
corals, molluscs and foraminifers.
(d) To investigate the imprint of higher-frequency climatic events
(e.g. Younger Dryas, Heinrich events) on continental shelves.
(e) The application of seismic methods to identify the palaeomorphology
of shelf deposits and the testing of sequence-stratigraphic
methods/models from more ancient materials to younger sediments.
The application
of multibeam bathymetric mapping and regional digital terrain images to
continental shelves.
(f) Investigation of the carbon budget of shelf deposition and
exposure.
(g) To investigate other applied aspects (mineral deposits,
geotechnical and engineering properties) and the cultural heritage of
palaeoenvironmental changes of shelves (e.g. human, floral and faunal
migrations across archipelagic and land bridges).
(h) An emphasis on research training in modern methods for shelf
studies, by an integrated series of workshops delivered in developing
countries,
and by visits and research exchange with key laboratories (seismic
interpretation, geochemical and isotopic laboratories, geotechnical
facilities).
(i) Synthesis of results in publications throughout the life of the
project and culminating in an edited monograph that incorporates
reviews and advances in continental-shelf research.
Estimated duration of the project
5 years
Tentative work schedule
2001 :
Initial organisational and field meeting in Hong Kong (directed by Wyss
Yim, co-leader of the outgoing IGCP-396 Quaternary Shelves project);
field
visits to engineering and coring-technology and geotechnical
facilities.
This is a possible joint meeting with the 5th International Conference
on
the Palaeoenvironment of the Asia-Pacific Region (tentatively dated
late
October 2001) and will attract participants principally from China,
South-east
and North Asia and Australasia.
Election of office-bearers and establishment of Working Groups. At
present we plan the formation of 3 working groups covering Physical
Stratigraphy
(e.g. Gilles Lericolais (France), Francisco Hernandez-Molina (Spain)
and
Francesco L. Chiocci (Italy)); Chemical Stratigraphy (e.g. Michael
Gagan
and Allan Chivas, Australia); and Applied Aspects i.e. resources,
geotechnics
and management (e.g. Wyss Yim (China) and Keith Tovey (UK)).
Establish an email listserver and webpage. This would proceed
immediately upon approval of the new project, and build upon the
excellent electronic communications established for IGCP-396 at East
Anglia by Keith Tovey. We plan to adopt and expand another 396
innovation, that is, the addition of all ‘new project’ conference
posters to the web-site. Furthermore, one of our principal objectives
is the establishment of a major training strand
(e.g. seismic interpretation, geotechnical testing, chemical and
isotopic
analyses, dating methods) and fullsome lecture-notes of such workshops
will
be progressively added to the website.
Presentation of first training courses including fibre-optic cable
route surveys as a source of research information.
Preparation of first annual report
2002 :
Symposium and field meeting in New Zealand (probably October; organised
by Tim Naish, Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences); field trip
to Wanganui to examine a remarkably long uplifted shelf sequence.
Laboratory work (chemical/isotopic) at University of Wollongong
throughout the year with laboratory visits to Wollongong for
participants en route
to New Zealand.
Compilation of a list of project publications; solicit high-quality
scientific papers (in advance of annual meeting) for publication in a
special volume of an international scientific journal, from 2001 and
2002 meetings.
Review progress of Working Groups
Preparation of Second Annual Report
2003:
Symposium and field meeting in Brazil just before or after South
American Quaternary meeting (probably May; in Niteroi or Sao Paulo
coastal research station;
organised by Alberto Figueiredo and Michel Michaelovitch de Mahiques).
Presentation of training courses
Continuation of laboratory work and laboratory training
Review progress of Working Groups
Preparation of Third Annual Report
2004:
Symposium just before or after the IGC Congress in Florence,
Italy
(September 2004) (Francesco L. Chiocci to co-ordinate). A special
symposium
at IGC with presentation of selected papers will be organised as well.
Planning and soliciting of multi-authored papers for a monograph that
incorporates reviews and advances in the field of continental-shelf
studies.
The book would be edited to be a coherent and full statement on the
subject,
and not simply a compendium of contributed items.
Preparation of the Fourth Annual report
2005:
Final-year Symposium and field meeting. Africa (either Egypt or
South
Africa, are the currently discussed possibilities).
Publication of all the posters presented in the five annual meetings in
electronic format (CD).
Presentation of training courses
Publication of monograph on continental shelves
Preparation of Final Project Report
Results expected of
the project
(a) In theoretical sciences
1. Enhanced understanding of the features and styles of relict and
modern shelf deposits (seismic signatures, geometries, chemical and
isotopic signatures) in various environments (variable energy and tidal
range, degree of sediment delivery, latitude).
2. Understanding the environmental conditions (i.e. wave-energy, extent
of glaciers/coral reefs, type of vegetation, temperature of surface
water, palaeohydrology) at the LGM and during the last sea-level rise.
3. Estimation of shelf carbon budgets and storage at the LGM compared
to modern shelf environments including C-13 measurements in cores and
seismic mapping of shelves affected by methane-related acoustic
turbidity.
The results of this task will be a contribution to the co-IGCP project
on
Global Carbon.
(b) Applied sciences and technology
1. Mapping of continental shelves and shelf breaks as assistance to
countries, particularly less-developed countries, in the perspective of
submissions
on shelf geometries for claims under the Law of the Sea Convention.
2. Second edition of the world map, and first editions of various
national and regional maps, showing the extent and character of
continental-shelf
sediments (particularly at 20ka BP). Our project will be a primary
data-gathering
group that will liaise with INQUA Commissions including the Commission
on
Palaeo-climate to continue where the earlier CLIP (Climates of the
Past)
IUGS/UNESCO activity finished, and the Commission on Sea-level and
Coastal
Evolution.
3. Compilation of the geotechnical properties of shelf sediments,
particularly of those materials previously exposed at the LGM.
Application to coastal
engineering and coastal management including offshore oil-platform
installations
and the sustainable utilization of shelves.
(c) Benefits to society
1. Several of the above which bear on economic development and
resources e.g. shelf mapping and communication/hydrocarbon
exploitation.
2. Training of participants from less-developed countries by
short-courses and in hands-on laboratory visits and analytical work
(e.g. in seismic interpretation, geotechnical properties, and isotopic
data). There is the opportunity for these participants to co-operate in
a high-level scientific debate with
low-cost and easy-to-perform data collection and compilation (i.e.
shelf
geomorphology and bathymetry)
3. Studies of the resource assessment and genesis of shallow marine
placer deposits and sand and gravel resources (in conjunction
with INQUA’s Quaternary Economic Deposits Committee).
4. Definition of the cultural heritage of climatic/eustatic events. The
exposed shelves are likely to have been colonised by human communities
during palaeolithic time (because of the flatness of the area,
proximity to the
sea, resources availability); if material remains were inundated during
sea-level rise, cultural remains can be found in most of the cultures
(golden age, flooding events).
The following
sequential results are expected
2001: Promulgation of the project’s objectives, and
relevance to society, in national and international journals and
magazines and via
the website. Choice of key sites for further work (e.g. Black Sea, east
coast of South America, Mediterranean Sea, Southeast Asian/Australasian
epicontinental seaways). Assembly of small teams to focus on these
areas. These areas may form the core of the subject matter for the
monograph to be published in
year 5, to be built upon year by year. Production of abstracts of first
annual meeting. First training workshop and laboratory exchanges.
Encouragement
of participants to use the IGCP Project as a lever and as support for
funding from national sources and in seeking access to non-confidential
industrial data (e.g. cable or geotechnical surveys) especially in
developing countries.
2002: Second annual meeting and abstract volume; all articles and
posters to be available on the website. Production of a catalogue of
shelf sites
into types, and this information used to begin developing models of
their
genesis and to assist in expanding/applying/modifying classification to
other
areas. Tentative definition of the amount of methane stored in
deltas
depending on climate and river size. Training workshops and laboratory
visits
continue.
2003: Third annual meeting. Training workshops and laboratory visits
continue. Production of a special issue of a journal devoted to this
shelf project.
Report on progress to be published in Episodes.
2004: Fourth annual meeting. Training workshops for this year to be
integrated into the short courses on offer at the International
Geological Congress
(Florence).
2005: Final meeting. Further training workshops as required.
Publication of a monograph. Publication of all the posters presented in
the five annual meetings in electronic format. Publication of summary
of project outcomes in Episodes and other channels.
The present state of activities
IGCP-396 assembled a large team of researchers who work on the
continental shelf. After four years, most members have met, exchanged
views and realise the benefits of research collaboration. The gathering
at the IGC in Rio
was a watershed in this subject matter, even though it came late in
IGCP-396’s life. The terminating project presented 47 posters from
members as well
as an oral session with five invited speakers and additional oral
presentations in several other sessions.
During three business meetings in Rio, key
opportunities and problems in shelf research were discussed. The
principal description
of our proposed successor project (Item 16 in this application)
addresses
these opportunities.
Participants
Argentina
Servico de Hidrografia Naval; Depto. Oceanografia
Centro de Geociencias Aplicadas; Facultad de Ingenieria - UNNE Chaco
Australia
Antarctic Division; Department of Science
Australian Oceanographic Data Centre (AODC)
Department of Geology; University of Newcastle
Australian Geological Survey Organisation (AGSO)
Department of Earth Sciences; Flinders University of South
Australia
School of Geosciences; University of Wollongong;
School of Geosciences; University of Sydney;
School of Applied Geology; Curtin University of Technology;
Department of Geology and Geophysics; University of New
England;
Department of Applied Geology; University of Technology, Sydney;
Research School of Earth Sciences; The Australian National University,
Department of Geology; The Australian National University,
Division of Archaeology & Natural History; Australian
National University;
Department of Geology & Geophysics; University of
Adelaide;
Department of Geology; University of Tasmania
Bangladesh
Department of Geology & Mining; University of Rajshahi;
Department of Geography; Jahangirnagar University;
Department of Geography; University of Rajshahi
Belgium
Department of Geology; Stratigraphy and Sedimentology Division,
Gent
Brazil
Institut Oceanografico; Universidade de Sao Paulo
Universitad Fluminense - Niteroi
Bulgaria
Department of Botany; Biological Faculty University of Sofia
Department of Hydrogeochemistry; Geological Institute, Bulgarian
Academy of Sciences
Department of Marine Geology; Geological Institute, Bulgarian Academy
of Sciences
Deaprtment of Sedimentology; Geological Institute, Bulgarian Academy of
Sciences
Canada
Groupe de Recherche en Environnement; Universite du Quebec
Centre for Marine Geology; Dalhousie University
Geological Survey of Canada
Atlantic Geoscience Centre; Bedford Institute of Oceanography
Department of Earth Sciences and Geography; Brock University;
Department of Geology & Geological Engineering; Universite
Laval;
Department of Geography & Geotop; University of Montreal at
Montreal;
Chile
Facultad de Recursos del Mar; Universidad de Antofagasta
China
Department of Geography; East China Normal University
South China Sea Institute of Oceanology; Academia Sinica
Institute of Oceanology; Academia Sinica;
Institute of Geology and Geophysics; Chinese Academy of Sciences
Marine Geology Department; Tongji University
Nanjing Institute of Geology & Paleontology; Academia
Sinica
Guangzhou Marine Geological Analysis Center; Guangzhou
First Institute of Oceanography; SOA
College of Marine Geosciences; Ocean University of Qingdao
Institute of Marine Geology; MGMR
Department of Marine Geology; Institute of Oceanology;
Department of Geo- and Ocean Sciences; Nanjing University
Institute of Marine Geology; Qingdao
Tianjin Institute of Geology & Mineral Resources; Tianjin
Qinghai Institute of Salt Lakes; Academia Sinica
Department of Geology; Zhongshan University;
Second Institute of Oceanography; State Oceanic Administration
State Pilot Lab of Coast & Island Exploitation; Nanjing University
Hong Kong
Department of Earth Sciences; The University of Hong Kong
Geological Survey of Hong Kong
EGS (Asia) Limited
Fugro Geotechnical Services Limited
Lam Geotechnics Limited
Bachy Soletanche Limited
Gammon Construction Limited
China - Taiwan
Institute of Marine Geology and Chemistry; National Sun Yat-sen
University
Institute of Earth Sciences; Academia Sinica
Institute of Oceanography; National Taiwan University
Department of Geology; National Taiwan University
Czech Republic
Czech Geological Survey; Klarov
Egypt
Department of Geology; Cairo University
Fiji
Department of Geography; The University of the South Pacific
France
GeoSciences Marines; IFREMER - Centre du Brest
Centre de Sedimentologie et Paleontologie; Universite de Provence
Laboratoire de Geographie Physique; CNRS
Germany
Department of Geography; University of Marburg
Baltic Sea Research Institute
Forschungsstelle fuer Archaeometrie; Heidelberger Akademie der
Wissenschaften
Geographisches Institut; Univesitaet zu Koln;
Geological Institute; University of Muenster
Bundesanstalt fur Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe
Institute of Biochemistry and Marine Chemistry, Hamburg University
India
National Institute of Oceanography; Dona Paula
Department of Ecological Studies; School of Environmental
Sciences
Geological Survey of India
Marine Geology and Geophyics Department; Cochin University of Science
and Technology
Chemical Oceanography Division; National Institute of
Oceanography
Indonesia
Dept of Geotechnology; Indonesian Institute of Sciences
Iran
AZAD University
Ireland
Coastal Resources Centre; University College Cork
Israel
Department of Geography; Ben Ilan University
Ben Gurion University of the Negev
Institue for Nature Conservation Research; Tel Aviv University
Italy
CNR - Istituto Geologia Marina, Bologna
CNR - Istituto Geomare Sud, Napoli
Dip. di Geologia e Geofisica, Università di Bari
Dip. di Sc. della Terra, Univ. di Ancona
Dip. di Sc. Terra e Geol. Ambientali, Univ. di Bologna
Dip. Geologia e Geodesia, Università di Palermo
Dip. Scienze della Terra, Univ. di Roma La Sapienza
Dip. Scienze della Terra, Univ. Napoli Federico II
Dip.Territorio e Risorse, Università di Genova
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Univ. Firenze
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra,Univ. di Cagliari
ENEA - C.R.A.M. S.Teresa, LA SPEZIA
Enea, Dip. Ambiente, Roma
Ist. Geodinamica e Sedimentologia, Univ. Urbino
Ist. Sc. Geologiche Ambientali e Marine, Trieste
Ist. Cent. Ricerca Applicata al Mare, Roma
Istituto di Scienze del Mare, Università di Ancona
Servizio Geologico d'Italia
Jamaica
Department of Geology; The University of West Indies,
Kingstone
Japan
Institute of Geology & Paleontology; Faculty of Science,
Tohoku University, Sendai
Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences; Kyushu University
Laboratory of Geography; University of Ryukus
Institute for Hydrospheric-Atmospheric Sciences, Chikusa-ku
Department of Geosciences; Osaka City University
Graduate School of Science & Technology; Niigata University
Location of main field activities
Potential sites derive from continental-shelf areas world-wide that
provide a record of the variable environments of the last glacial cycle
and, in
particular, the Last Glacial Maximum. Key locations will be subject to
team
study with a strong sense of collaboration among representatives from
several
countries at each site, and aided by introductory work particularly
during
annual or regional on-site project meetings. Several teams are in
place,
following extensive discussions at the IGC in Rio (e.g. see sequential
results
for 2001).
Location of major
laboratory research
During the life of IGCP-396, attempts were made, with only modest
success, to involve participants from less-developed countries in
aspects of technology transfer, upgrading of skills and opportunities
to work in established laboratory facilities. A major difficulty lies
in funding these activities, both for travel for visits and for the
bench-costs of undertaking these analyses.
We have come to realise that the bench-costs can be reduced or
eliminated
if visitors are able to prepare their samples, by simple methods, in
their
own countries, thereby saving time as well as money, prior to
submitting
to/visiting an established laboratory.
Accordingly, we plan to redouble our efforts in this regard, and
announced at the closing IGCP-396 business meeting in Rio (August 2000)
that several laboratories would act as hosts for a successor project,
should it be approved. Several joint researches were immediately
planned, and it is probable that analytical work will commence before a
successor project is in place. Thus, samples from the continental
shelves of Brazil and Argentina will be analysed for organic content,
C-13 and N-15 shortly, in research involving participants from those
countries who had not been previously able to fully participate in
IGCP-396 due to lack of funds, for travel to its annual meetings.
Applications for travel funds from national sources and exchange of
personnel have been sought to support this endeavour.
The principal laboratories that have agreed to support such exchanges,
particularly for work from developing countries are University of East
Anglia, UK (geotechnics), University of Rome (seismic interpretation),
IFREMER, Brest, France (data processing and seismic interpretation),
University of Wollongong, Australia (chemical and isotopic analyses)
and University of Hong Kong (field and laboratory testing of
engineering properties of shelf deposits).
Thus laboratory work will be undertaken, at least at the preparatory
level, in many countries listed in this application. However, the
detailed geochronological and chemical analyses involving more
expensive equipment will be largely
performed in Europe, North America and Australasia. We have
specifically
identified some of those laboratories, at this early stage, and expect
this
list to grow as the project develops.
Other considerations
Scientific Collaboration: Members
of current and past Quaternary-related IGCP projects (e.g. carbon
cycle,
karst, long rivers, dryland changes, and continental shelves) held a
business
meeting in Rio at the IGC to discuss collaboration. The concept
of
the proposed new project on Continental Shelves during the LGM was
presented
and collaborative links established between the projects on carbon and
rivers.
Associate Professor Colin Murray-Wallace, leader of IGCP-437 (‘Coastal
Environmental
Change during Sea-level Highstands) was unable to be present in Rio,
but
has since endorsed the current proposal, and indeed provided advice
during
its preparation. The importance of collaboration between these
two
projects (one on sea-level high-stands the other focussing on
low-stands)
is clear. Note that Colin Murray-Wallace and Allan Chivas are
colleagues
at the same institution, and that their suggestion to merge
project-mailing
lists will provide a combined membership of nearly 600 scientists.
Our proposed project has collaborative links with INQUA’s Commissions
on Sea-level Changes and Coastal Evolution; Palaeoclimate (maps at 20
ka),
and its Committee on Quaternary Mineral Deposits. The MARGINS
project,
coordinated from the USA, has plans to drill the continental margins of
Papua
New Guinea, Alaska and New Zealand sometime after 2002, and is
anticipated to provide further opportunities for scientific
collaboration.
The proposal has been prepared by Francesco Chiocci and Allan Chivas
and enriched by the discussion held in Rio during three specially
devoted IGCP-396 meetings. Specific contributions by Leonid Poliak
(Ohio State University, USA), Gilles Lericolais (IFREMER, France), Wyss
Yim (University of Hong
Kong), Heiner Josenhans (Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Canada),
Colin
Murray-Wallace (University of Wollongong, Australia) and Natalia
Patyk-Kara
(Russian Academy of Sciences) are also part of the proposal.
Attachment 1: Full Description of the Proposed
Project
OBJECTIVES
The aim of the project is the definition of the palaeoenvironmental
evolution of the continental shelves, leading to their present
morphology, stratigraphy and sedimentology. The geological approach to
the environment and to its
global changes is in fact based on a complete understanding of the
long-term
cyclicity of natural systems. On the continental margins the leading
factor
is undoubtedly the very rapid changes in sea level that brought it from
-125m
during the Last Glacial Maximum (~20ka b.p.) to its present position in
little
more than 10,000 years at an average rate of 1m/century. The project
will therefore be focused especially on the Last Glacial Maximum
(hereafter referred
as LGM) and to the following sea-level rise. In fact the LGM is a key
event
in Pleistocene/Holocene environmental evolution, as it represents the
main
and latest extreme in sea-level and climatic trends at a global scale.
The
conditions at the LGM on continental shelves and their effects on
coastal
plains and continental slopes will thus be the "starting point" of the
most
recent and continuing environmental cycle.
The project follows and originates from the experience of IGCP
396 "Continental Shelves in the Quaternary", that successfully brought
together a large number of researchers (some 400 participants from 40
countries)
to work and cross-correlate data among different shelves of the world.
The
focus of the new proposed project was decided trough public and
web
discussion by IGCP-396 participants, with an intent to narrow the
time-span
and the topic to the most relevant and important themes that emerged
from
the previous IGCP initiative.
As LGM features are commonly quite easy to recognise (sharp lithologic
contrast, first-order geomorphologic features) and well-known in most
of the
geological studies of continental shelves, the topic is affordable even
with
relatively low-cost technologies available in developing countries.
Moreover,
for most of the relict deposits on the shelf of the last glacial cycle,
the
time scale is fully encompassed within the range of a number of
Quaternary
dating methods, and much is within the radiocarbon time-scale. Given
the
focus of the topic, an effort will be made in defining a common
terminology
and in developing methods to depict LGM features on shelves, as the
main
interest will be in the comparison among different areas of the world
(tidal/non
tidal, high-energy/low-energy, low/high/intermediate latitudes,
well-fed/starved,
glaciated/non-glaciated shelves). We will also seek evidence for
the
higher-frequency phenomena, including the Younger Dryas, and Heinrich
events.
The continental shelves are, of course, the physiographic province most
affected by sea-level fluctuation, that control exposure/submersion of
wide areas. However the information on shelf behaviour during
glaciation and deglaciation
will have particular relevance for the behavior of watercourses in
adjoining plains and the position of sources feeding continental
slopes.
The following points are the main targets of the proposed project:
DEPTH OF THE
EUSTATIC MINIMUM: According to published oxygen-isotope curves, the LGM
is one of
the lowest sea levels of the entire Quaternary, and thus has a very
high
potential for preservation and recognition in the sedimentary record,
even
with relatively unsophisticated prospecting technologies.
The definition of the maximum depth reached by erosion in the outer
shelf/upper slope will give insights on different geological processes
occurring at
LGM. Relevant questions in this respect are the relationship between
the
position of the eustatic minimum and shelf edge, between sea level and
the
depth of erosion, the testing of the eustatic values given by oxygen
isotope
ratios.
A relevant application of the depth of LGM
erosional/depositional features is its use as an indicator of vertical
movements within continental margins. As for coastal terraces,
neotectonic trends can in fact be inferred if a given sea-level
position (previous 120 ka highstand for coastal terraces, last 20ka
lowstand for LGM features) can be geologically determined.
PALAEOGEOGRAPHY :
During the last glacial cycle and in particular at the LGM, the amount
of subaerially exposed continental shelf was considerably greater than
at present, this
datum being of great importance for climate and carbon cycle studies;
the
definition of the lowermost shoreline position on a regional base will
give
a precise definition of the maximum sea/land ratio.
In continental margins with complex morphology, the palaeogeography
might have been very different, with strong effects on depositional
processes.
Water masses can have been isolated from the sea creating lakes (as for
the
Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia or Black Sea, Europe), seaways may have
been
closed (as Messina, Italy) or narrowed thereby forcing currents to
deeper passages (as Gibraltar, Spain/Morocco). Straits areas will thus
be one of
main areas of interest for the project.
PALAEOCLIMATE
The study of the condition of the shelf at the LGM is likely to give
relevant information on past climate. Several important questions
remain unanswered at present, including major aspects of the following
topics:
PALAEO-RAINFALL/PALAEO-HYDROLOGY :
During the Würm/Wisconsinian glacial time, continental shelves
were exposed and scoured by rivers. Surprisingly, paleovalleys are
found even offshore of some of today’s very small rivers, which are
currently unable to incise valleys. Even more surprisingly their
valleys do not extend down to the
maximum depth reached by sea level, but stop at 70-80 m below present
sea-level.
A palaeo-hydrological model is needed to explain such situations.
In some cases palaeo-valleys on the shelf are not tied to present-day
water courses. This information is likely to be used to define relevant
palaeo-hydrological features such as the positions of present submerged
springs on the coast and different-than-today drainage patterns.
PALAEOCONDITIONS AT LOW LATITUDES: The
tropical areas of the world are vital to understanding the evolution of
the climate in the recent past, and by inference, the way climate is
forced at any time. It is still much debated whether low-latitude
sea-surface temperatures during glacial time were similar, marginally
cooler or substantially cooler than those of today (although see recent
work by Lea et al., 2000: Science 289: 1719-1724). Our project
will address this question at a number of locations using O-18 and
trace-element data from corals, shells and foraminifers recovered by
coring and dredging at water depths of ~125m.
Other key climatic questions relate to the presence/absence/reduced
intensity of palaeomonsoons at the LGM, and seek to determine global
climate, circulation and heat budgets/transfers different at this time.
PALAEOCONDITIONS AT HIGH LATITUDES:
During the last glacial cycle a sizeable portion of high-latitude
continental shelf was occupied by ice sheets. Knowledge of glaciation
limits by morphological/sedimentological features is required for an
estimate of the spatial and volumetric characteristics of shelf ice
masses and accurate assessment of sea-level change and sea/land
ratio. Ice sheets on the shelf were inherently unstable, being
controlled by sea level. Therefore shelf glaciation played a critical
role
in the dynamics of deglaciation. Presently the LGM glacial extents on
the
continental shelf are insufficiently understood, especially in northern
Eurasia. New data from glaciated shelves will aid in determining the
ice-sheet
limits and the timing and patterns of the last deglaciation.
PALAEO WAVE CLIMATE: A very peculiar
feature of the sediments deposited at the LGM is their two-dimensional
(tabular)
geometry, as opposed to the strong three-dimensionality of the
transgressive
and highstand deposits that are always related to point sources.
Lowstand
deltas at the shelf edge are very rare and if present, they are far
thinner
and are elongated parallel to the palaeo-coast than are present deltas,
despite
the lowering of rivers’ base-levels and exposure of the shelf at the
LGM.
If the longshore redistribution of sediments were much more effective
during glacial periods that during inter-glacials, such evidence may
give
information on palaeo-wave or longshore current energy.
PALAEOMORPHOLOGY/ Incision process:
The deposits making-up the continental shelves are truncated at their
top by
an erosional unconformity thought to be formed by shelf exposure during
the
last glaciation. Actually the surface is extremely flat, much flatter
than
any subaerial errosional surface. In most of the cases, shoreface
erosion
during the ensuing transgression re-worked their surface but in places
where
palaeo-crust or backshore/shoreface deposits are found, a
reconstruction
of the palaeo-morphology can be possible, with an estimate of the
amount
of sediment eroded by ravine-forming processes. Such information can be
used
to estimate the amount of sand scraped from the shelf, transported
shoreward
during the later transgression and forming the core of present-day
littoral wedges.
STRATIGRAPHY: As the
LGM
is a key moment in the sedimentary evolution of continental margins, a
better definition of the depositional models for the Late Pleistocene
can be attempted. Is it possible to define any peculiar feature
strictly indicating the LGM or lowstand, discriminating among the
latter and the deposits tied to the sea-level fall? Can
sequence-stratigraphic models encompassing a three-fold (or four-fold,
if forced regression is considered) development of depositional
sequences be applied to the high-frequency, high-amplitude, asymmetric
glacioeustatic cycles? Are sedimentary models that predict processes
similar to those of the present-day correct? Is there any relevant and
constant difference between these two eustatic settings that has to be
considered?
HERITAGE IN
HUMAN CULTURE: Climatic- and eustatic-driven changes of the physical
environment may have left deep traces on human culture. Shelf areas,
that during lowstand were flat coastal plains suitable for human
settlements, experienced dramatic changes because of glacioeustasy; as
an example, during deglaciation an
average rate of 1m/century of sea-level rise was reached, that may
account
for metre or metres per year of coastal retreat in low-gradient
shelves.
The constant rise in base level and the damming of the incised valleys
by
transgressive littoral barriers favoured river flooding and formation
of
coastal marshes and swamps. In key areas, as in the Black Sea where the
Dardanelles and Bosphorus acted as a plug with respect to the
Mediterranean
water masses, catastrophic flooding of the continental shelf was
inferred
(Ryan et al., 1997). Saltwater poured through this spillway to refill
the
lake and submerged more than 100,000 km2 of its previously subaerially
exposed
continental shelf. If this drowning had occurred, it must have
accelerated
the dispersal of the Neolithic population into the interior of Europe
at
that time.
Possible migration routes and civilization trends (compartmentalisation
of cultures during the Upper Palaeolithic for instance) may have a link
with the palaeoenvironmental changes of the shelf. Episodes present
troughout
different cultures (as the golden age or the flood) may also be linked
to
such changes.
APPLICATIONS : The
project is aimed at increasing the scientific knowledge of processes
and features related to the LGM, through a comparison of different
situations at a global scale. Several possible applications can be
considered:
1) Collection of information relevant to define the Carbon Cycle and
budget in the recent past as information on vegetation on exposed
shelves, storage of methane in deltaic deposits during highstand,
possible abrupt release
of gas hydrates by large-scale mass failure at shelf edges during sea
level fall/lowstand ; 2) The role of the tropical epicontinental seas
and exposed large shelf areas during the LGM as controls on global
climate (El Niño at the LGM, palaeomonsoons); 3) Changes in
coastline orientation and closure of straits as controlling factors for
coastal currents; 4) Neotectonics
as vertical mobility of a segment of coast may be inferred by the depth
of the LGM sea-level markers; 5) Hydrology indications as position of
lowstand
springs and drainage pattern, behaviour of water table; 6) Data for
defining
the long-term littoral sedimentary budget (possible definition of the
present-day underfed beaches as relict features from last sea-level
rise) 7) Palaeoanthropology
for land-bridges and archipelagoes formed during the LGM as routes for
human migration, human environment at LGM, remains on cultural heritage
of eustatic-driven environmental changes); 8) Lowstand shelf mineral
resources (placer deposits of diamonds, tin, gold, sand and gravel); 9)
Engineering Geology (engineering properties of shelf deposits); 10)
Coastal Management (sustainable utilisation of shelves).
Work Plan
The principal elements of the work plan are covered in the main body of
the text. These include:
(a) The tentative work schedule (Item 9), including the establishment
of three working groups (Note that IGCP-396 initially had up to 6
working
groups, but that these quickly reduced to 3 or 4, all of which could be
productive and were central to the aim of the project).
(b) The outline of the project (Item 7) which is effectively its aims.
(c) The major proposal (Item 16) which outlines the principal questions
to be addressed.
(d) The emphasis on our workshop training plan. In addition to workshop
presentations at annual or regional meetings, we have identified at
least three project members who commonly travel widely and who have
offered to maintain
a set of teaching materials (e.g. slides, text handout) and present, at
short
notice, seminars/workshops of opportunity, particularly in
less-developed countries.
(e) Our research-exchange plan, to provide key laboratories for
analytical work/data interpretation and to actively make opportunities
available for laboratory-based visits and training.
(f) Our publication strategy; namely, abstracts and posters from all
meetings to be entered on the website; a major journal publication on
contributions in 2002; a final monograph in 2005.
(g) Contribution to, and encouragement of national and global maps of
shelf sediments, and shelf sediment-facies at 20ka.
Curricula Vitae of the
Proposers
Francesco L. Chiocci
- Born in Gubbio, Perugia, 22 August 1959
- Degree in Geology (110 with honours) and PhD in Earth Sciences at
University of Rome "La Sapienza"
- From 1988 to 1993 researcher at National Research Council (CNR)
Centre for Technical Geology, Rome
- From 1993 to 1998 researcher at National Research Council (CNR)
Centre for Quaternary and Environmental Evolution, Rome
- From 1998 Associate Professor at University of Rome "La Sapienza",
teaching courses in Littoral Dynamics, Marine Geology and General
Geology.
- Member of the Italian Association for the Quaternary (AIQUA),
Geological Society of Italy (SGI), International Association of
Sedimentologists (IAS)
Research activity
From 1993 to 1999 was secretary of CROP Project (joint venture among
CNR-AGIP-ENEL for deep seismic crustal study).
In 1994 was in charge of seismostratigraphic analysis offshore Montalto
di Castro nuclear plant to study active faulting and neotectonics of
the area.
The study was commissioned by the Minister of the Environment through
the Italian Geological Survey.
Since 1994 co-ordinates a research group of about twenty researchers of
the University of Rome and National Research Council to study
present-day depositional processes on the sub aerial and marine basin
of the Ombrone River (Tuscany).
In 1997-98 was in charge of an Italian-Spanish joint project (CNR-CSIC)
aimed to study sedimentary record on continental margins.
Participated in 25 oceanographic cruises (about half of them as chief
scientist) mainly in the Tyrrhenian Sea but also in the Red Sea,
Atlantic
and Pacific Oceans and Antarctica.
Presented a proposal to the European Community to use TOBI deep-sea
vehicle to study instability on the flanks of Italian volcanic Islands
(T.I.VOL.I. cruise). The proposal was accepted and he was Chief
Scientist on the cruise in September-October 1998
(http://gea.geo.uniroma1.it/tivoliweb/t1.html).
In 1998-2000 was National Representative and leader of the Sequence
Stratigraphy Working Group of the International Geological Correlation
Program (IGCP-396) "Continental Shelves in Quaternary."
Performed occasional review of scientific articles for Marine Geology,
Sedimentology, Geological Society Sp. Pub., Il Quaternario, Bollettino
and Memorie Società Geologica Italiana, Giornale di Geologia.
At present is Scientific Director of geological mapping (1:50.000) of
marine areas of geological sheets 53 (Montalto di Castro), 354
(Tarquinia),
413 (Borgo Grappa). Is also member of the national commission for the
definition
of mapping procedures.
At present is responsible for a three-year (2000-2002) National
Project of the Institute for Geophysics and Volcanology to study
instability
on the flanks of Italian volcanic islands.
At present is in charge of seismic data acquisition and interpretation
in a joint-project between University of Rome and Latium Government to
search and exploit relict transgressive beaches for littoral artificial
nourishment.
List of articles
Chiocci, F.L., Orlando,L., Tortora,P., 1991, Small-scale seismic
stratigraphy and paleogeographical evolution of the continental shelf
facing the SE Elba Island (northern Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy)
Journal of Sedimentary Petrology, 61, 4, 506-526
Chiocci, F.L. and Clifton, H.E., 1991, Gravel-filled gutter cast
in nearshore facies - indicators of ancient shoreline trend; "From
shoreline to abyss, contributions in marine geology honoring Francis
Parker Shepard", Special Publication SEPM, 46, 67-76.
Chiocci, F.L. and Normark, W.R., 1991, Effect of sea-level variation on
upper-slope depositional processes offshore of Tiber delta, Tyrrhenian
Sea, Italy. Marine Geology, 104, 109-122.
Chiocci, F.L., 1994,Very High-resolution seismics as a tool for
sequence stratigraphy applied to outcrop scale.- Examples from eastern
Tyrrhenian
margin Holocene/Pleistocene deposits AAPG Bulletin, 78, 3,
378-395
Bellotti P., F.L. Chiocci , S. Milli, P. Tortora, P. Valeri, 1994
Sequence Stratigraphy and Depositional Setting of the Tiber Delta:
integration of
high-resolution seismics, well log and archaeological data. Journal of
Sedimentary
Research, B64, 3, 416-432
Chiocci F.L., Esu F., Tommasi P., Chiappa V, 1996, Stability of
submarine slope of the Tiber River delta. in: Landslides - Glissements
de terrain,
K.Senneset (Ed.), Balkema, Rotterdam, 521-526
Chiocci F.L. and L. Orlando, 1996 Lowstand terraces on Tyrrhenian
Sea steep continental slopes, Marine Geology, 134, 127-143
Chiocci F.L., Ercilla G. and Torres J. ,1997, Stratal architecture of
Western Mediterranean Margins as the result of the stacking of
Quaternary
lowstand deposits below "glacio-eustatic fluctuation base-level.
Sedimentary
Geology,112 (3-4), 195-217
Ercilla, B. Alonso; J. Baraza; D. Casas; F.L. Chiocci; F. Estrada; M.
Farràn; E. Gonthier; F. Pérez-Belzuz; C. Pirmez; M.
Reeder;
J. Torres; R. Urgeles (1998) New high-resolution data from the "braided
system"
of the Orinoco deep sea fan. Marine Geology (146)1-4,243-250
Tommasi P., Chiocci F.L., Esu F. (1998) Geotechnical properties of Soft
Clayey Sediments from the Submerged Tiber River Delta, Italy. Marine
Georesources and Geotechnology, 16, 221-242
Chiocci F.L., 2000, Depositional response to Quaternary 4th order sea
level falls on the northern Latium margin (Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy). In:
D.Hunt
and R. Gawthorpe (Eds),Sedimentary Responses to Forced Regressions,
Special
Publication of Geological Society of London,172, 271-289.
Allan R Chivas
- Born in Sydney, Australia, 14 May 1950.
- BSc with First Class Honours (1972), PhD (1977), University of
Sydney.
- 1977-78: Visiting Scientist, US Geological Survey, Menlo Park.
- 1978-79: Research Fellow, Centre de Recherches
Pétrographiques et Géochimiques, Nancy, France.
- 1979-1995: Research Fellow to Senior Fellow; Group Leader,
Environmental Geochemistry, Research School of Earth Sciences, The
Australian National
University.
- 1995 - : Professor of Geosciences, University of
Wollongong (Head of School, 1995-1999).
Research Interests
Low-temperature geochemistry - Chemical, C-14, Cl-36 and stable-isotope
studies of the formation and evolution of modern and ancient lake
basins, coral reefs, near-shore and deep-sea sediments, weathering
profiles and laterites.
Chemical hydrology, palaeoceanography and atmospheric chemistry.
Geochemistry
and isotopic studies of mineral deposits.
Conference Convener (selection)
1986 Session F3 on "Isotopes in palaeoenvironments and dating" of the
12th International Sedimentological Congress, Canberra.
1990 Symposium 6, "The first few metres: isotope geochemistry at
the Earth's surface", 7th Int. Conf. Geochronology, Cosmochronology and
Isotope Geology, Canberra. Also member of general and program
committees and co-convenor of field-trip committee.
1993 1st Australian and New Zealand Meeting on Quaternary Dating
(Canberra - Co-convener with R. Grün)
1994 Symposium 7, "Paleoclimate reconstruction using isotopic tracers
- the continental record of paleoclimate", 8th Int. Conf.
Geochronology,
Cosmochronology and Isotope Geology, Berkeley, California.
1997 Climates of the Past (UNESCO/IUGS) meeting,
Cairns/Atherton/Townsville.
International Committees
1991-1993 Organizing Committee, 6th International Accelerator
Mass Spectrometry Conference (Canberra/Sydney)
1992-1993 Organizing Committee, 6th International Paleolimnology
Conference/inter-INQUA Conference (Canberra)
1993-1995 Australian representative; Sedimentary and Geochemical
Processes Panel, (CanAus alternate member); Ocean Drilling Program.
1994-1999 Steering Committee, CLIP (Climates of the Past) project of
the International Union of Geological Sciences and UNESCO; from 1997,
chairman of the project.
1996-2000 Leader, Working Group on Dating within IGCP-396 project on
Continental Shelves in the Quaternary.
1999- Treasurer, International Union for Quaternary
Research (INQUA).
1999- Secretary, INQUA Committee on Quaternary Economic Deposits.
National Committees (selection)
1980-1986 Geological Society of Australia, Commonwealth
Territories' Division. Treasurer 1980-83; Vice-Chairman
1984; Chairman 1985-1986.
1993-1996 National Committee for Quaternary Research, Australian
Academy of Science.
1993-1997 Consortium for Ocean Geosciences (COGS) of Australian
Universities.
1995- Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Specialist Committee, Australian
Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering. (chairman since
1998)
Editor (selection)
(e) Six special issues for Chemical Geology; Palaeogeography,
Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology ; J. Paleolimnology; AGU
monograph.
(f) At various times, member of the editorial advisory boards of
Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology; International
Journal of Salt Lake Research; Quaternary Geochronology; AGSO
Australian Journal of Geology and Geophysics.
Membership of Learned Societies
International Quaternary Association
The American Geophysical Union
The Geochemical Society
Geological Society of America
Geological Society of Australia
Australasian Quaternary Association
Australian Marine Sciences
Association
Australian Coral Reef Society
Cushman Foundation
Society of Economic Geologists
Major Relevant Research Projects (selection)
Environmental geochemistry of the Great Barrier Reef. Salt Lakes
and evaporites in Australia. Saline Lakes and fjords in
Antarctica.
Quaternary marine palaeoclimate around Australia. Quaternary
record of the Gulf of Carpentaria.
Publications
123 publications in international journals, those below are a selection
relevant to the proposed IGCP Project.
1985 Torgersen, T. and Chivas, A.R. Terrestrial organic carbon in
marine sediment: a preliminary balance for a mangrove environment
derived from _13C. Chem. Geol. 52: 379-390.
1985 Chivas, A.R., De Deckker, P. and Shelley, J.M.G. Strontium
content of ostracods indicates lacustrine palaeosalinity. Nature,
316: 251-253.
1986 Chivas, A.R., Chappell, J., Polach, H., Pillans, B. and Flood,
P.
Radiocarbon evidence for the timing and rate of island development,
beach-rock formation and phosphatization at Lady Elliot Island,
Queensland, Australia. Marine Geol., 69: 273-287.
1986 Chivas, A.R., De Deckker, P. and Shelley, J.M.G. Magnesium
content of non-marine ostracods: a new palaeosalinometer and
palaeothermometer.
Palaeogeogr., Palaeoclimatol., Palaeoecol., 54: 43-61.
1988 De Deckker, P., Chivas, A.R., Shelley, J.M.G. and Torgersen,
T.
Ostracod shell chemistry: a new palaeoenvironmental indicator
applied to a trangressive/regressive record from the Gulf of
Carpentaria, Australia.
Palaeogeogr., Palaeoclimatol., Palaeoecol., 66: 231-241.
1988 De Deckker, P., Chivas, A.R. and Shelley, J.M.G.
Paleoenvironment of the Messinian Mediterranean "Lago Mare" from
strontium and magnesium
in ostracode shells. Palaios, 3: 352-358.
1990 Chivas, A.R., Torgersen, T. and Polach, H.A. Growth rates
and Holocene development of stromatolites from Shark Bay, Western
Australia.
Aust. J. Earth Sci., 37: 113-121.
1990 Gagan, M.K., Chivas, A.R. and Herczeg, A.L. Shelf-wide
erosion, deposition and suspended sediment transport during Cyclone
Winifred, central Great Barrier Reef, Australia. J. Sediment.
Petrol., 60: 456-470.
1992 Vengosh, A., Starinsky, A., Kolodny, Y., Chivas, A.R. and Raab,
M.
Boron isotope variations during fractional evaporation of sea
water:
new constraints on the marine vs. nonmarine debate. Geology, 20:
799-802.
1994 Gagan, M.K., Chivas, A.R. and Isdale, P.J. High-resolution
isotopic records from corals using ocean temperature and mass-spawning
chronometers. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 121: 549-558.
1995 Gagan, M.K. and Chivas, A.R. Oxygen isotopes in western
Australian coral reveal Pinatubo aerosol-induced cooling in the Western
Pacific Warm Pool. Geophysical Research Letters, 22:
1069-1072.
1996 Gagan, M.K., Chivas, A.R. and Isdale, P.J. Timing
coral-based climatic histories using 13C enrichments driven by
synchronized spawning.
Geology, 24: 1009-1012.
2000 Chivas, A.R. et al. Sea-level and environmental changes
since the Last Interglacial in the Gulf of Carpentaria,
Australia: An overview. Quaternary International (in press).
General aims of the project for the non-specialist
The project aims to define the palaeoenvironmental evolution of the
continental shelves, particularly leading into and since the Last
Glacial Maximum.
This will include the processes that have produced the present
morphology, stratigraphy and sedimentology. The project is timely
as continental shelves are under increasing pressure of exploitation
and require basic
scientific understanding followed by better management. Shelf
areas
are being assessed world-wide, particularly up to 2004, when the
Law-of-the-Sea
convention on continental margins comes into effect.
Objectives and measurable outputs
The project will synthesise data from continental shelves world-wide
and develop a common terminology for their description and depiction on
maps
and atlases at global and regional scales. On a more fundamental
scale, the geometry of shelves, their past sea-surface temperatures,
and carbon
budgets will be assessed on a regional basis by research teams, using
both
simple and technologically advanced methods. Applied aspects
include
the study of palaeomonsoons, palaeohydrology, engineering and
geotechnical
assessment, and the palaeoanthropological implications of past
archipelagic
and land bridges.
A key plank of the proposal is an emphasis on research training in
modern methods of shelf study by an integrated series of workshops and
by research exchanges to advanced facilities and laboratories.
The principal physical outputs include an electronic database of all
materials/posters contributed to the project, training workshop
manuals, numerous papers in scientific journals, a special volume of
contributed papers in 2003, an edited
monograph in 2005, and contributions to shelf maps at world, regional
and
national scales.
Geosciences in the Service of Society
Several of the more applied aspects of the proposed project relate to
societal concerns, particularly those that bear on engineering aspects
of
shelf sediments (shelf mapping for management, geotechnics; laying of
submarine
optical cables), as do the development of mineral resources (sand,
gravel
and marine placer deposits of diamonds, tin, gold and other heavy
mineral
sands).
The characterisation of continental shelves is of prime importance to
the convention on the Law of the Sea, and in this regard our research
training programs will be of substantial significance to marine
geologists, particularly in less developed countries.
There is another aspect to the human dimension on shelves, and it lies
in their previous occupation during partial exposure at or near the
Last Glacial
Maximum. Our project will seek to interpret and integrate aspects
of
the human heritage of shelves as occupation sites and as corridors for
migration.
Report of first-year
(2001) activities for
International Geological Correlation Programme
Project 464
‘Continental Shelves during
the Last Glacial Cycle: Knowledge and applications’
Meetings held
25-28 October 2001: ‘Continental Shelves during the Last Glacial Cycle’.
1st Annual conference of IGCP 464; Hong Kong
Several additional regional meetings were co-sponsored; and with strong
participation from IGCP-464 members:
29 October – 1 November 2001: 5th International Conference on the
Cenozoic Evolution of the Asia-Pacific Environment; Hong Kong.
7-10 January 2002: Continental Shelves: processes, record, utilisation
and management; Hong Kong. Workshop on Environmental Sedimentology.
Principal sponsors were the IAS (International Association of
Sedimentologists) and SEPM (Society of Sedimentary Geology).
(copies of the abstract volume from this meeting
have been forwarded separately to the UNESCO Paris office, by the
conference
organizer by Wyss Yim. There were 40 delegates from 10 countries and 40
oral and poster presentations).
Future Meetings
The principal IGCP-464 activity will consist of an annual meeting,
rotated among five continents, during the project’s five-year lifetime
and at least one regional meeting per year. Accordingly, the following
program has been planned:
2002: IGCP-464 2nd Annual conference: 30 August – 3
September 2002, Brazil. (Sao Paulo and the coastal city of Cananeia).
Organised by Dr Michel de Mahiques, University of Sao Paulo; and who is
the IGCP-464 Brazilian national representative. The first
circular was issued on 18 December 2001. This meeting will be linked to
the Brazilian Symposium on Oceanography, Sao Paulo, 26-30 August 2002.
There will be a combined one-day meeting of both conferences, and
IGCP-464’s training outreach will commence by the project’s leaders
(Francesco Chiocci and Allan Chivas) presenting short courses on
continental margins within
the Brazilian Symposium on Oceanography.
2002: Regional meeting: A/Prof. Lindsay Collins
(Curtin University, Western Australia) and Australian national IGCP-464
representative, has convened a symposium on Continental Shelves nested
within the (biennial) Australian Geological Convention, Adelaide, 1-5
July 2002.
2003: IGCP-464 Annual Conference: New Zealand, to be
organised by Dr Tim Naish and supported by the New Zealand Institute of
Geological and Nuclear Sciences.
2003: Regional meeting: Dr. Szymon Uscinowicz
offered to organise a meeting in Gdansk, Poland, to summarise work from
the Baltic region and possibly include the theme ‘Last post-glacial
sea-level rise
and inundation of semi-enclosed basins’.
2004: IGCP-464 Annual Conference: to be held
adjacent to the International Geological Convention in Florence Italy.
2005: IGCP-464 Annual Conference: Possible African
location.
Report of 1st Annual IGCP-464 Meeting: Hong Kong, 25-28 October, 2001
Scope of the Meeting
About 45 participants made 33 presentations, nearly all oral, with some
accompanied by posters. The participants were drawn from fourteen
countries (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France,
Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Poland, United Kingdom and USA).
The four-day meeting comprised two days of oral presentations, a
one-day field trip and a day with a business and planning meeting.
Poster presenters also made supplementary 10-15 minute oral
presentations in the main lecture theatre to the assembled audience.
All activities were smoothly co-ordinated and organised by A/Prof.
WyssYim from the Department of Earth Sciences, University
of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Autonomous Region, China.
The field trip to Lantau Island visited the sites of proposed and
current major coastal and dredging operators at Tai O Bay and Penny’s
Bay. The scale and intensity of these engineering activities are very
substantial and involve major disturbance and management issues
pertaining to the sea bed.
Papers presented
Fabrizio Antonioli and Sergio Silenzi:
Palaeoenvironmental analysis of submerged speleothems formed during the
LGM in Argentarola Island, Italy.
L.S. Chan and W.W.-S. Yim: Application of
magnetic properties for studying modern seabed sediments contaminated
by shipping
activity in Hong Kong Harbour.
Francesco L. Chiocci:
Continental shelf morphostratigraphic features due to last sea-level
rise: certainties and uncertainties with examples from Mediterranean
margins.
Allan R. Chivas, Matt Griffiths, David Wheeler and
Sue Wang: Chemical evidence for marine/estuarine/lacustrine
transitions in the Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia.
Lindsay B. Collins: Growth history of coral
reefs since the Last Glacial Maximum in the western margin of Australia.
Luis A. Conti and Valdenir V. Furtado:
Geomorphological indicators of Quaternary sea levels on the continental
shelf of southeastern Brazil.
M. D. Dickman, W.W.-S. Yim, G. Wang and G.
Huang:
Distribution of diatoms in Holocene sediments in a core from Tai O Bay,
Hong Kong SAR, China.
A. Garcia, A.R. Chivas, J. M.Reeves, M.J.J. Couapel,
S. van der Kaars, S. Holt and P. De Deckker: Palaeoenvironments
of the
Gulf of Carpentaria since the last glacial: reconstruction from
palaeobiota.
Gdaliahu Gvirtzman, Oshe Wieder and Nathan
Bakler:
Sea-level rise since the Last Glacial Maximum: the eastern
Mediterranean
Sea off Israel.
Richard Hale: Mapping the seabed sediments of
the southern China continental shelf and slope.
Till J.J. Hanebuth, Karle Strattegger and Yoshiki
Saito:
Stratigraphy and sea-level history of the late Pleistocene Sunda Shelf.
R. Hetherington, J.V. Barrie, R. Reid, R. MacLeod
and R. Kung: Palaeogeography and early human adaption of the
Queen Charlotte Islands, Canada: drowned landscapes, paleo-coastlines,
and paleo-marine
habitats.
Guangqing Huang and Wyss W.-S. Yim: Can the
distribution of foraminifers in Holocene inner shelf sediment from the
South China Sea be used as typhoon indicators?
Gilles Lericolais, Nicolas Panin, Francois Guichard
and Candace Major: A high-resolution record of the
late glacial maximum event in the western Black Sea.
Shuanglin Li and Shaoquan Li: Palaeodeltas
during the last glacial period in the outer shelf of the East China Sea.
Zhenxia Liu, Ping Yin, Serge Berne, Alain Trentesaux
and Kelin Zhuang: Quaternary transgressive and
regressive depositional sequences of the East China Sea.
Michel Michaelovitch de Mahiques, Ilson Carlos
Almeida da Silveira, Silvia Helena de Mello e Sousa and Marcelo
Rodrigues:
Post-LGM sedimentation on the outer shelf/upper slope of the
northernmost
part of the Sao Paulo Bight, southeastern Brazil.
E. Martorelli, F. L. Chiocci and G. Ercilla:
Seismic and sedimentological characters of a 5th -order depositional
sequence
formed during the last glacio-eustatic cycle.
Hugo G. Nami : Palaeo-Indian
archaeological evidence and two cases of land bridges in southern South
America.
Yong A. Park: Clastic sedimentary facies of
lowstand sea-level during the LGM in the continental shelf and
shelf-edge of the
East Sea, southeastern Korea.
Kalus Schwarzer: Influence of the Holocene
palaeoenvironment on shore protection measures in Flensburg Fjord,
Baltic Sea.
Silvia H.H. Sousa, Michel M. Mahiques, Raquel F.
Passos, Luiz Fernando D’Agostino, Thomas R. Fairchild, Wania Duleba,
Alberto G.
Figueiredo, and Jurgen Patzold: Post-last glacial
maximum
coastline change as a major forcing of regional hydrodynamic
variations:
an example from the eastern Brazilian continental margin.
Marcello Tropeano, Luis Pomar and Luisa
Sabato:
The offlap break position versus sea level: a discussion
Szymon Uscinowicz: Relative sea-level curve of the southern Baltic
Szymon Uscinowicz and Grazyna
Miotk-Szpiganowicz:
The final stage of the Holocene transgression in the Puck Lagoon area,
southern Baltic Sea as observed from the Rzucewo Headland case study.
Roberto A. Violante: Submerged features
related to the LGM in the Argentine continental shelf: the present
knowledge.
Dongxing Xia: A preliminary
study of the lower reaches of the Huanghe and Changjiang rivers during
the Last Glacial Maximum
Shou-Ye Yang, Cong-Xian Li, Hoi-Soo Jung and Hee-Jun
Lee: Holocene evolution of the Subei coastal plain and the
contributions of Changjiang and Huanghe rivers, Jiangsu, China.
W.W.-S. Yim: Recognition of postglacial and
pre-postglacial sediments on continental shelves: lessons learnt
from the Hong Kong SAR, China.
W.W.-S. Yim: Review of results of
International Geological Correlation Programme project no. 396
‘Continental shelves in
the Quaternary’
Joanna Zachowicz: Human activity of the
Vistula delta plain and Vistula lagoon shoreline displacement during
the Holocene.
Kelin Zhuang and Zhenxia Liu: Conceptual model
of tidal sand ridge development since the last deglaciation in the
continental shelves of Bohai, the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea.
Y. Zong, Z. Huang and W. Zhang: Postglacial
sea-level rise and palaeo-shoreline movement along the northern
continental shelf
of the South China Sea
Report of second-year (2002) activities for
International Geological Correlation Programme
Project 464
‘Continental Shelves during
the Last Glacial Cycle: Knowledge and applications’
Meetings held
2002 Annual Report of IGCP Project Nº 464 IGCP project short
title: “Continental shelves during the Last Glacial Cycle” Project
duration: 5
years; 2001-2005. Executive Committee: Project Co-leaders: Prof.
Francesco
Latino Chiocci Dipartimento Scienze della terra Universita di Roma “La
Sapienza” P. le Aldo Moro 5 00185 Roma, Italia e-mail:
francesco.chiocci@uniroma1.it Prof. Allan Ross Chivas School of
Geosciences University of Wollongong.
NSW 2522. Australia. e-mail: toschi@uow.edu.au Advisory Board: Prof.
Donn
Gorsline University of Southern California, USA. Prof. Yong Park
(recently
retired from Seoul National University) Prof. Paolo Pirazzoli (past
IGCP-project
200 Leader) A/Prof. Wyss Yim University of Hong Kong (Past IGCP-project
396 Leader)
1. Introduction and Summary
Project 464 bears the full title “Palaeoenvironmental evolution of
Continental Shelves during the Last Glacial Cycle with particular
reference to the last Glacial Maximum”.
The project commenced in 2001, as a successor to the 1996-2000 project
IGCP-396 (Continental Shelves in the Quaternary).
The project’s first meeting was in Hong Kong in October 2001, and the
second annual meeting was in São Paulo and the coastal city of
Cananéia, Brazil (30 August-3 September, 2002). The project
produces an annual newsletter, available on its website
(http://tetide.geo.uniroma1.it/igcp464), holds an annual
scientific meeting, and one or more regional meetings per year. More
than 300 scientists from 35 countries are project members. Professor
Francesco Chiocci (University of Rome, Italy) and Allan Chivas
(University of Wollongong, Australia) are the co-leaders of the
project.
The aims of the project relate to the global development of continental
shelves, their geometry, relative sea-levels, palaeoclimate, incision
during sea-level low stands, carbon budget, mineral deposits,
geotechnical properties and cultural heritage.
The principal working groups relate to Physical Stratigraphy (leader,
Francesco Chiocci), Chemical Stratigraphy (Allan Chivas), Applied
Aspects
(Wyss Yim, Hong Kong, China), and Human Interactions with Shelves, e.g.
migration routes (Renée Hetherington, Canada).
A key element is research training, involving presentation of short
courses on both broad and specialised aspects of shelf research.
Another strand
is the interchange of personnel, leading to enhanced opportunities and
expertise. For example, Paula Alvarez, a PhD student from the
University of Vigo, Spain, has recently undertaken training in
carbon-isotope analysis, at the University of Wollongong, Australia.
2. Achievements of the project this year
2.1. General
The International Law of the Sea comes into effect in 2009 allowing
nations to claim certain areas of the continental shelf beyond 200
nautical miles. This has emerged as an important imperative within our
project, as geoscientific understanding and documentation of shelf
areas are required to establish access to these areas. Accordingly, our
categorisation of shelf areas based on sediment thickness and geometry
is being broadly addressed by groups of our project members in teams
organised by regions. This same information is also required for
ecological conservation of biota on the shelves
and in the management of sustainable fisheries, where sediment
substrate properties
are important.
2.2. List of Meetings
The 2002 Annual meeting was superbly organised by Associate Professor
Michel Michaelovitch de Mahiques, and his colleagues and students form
the
Institute of Oceanography, University of São Paulo (USP). The
first
day of the meeting (30 August, 2002) was nested within the Brazilian
Oceanographic
Symposium (900 delegates), at USP. Immediately prior to this, and to
the
broader Brazilian oceanographic community, Francesco Chiocci and Allan
Chivas
presented IGCP-464 short courses on “high-resolution seismic
stratigraphy”
and “stable-isotopes in the marine environment”, respectively.
Almost 60 IGCP-464 aficionados then spent a day in transit and field
inspections of the Brazilian coast near Iguape before arriving at
Cananéia, where USP has a marine field station. The field trip
was led by Moysés
Gonsalez Tessler and Michel, with some participants only grudgingly
willing
to leave the beach areas for the lecture theatre.
Two days of formal scientific presentations from the Brazil meeting are
summarised in a 104-page abstract booklet (12 copies previously
forwarded to the IGCP, to be made available on the project’s website.
Indeed, the project is attempting to capture all posters in full, from
all its meetings and have these available on the web.
There were 58 participants at the Brazil meeting from Argentina,
Australia, Brazil, Canada, China (Hong Kong), France, Germany, India,
Italy, Nigeria, Spain, Portugal, Poland, the United Kingdom and the
United States of America. Important issues and discussions were raised
during business meetings as
to the project’s possible final products. The consensus is that the
project
will attempt as to produce a map or maps of the world’s continental
shelf
areas and one or two books on both principles and methods and case
studies.
These will be completed by 2005, and thus need to be in near-final form
by
the time of the International Geological Congress (Florence) in 2004.
Other meetings
IGCP-464 co-hosted, together with IAS and SEPM, a sedimentology
workshop (Dr Wyss Yim), in Hong Kong (7-10 January, 2002) with the
theme “Continental Shelves – processes, record, utilisation and
management”.
Lindsay Collins organised a special 2-day session on Australian
continental shelves, nested within the Australian Geological
Convention, in Adelaide
in July 2002. 2.3
Selected publications
- Chiocci, F.L. 2002. “Free” artificial nourishment: linking beach
erosion in highly exploited shores with relict sand bodies on
sea-shelf. In
CIESM 2002, Erosion Littorale en Mediterranee occidentale: dynamique,
diagnostique
et remedes. Ciesm Workshop series 18: 67-71.
- Chiocci, F.L., de Alteriis, G. Budillon, F., Bosman, A.,
Martorelli, C. and Violante, R. 2002. The Ischia debris avalanche: the
result of a catastrophic collapse of the island southern flank. XXVII
Assembly European Geophysical Society. Nice, France
- Chivas, A.R., García, van der Kaars, S., Couapel, M.J.J.,
Holt, S., Reeves, J.M., Wheeler, D.J., Switzer, A.D., Murray-Wallace,
C.V., Banerjee, D., Price, D.M., Wang, S.X., Pearson, G., Edgar, N.T.,
Beaufort, L., De Deckker, P., Lawson, E. and Cecil, C.B., 2001.
Sea-level and environmental changes since the last interglacial in the
Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia. Quaternary International 83-85:
19-46.
- Chivas, A.R., De Deckker, P. Wang, S.X. and Cali, J.A., 2002.
Oxygen-isotope systematics of the nektic ostracod Australocypris
robusta. In The Ostracoda- Applications in Quaternary Research (Eds
Holmes, J.A. & Chivas, A.R.), Am. Geophys. Union, Geophysical
Monograph 131: 301-313.
- Dias, J.M.A., Gonzalez, R., García, C. and Diaz-del-Rio,
V. 2002. Sediment distribution patterns on the Galicia-Minho
continental
shelf. Progress in Oceanography 52: 215-231.
- Ercilla, G., Alonso, B., Estrada, F., Chiocci, F.L., Baraza, J.
and Farran, M., 2002. The Magdalena turbidite system (Caribbean Sea):
present-day morphology and architecture model. Marine Geology 185:
303-318.
- García, A., Jones, B.G., Chenhall, B.E. and
Murray-Wallace, C.V., 2002. Charophytes as environmental indicators: a
Holocene example
from Tom Thumbs Lagoon, NSW. Alcheringa 26: 507-518.
- Gonzalez-Vila, F.J., Polvillo, O., Boski, T., Andres, J.R., 2002.
A biomarker approach to the organic matter deposited in coastal
estuarine sediments during Holocene: a case studied in the Guadiana
River estuary. Organic
Geochemistry. (in press).
- Hetherington, R. and Reid, R.G.B., 2002. Molluscan insights into
the marine ecology and changing climate of the Late Pleistocene-Early
Holocene. Canadian Journal of Zoology (in press).
- Hetherington, R., Barrie, J.V., Reid, R.G.B., MacLeod, R. and
King, R., 2002. Lost landscapes: A palaeogeographic reconstruction of
Queen Charlotte Islands 8,750 to 14,250 14C y.B.P. Antiqua 2002,
American Quaternary Association meeting, p. 61. Anchorage, Alaska.
- Hetherington, R., Barrie, J.V., Reid, R.G.B., MacLeod, R. and
King, R., 2002. Palaeogeography, glacially induced crustal
displacements, and
late Quaternary coastlines on the northeast Pacific continental shelf,
Antiqua 2002, American Quaternary Association meeting, p. 63-64.
Anchorage, Alaska.
- Hetherington, R., Barrie, J.V., Reid, R.G.B., MacLeod, R. and
King, R., 2002.Queen Charlotte Islands palaeogeography and the
America’s first
humans. Antiqua 2002, American Quaternary Association meeting, p.
65-66.
Anchorage, Alaska.
- Holmes, J.A. and Chivas, A.R., (eds) 2002. The Ostracoda-
Applications in Quaternary Research, Am. Geophys. Union, Geophysical
Monograph 131: 313 pp.
- Holmes, J.A. and Chivas, A.R., 2002. Ostracod shell chemistry-
Overview. In The Ostracoda- Applications in Quaternary Research (Eds
Holmes, J.A.
& Chivas, A.R.), Am. Geophys. Union, Geophysical Monograph 131:
185-204.
- Liu, J.P., Milliman, J.D. and Gao, S., 2002. The Shandong mud
wedge and post-glacial sediment accumulation in the Yellow Sea.
Geo-Marine Letters 21: 212-218.
- Lobo, F.J., Hernández-Molina,F.J., Somoza, L., Díaz
del Río, V. and Dias, J.M.A., 2002. Stratigraphic evidence od an
Upper Pleistocene TST to HST complex on the Gulf of Cadiz continental
shelf (southwest Iberian Peninsula). Geo-Marine Letters (in press).
- Mahiques, M.M., Silveira, I.C.A., Sousa, S.H.M. and Rodriges, M.,
2002. Post-LGM sedimentation on the outer shelf-upper slope of the
northernmost part of the Sao Paulo Bight, southeastern Brazil. Marine
Geology 181: 387-400.
- Ramban, M., Rao, V.P., and Schneider, R.R., 2002. Reconstruction
of late Quaternary monsoon oscillations based on clay mineral proxies
using sediment cores from the western margin of India. Marine Geology
186: 527-539
- Rao, V.P., Michard, A., Naqui, S.W.A., Boettcher, M.A.,
Krischnaswamy, R., Thambnan, M., Natarajan, R. and Borole, 2002.
Quaternary phosphorites off the southeast coast of India. Chemical
Geology 182: 483-502.
- Tovey, N.K. and Paul, M.A., 2002. Modelling self-weight
consolidation in Holocene sediments. Bulletin of Engineering Geology
and The Environment 62: 21-33
- Tovey, N.K. and Yim, W.W.-S., 2002 Desiccation of Late Quaternary
inner shelf sediments: microfabric observations. Quaternary
International 92: 73-87.
- Uscinowicz, Sz. and Miotk-Szpiganowicz, G., 2002. Holocene
Shoreline Migration in the Puck Lagoon (southern Baltic Sea) based on
the Rzucewo
Headland case study. Landform Analysis 4.
- Violante, R.A., Parker, G. and Cavallotto, J.L., 2001.
Evolución de las llanuras costeras del este bonaerense entre la
Bahía de Samborombón y la Laguna Mar Chiquita. Revista
Asociacion Geologica Argentina 56: 1-66. 2.4.
List of countries involved in the project
Argentina*, Australia*, Belgium, Brazil*, Bulgaria, Canada*, Chile,
China*, Chinese Taiwan*, Egypt*, France*, Germany*, India*, Indonesia*,
Israel*,
Italy*, Japan*, Korea*, Mozambique*, Netherlands*, New Zealand*,
Nigeria*,
Norway, Portugal*, Russia*, South Africa*, Spain*, Thailand, Turkey*,
United
Kingdom*, USA*.
2.5. Activities involving other IGCP projects
The project is a member of the CHANGES program which is a
super-IGCP collaboration of Quaternary activities also involving sister
projects on
the carbon cycle, karst, and drylands. Our task in this is to provide
information relating to the carbon budget (storage and loss during
episodes of subaerial exposure of the continental shelves).
2.6 Participation of scientists from developing countries
Project strategy
Probably each IGCP project develops its own ‘culture’, strategy and
aims. IGCP-464’s strategies are several-fold, but we are placing
particular emphasis on research co-operation and research training
(i.e. capacity-building).
We wish our project to achieve outcomes beyond those that are a sum of
several countries’ own independent research programs. This strategy is
enunciated in the minutes of discussions at our annual meetings (see
attachment for
the 2002 Sao Paulo gathering).
There are several ways that our strategy is expressed; as short courses
given, where possible, to participants in developing countries, and as
fostered research co-operation. The test of our success, is the
documentation of
those activities or projects that would not have developed without
the IGCP-464 umbrella.
The following examples of activities during 2002, attest to our
strategy:
A. Offering short courses on seismic stratigraphy, and marine
geochemistry, within the Brazilian Oceanographic Symposium (August
2002). A further course on marine isotope geochemistry will be
presented at the National Institute of Oceanography, at Goa, India, in
late January 2003. We have requests for further courses to be presented
in Nigeria, and offers of course provision from project participants in
Australia, Italy, France, Germany and the United Kingdom.
B. A joint research agreement and funding between teams from France and
China to work on the Northern South China Sea shelf, over several years.
C. Enthusiastic teams involving several institutions from Argentina and
Brazil have commenced joint work in the east-coast South American
shelves.
D. The offering of equipment and facilities at host institutions in
France, Australia, Italy, UK and Hong Kong to project participants to
enable study to occur on the continental shelves of other countries.
Under this plan,
we can report:
(i) Isotopic analyses were undertaken in Australia, at no cost to the
recipient, for a project on the Indian west-coast continental shelf.
(ii) Paula Alvarez, PhD student at the University of Vigo, Spain, spent
7 weeks in late 2002 in Australia, learning techniques for isotopic
analysis.
(iii) External funding sought under the IGCP-project banner, will
permit Paolo Abballe, PhD student, University of Rome, to undertake
one-year of
his thesis research in Australia.
E. Most of the members within the project, and also those who attend
our annual meetings, are from developing countries. Our funds are used
almost exclusively to support their participation in such meetings.
3. Proposed activities for the year ahead
3.1. General goals
To offer short courses to less developed countries (e.g. Nigeria), on
a variety of potential topics, including seismic stratigraphy,
geochemistry, geotechnics, palaeoceanography. A full list is given in
the attached minutes of the Sao Paulo meeting.
Continued team-building and co-operative research, leading to:
Concrete steps towards the production of one or more books or manuals
and maps, a detailed discussion of which is also presented in the Sao
Paulo
minutes.
3.2 Future meetings
Several future meetings are planned for 2003. A regional thematic
conference in Gdansk, Poland (8-10 May 2003) on Rapid Transgressions
into Semi-enclosed Basins will focus on isolation basins such as the
Baltic Sea, Black Sea
and Gulf of Carpentaria. Another regional session in Vancouver, Canada,
within the GAC-MAC-SEG Conference (25-28 May, 2003), will consider the
importance of the continental shelves to humans, for example, with
respect to archaeology and migration routes. The major 2003 annual
project meeting will be held
in the North Island of New Zealand from 26-31 August. The 2004 annual
meeting will be within the International Geological Congress, in
Florence, Italy.
4. Project funding requested
We would like to request funding at or near the upper end of the range,
to financially support attendance at two meetings in 2003. There is a
regional meeting in Gdansk, Poland (where support for scientists from
eastern Europe is important), and the annual meeting in New Zealand,
for which scientists from southern and east Asia will need support. On
another front, we have
written separately to Dr Eder, requesting that consideration be given
to
additional funding (possible from UNESCO, more broadly), to allow our
offering
short courses in developed countries.
5. Project extension: N/A.
Report of third-year (2003) activities for
International Geological Correlation Programme
Project 464
‘Continental Shelves during
the Last Glacial Cycle: Knowledge and applications’
1. Introduction and Summary
Project 464 bears the full title
"Palaeoenvironmental evolution
of Continental Shelves during the Last Glacial Cycle with particular
reference
to the last Glacial Maximum". The project commenced in 2001, as a
successor
to the 1996-2000 project IGCP-396 (Continental Shelves in the
Quaternary).
The project’s first meeting was
in Hong
Kong in October 2001, and the second annual meeting was in São
Paulo and the coastal city of Cananéia, Brazil (30 August-3
September, 2002). The third annual meeting was in Wollongong, Australia
(14-19 December, 2003). The project produces an annual newsletter,
available on its website (http://tetide.geo.uniroma1.it/igcp464), holds an annual scientific meeting, and one or more
regional
meetings per year. More than 300 scientists from 35 countries are
project
members. Professor Francesco Chiocci (University of Rome, Italy) and
Allan
Chivas (University of Wollongong, Australia) are the co-leaders of the
project.
The aims of the project relate to
the global development of continental shelves, their geometry, relative
sea-levels, palaeoclimate, incision during sea-level low stands, carbon
budget, mineral deposits, geotechnical properties and cultural heritage.
The principal working groups
relate to Physical Stratigraphy (leader, Francesco Chiocci), Chemical
Stratigraphy (Allan Chivas), Applied Aspects (Wyss Yim, Hong Kong,
China), and Human Interactions
with Shelves, e.g. migration routes (Renée Hetherington,
Canada).
A key element is research
training, involving presentation of short courses on both broad and
specialised aspects of shelf research. Another strand is the
interchange of personnel, leading to enhanced opportunities and
expertise. For example, Dr. P. V. Shirodkar, National Institute of
Oceanography, Goa, India, and Paolo Abballe, a pre-PhD student from the
University of Rome, Italy, have recently undertaken training in
carbon-isotope analysis, at the University of Wollongong, Australia.
2 .Achievements of the
project
this year
- General
The International Law of the Sea
comes into effect in 2009 allowing nations to claim certain areas of
the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles. This has emerged as an
important imperative within our project, as geoscientific understanding
and documentation of shelf areas are required to establish access to
these areas. Accordingly, our categorisation
of shelf areas based on sediment thickness and geometry is being
broadly
addressed by groups of our project members in teams organised by
regions. This same information is also required for ecological
conservation of biota
on the shelves and in the management of sustainable fisheries, where
sediment
substrate properties are important.
A principal achievement during
2003 has been the training of more than 100 people, mostly from
developing countries, by their attendance at our short courses.
2.2. List of Meetings
The 2003 Annual meeting was
organised
by Adriana García and Allan Chivas, and held within the School
of
Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, near
Sydney, Australia.
This was a 5-day meeting (14-19 December 2003), attended by 45
delegates,
and comprising 2 days of formal presentations, one day of short courses
and
two days of fieldwork.
The formal presentations included
30 oral presentations, six posters and two business meetings.
Conference participants were from Australia, Brazil, Canada, China,
France, India, Italy, Korea, New
Zealand, Poland, Russia and Spain. A highlight of the meeting was the
first
public presentation of a map of the geomorphology of Australia’s shelf
and
offshore areas by Geoscience Australia (Andrew Heap).
There were three short courses
delivered, namely Seismic Stratigraphy (Francesco Chiocci), Stable
Isotopes in the Marine Environment (Allan Chivas), and Geochronology of
Quaternary Sediments (Bert Roberts, David Price, Simon Clarke, Allan
Chivas).
The field trips considered modern
shoreline deposits, just south of Wollongong (led by Adam Switzer and
Brian Jones), and the remarkable Permian cold shallow-water shelf
facies of the Sydney Basin
exposed in coastal cliff sections between Wollongong and Durras (150 km
to
the south) and led by Brian Jones. At Pebbly Beach, it was hard to drag
the overseas participants away from the free-ranging almost tame
kangaroos and colourful parrots.
The main outcome of the business
meetings related to the production of a multi-authored book on
Continental Shelves to be published as a special publication of the
Geological Society of London. Aspects of the subject-matter and
authorship were discussed, with a final format to be available by
mid-2004, for completion in 2005.
Other meetings
IGCP-464 hosted or co-hosted, two
other
meetings during 2003, namely:
- Our working group on ‘Human Interactions with
Shelves’
co-hosted a session on coastal migration routes into North America.
Special Session 1: Early Humans and the Evolving
Northeastern
Pacific Margin
at the Geological Association of Canada (GAC), Mineralogical
Association
of Canada (MAC), and Society of Economic Geologists (SEG) Joint Annual
Meeting
held in Vancouver 25-28 May 2003.
Organizers /
Organisateurs: Renée
Hetherington (Geological Survey of
Canada) and Vaughn Barrie (Geological Survey of Canada)
Sponsors: GAC
(Marine
Geosciences Division) and IGCP Project No. 464
This session focused on the
paleoenvironmental and paleogeographical evolution of the northeastern
Pacific margin, particularly leading into and subsequent to the Last
Glacial Maximum. This late Pleistocene evolution is a record of how
systems have responded to change in the past, how they may respond to
anticipated future climate change, and the impacts of change on the
coastal region's suitability for early human habitation. The session
was timely because any removal of a moratorium on oil exploration in
the Queen Charlotte Islands region of Canada’s Pacific Margin will
revive interest in land-use issues including land-claims and the
ecological, economic, and environmental impacts of resource
exploitation. Furthermore, Canada's coastlines, her people, and
infrastructure are vulnerable to the impacts of
anticipated climate change. Oral and poster presentations were given.
Papers entitled "The Ice-free
Corridor Revisited" (Jackson and Wilson) and "Quest for the Lost Land"
(Hetherington et al.) resulting from contributions made at this special
session will appear in the February 2004 issue of Geotimes.
Abstract titles:
Al-Suwaidi, M.H.*,
Ward,
B.C., Wilson, M.C., Enkin, R.J., Nagorsen, D.W. and Wigen, R.J.
Port
Eliza Cave: The sedimentology, stratigraphy and palaeontology of cave
deposits
and their implications for a human coastal migration route
Fladmark, K.R. KEYNOTE SPEAKER None if by Land, Two if by Sea: Assessing the relative
feasibility
of Late Pleistocerne coastal vs. interior migration routes for early
native
Americans moving south of Beringia
Hetherington, R.* and
Barrie,
J.V. Variations in timing and extent of Late Quaternary sea-level
change
and glacially-induced crustal displacement along the Pacific margin of
Canada: Potential role of tectonics at the plate boundary
Hetherington, R.*,
Barrie,
J.V., Reid, R.G.B. and MacLeod, R. The environment of late
Pleistocene
- early Holocene Queen Charlotte Islands archipelago, Western Canada
and
implications for early humans
Hetherington, R.*,
Barrie,
J.V., Reid, R.G.B., MacLeod, R. and Kung, R. Lost Landscapes: A
paleogeographic
reconstruction of the Queen Charlotte Islands archipelago, western
Canada
8.7 to 14.2 ka BP
Jackson, L.E.
The
timing of ice-free corridors through the Cordillera and adjacent
interior
plains--open and shut cases
Ward, B.*, Wilson,
M.,
Nagorsen, D., Wigen, B. and Al-Suwaidi, M. Port Eliza cave: North
American
west coast interstadial environment and implications for human
migrations
Wilson, M.C.*,
Hebda,
R.J. and Keddie, G. Early postglacial fossil bison from Vancouver
Island,
British Columbia, and Orcas Island, Washington: morphology, taxonomy
and
paleoecological setting
- The Polish Geological Institute (Gdansk)
hosted
the 2003 IGCP-464 European regional meeting (8-10 May). The theme of
the
meeting "Rapid Tansgressions into Semi-enclosed Basins’ attracted
participants
to discuss the Baltic Sea, Black Sea, Gulf of Carpentaria (Australia),
and
drew nearly 50 participants from Argentina, Australia, Bulgaria,
Denmark,
Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal,
Russia
(including the Kaliningrad enclave), and Sweden.
The meeting was superbly
organised by
Szymon Uscinowicz, Joanna Zachowicz and Regina Kramarska and convened
on
the Hel peninsula at Jastania. A delightful one-day excursion provided
a
wealth of information on Puck Lagoon and surrounds. The meeting was
largely supported by the Polish Geological Institute, with a useful
grant to support the travel of some scientists from developing
countries being provided by INQUA.
The edited refereed proceedings
of this
conference are in press as Polish Geological Institute, Special Papers
volume
11, edited by S. Uscinowicz, J. Zachowicz and R. Kramarska, and contain
11
papers as follows:
Eric Fouache, Alexei Porotov, Christel Muller, Youri
Gorlov
The Role of Neo-tectonics in the variation of the relative mean sea
level
throughout the last 6000 years on the Taman peninsula (Black Sea, Azov
Sea,
Russia)
Joao. M.A. Dias, R. Gonzalez, & Ó. Ferreira Natural
versus
anthropic causes in variations of sand export from river basins: an
example
from the Guadiana River mouth (Southwestern Iberia)
Reinhard Lampe, Wolfgang Janke The Holocene sea-level rise in
the
southern Baltic as reflected in coastal peat sequences
Gösta Hoffmann Postglacial to Holocene sedimentation
history
and palaeogeographical development of a barrier spit (Pudagla lowland,
Usedom
Island, SW Baltic coast)
Albertas Bitinas, Aldona Damuyte, The Litorina Sea at the
Lithuanian
maritime region
Roberto A. Violante and José Luis Cavallotto Evolution of
the
semi-enclosed basins and surrounding coastal plains adjacent to the
Pampean
region, Argentina
Mikhail A. Spiridonov, Vladimir A. Zhamoida The natural and
anthropogenic
features of the coastal zone of the eastern Gulf Of Finland.
Iwona Pomian Changes to the coastline in the neighbourhood of
the
Medieval port in Puck in the light of the research done so far by the
Central
Maritime Museum in Gdansk
Danuta J. Michczyńska, Adam Michczyński, Anna Pazdur,
Karol
Rotnicki Statistical analysis of radiocarbon dates as tool for
reconstruction
of environmental changes
Leonard Gajewski, Łukasz Gajewski , Stanislaw Rudowski,
Aleksandra
Stachowiak The relief of the offshore bottom at Karwia - Chałupy.
Polish
Baltic coast
Tycjan Wodzinowski The role of the
day by
day beach monitoring in shore transformation
- Selected publications
2003
Amos C.L., Li M.Z.,
Chiocci F.L.,
La Monica G.B., Cappucci S., King E.H., Corbani F. (2003). Origin of
shore-normal
channels from the shoreface of Sable Island, Canada. Journal of
Geophysical
Research, 108, C31-15.
Canals, M., Calafat, A.,
Camerlenghi, A., De Batist, M., Urgeles, R., Farrán, M.,
Geletti, R., Versteeg,
W., Amblás, D., Rebesco, M., Casamor, J.L., Sánchez, A.,
Willmott,
V., Lastras, G. And Imbo, Y. (2003). Uncovering the footprint of former
ice
streams off Antarctica; EOS, Transactions, American Geophysical
Union,
84 (11): 97-103.
Casanova, M.T.,
García,
A. And Feist, M. (2003). The ecology and conservation of Lychnothamnus
barbatus (Meyen) Leonhardi. Acta Micropalaeontologica Sinica
20:
118-128.
Chiocci F.L. and La Monica
G.B.
(2003) The use of relict sand lying on the continental shelf for
unprotected
beach nourishment. Soft Shore Protection and Environmental Innovation
in
Coastal Engineering edited by C. Goudas, G. Katsiaris, V. May, T.
Karambas
eds. Coastal Systems and Continental Margins n.7, Kluwer.
Chiocci F.L., Bosman A.,
Romagnoli C., Tommasi. De Alteriis G. (2003) The December 2002 Sciara
del Fuoco (Stromboli island) submarine landslide: a first
characterization, XXVIII Gen. Ass.
European Geophysical Society, Nice.
Collina-Girard, J
(2003).-La
géologie du Detroit de Gibraltar et le mythe De l'Atlantide. Bulletin
de la Société Vaudoise de Sciences Naturelles.
Lausanne,
(Switzerland).
Edgar, N.T., Cecil, C.B.,
Mattick, R.E., Chivas, A.R., De Deckker, P., Djajadihardja, Y.S.,
(2003). A modern analogue for tectonic, eustatic, and climatic
processes in cratonic basins: Gulf of Carpentaria, Northern Australia. SEPM
Special Publication 77,
SEPM (Society for Sedimentary Geology), p.193-205.
Espinosa, M.A., De
Francesco,
C.G. and Isla, F., (2003). Paleoenvironmental reconstruction of
Holocene
coastal deposits from the Southeastern Buenos Aires Province,
Argentina.
Journal of Paleolimnology, 29: 49-60.
Fedje, D.W., (2003).
Ancient
landscapes and archaeology in Haida Gwaii and Hecate Strait.In: R.L.
Carlson
ed. Archaeology of coastal British Columbia: essays in honour of
professor
Philip M. Hobler. Simon Fraser University Press.
Fernández-Salas
L.M.,
Lobo F.J., Hernández-Molina, F.J., Somoza L., Rodero J.,
Díaz
del Río, V. and Maldonado, A., (2003). High-resolution
architecture
of late Holocene highstand prodeltaic deposits froma southern Spain:
the
imprint of high-frequency climatic and relative sea-level changes. Continental
Shelf Research, 23: 1037-1054.
García, A. (2003).
Gyrogonite
and oospore morphology of Lychnothamnus barbatus (Meyen) Leonh.
(Charales)
from Australia: SEM data and comparison with the European populations. Acta
Micropalaeontologica Sinica 20: 111-117.
Hetherington, R. and Reid,
R.G.B., (2003). Malacological insights into the marine ecology and
changing climate of the late Pleistocene - early Holocene northeastern
Pacific. Canadian
Journal of Zoology 81: 626-661.
Hetherington, R., Barrie,
J.V.,
Reid, R.G.B., Macleod, R., Smith, D.J., James, T.S., and Kung, R.
(2003).
Late Pleistocene coastal paleogeography of the Queen Charlotte Islands,
British Columbia, Canada, and its implications for terrestrial
biogeography and early postglacial human occupation. Canadian
Journal of Earth Sciences 40:
1755-1766.
Lacourse, T, R.W. Mathewes
and
D.W. Fedje. (2003). Paleoecology of late-glacial terrestrial deposits
with
in situ conifers from the submerged continental shelf of western
Canada.
Quaternary Research 60: 180-188.
Lanzo G., A.Pagliaroli,
P.Tommasi, F.L.Chiocci (2003). Small-strain cyclic behaviour of a very
soft offshore clay in simple shear. International Workshop of Soft
Soils-Theory and
Practice, Vermeer, Schweiger and Cundy (Eds.).
Li Xuejie, Tang Rongge,
Chen
Fang, 2003. Diatom Distribution and the Environmental Changes from Late
Quaternary in Daya Bay, Guangdong (in English). Journal of Natural
Science Nanjing Normal University, 5(1): 90~94.
Li Xuejie, Jiang Maosheng,
2003.
Low carbonate event in northern South China Sea during the early
Holocene
and their paleoclimatic significance (in Chinese with English
abstract).
Journal of Palaeogeography, 5(3): 355~364.
Li Xuejie, 2003.
Distribution
of heavy metals in substrate of the Daya Bay, Guangdong, and assessment
of
the quality of the seafloor environment (in Chinese with English
abstract).
Geology in China, 30(4): 429~435.
Li Xuejie, Chen Fang and
Wang
Qun. 2003. Sedimentary environmental changes from late Pleistocene in
Daya
Bay, Northern South China Sea. International Geological Correlation
Programm
464 "Continental Shelves during the Last Glacial Cycle" Annual
Conference
Abstracts: p.44.
Lobo, F.J.,
Sánchez,
R., Dias, J.M.A., González, R., Hernández-Molina, F.J.,
Fernández-Salas,
L.M., Díaz del Río, V. Y Mendes, I.. 2003. Holocene
highstand
deposition on the Gulf of Cadiz shelf and its relationship with
circulation
patterns. In: (Eds. Vilas, F, Rubio, B., Diez, J.B.,Frances, G.,
Bernabeu,
M.A., Fernández, E., Rey, D. Y Rosón, G.) Special Volume
on
the 4th Symposium on the Atlantic Iberian Continental Margin,
Thalassas,
19 (2a), 65-66. ISSN: 0212-5919.
Lobo, F.J.,
González,
R., Dias, J.M.A., Hernández-Molina, F.J.,
Fernández-Salas,
L.M., Díaz del Río, V. Y Somoza, L. (2003).
Onshore-offshore
comparison of late Holocene highstand deposits in theGulf of Cadiz
margin
(SW Iberian Peninsula): a record of high-frequency environmental
fluctuations.
International Geological Correlation Program Project nº 437:
Coastal
Environmental Change During Sea Level Highstands: A Global Synthesis
with
Implications for Management of Future Coastal Change, 5th Annual
Meeting,
Otranto/Taranto (Italia), 22-28 September 2003.
Mahiques, M. M., Silveira,
I.
C. A., Sousa, S. H. M., Rodrigues, M. (2002). Post-LGM Sedimentation on
the
outer shelf / upper slope in the northernmost part of the São
Paulo
Bight, South-Eastern Brazil. Marine Geology, 181:387—400.
Pienitz, R., D. Fedje and
M.
Poulin (2003). Marine and non-marine diatoms from the Haida Gwaii
archipelago
and surrounding coasts, Northeast Pacific, Canada. J.Cramer press.
Stuttgart.
146pp.
Polyak, L., Lubinski,
D.J.,
& Stanovoy, V., (2003). Stable isotopes in benthic foraminiferal
calcite
from a river-influenced Arctic marine environment, Kara and Pechora
Seas.
Paleoceanography 18, 3-1 to 3-17.
Southon, J. R. And D. W.
Fedje,
(2003). A post-glacial record of 14C reservoir ages for the British
Columbia
coast. Canadian Journal of Archaeology, 27: 95-111.
Spalletti, L. A. And Isla,
F.,
2003). Características y
evolución del delta del Rio
Colorado ("Colú-Leuvú"), provincia de Buenos Aires,
República
Argentina.
Asociación Argentina de
Sedimentología,
10 (1): 23-37.
Torra, R. (2003)
Geología
del subsuelo del Área Metropolitana del Gran Resistencia,
Provincia
del Chaco, Nordeste de Argentina. Revista Ciência e Natura.
25: 51-70.
Uscinowicz Sz.,
Miotk-Szpiganowicz G., (2003). Holocene shoreline migration in the Puck
Lagoon (Southern Baltic Sea) based on the Rzucewo Headland case study. Landform
Analysis.
4: 81-95.
Uscinowicz Sz., - Relative
Sea
level changes, Glacio isostatic rebound and shoreline displacement in
the
Southern Baltic. Polish Geological Institute Special Papers,
10:1-79.
Willmott, V., Canals, M.
and
Casamor, J.L., (2003). Retreat history of the Gerlache-Boyd ice stream,
northern
Antarctic Peninsula: An ultra-high resolution acoustic study of the
deglacial
and post-glacial sediment drape; In Antarctic Peninsula Climate
Variability:
A Historical and Paleoenvironmental Perspective (E. Domack, A.
Leventer,
M. Kirby, P. Convey, A. Burnett and R. Bindschadler, eds.); Antarctic
Research
Series, American Geophysical Union.
Zeeberg, J.J., Forman,
S.L.
& Polyak, L., (2003). Glacier extent in a Novaya Zemlya fjord
during
the 'Little Ice Age' inferred from glaciomarine sediment records. Polar
Research, 22, 385-394.
2004, and in press:
A special issue of Quaternary
International (Vol 117 of 2004) with 17 papers from the 5th
International Conference on the Cenozoic Evolution of the Asia-Pacific
Environment. (eds N. Rutter, N. Jablonski, D. Ferguson and W. Yim) has
just appeared in print. This volume is the outcome of an
IGCP-464-sponsored conference in Hong Kong in November 2001.
Cavallotto, J.L.,
Violante,
R.A. and Parker, G., (2004). Sea-Level Fluctuations during the
last 8600 yr in the de la Plata river (Argentina). Quaternary
International,
114: 155-165.
Fedje, D.W., Q. Mackie;
E.J.
Dixon and T.H. Heaton (in press). Late Wisconsin environments and
archaeological visibility on the northern Northwest Coast. In: Entering
America: Northeast Asia and Beringia before the last glacial maximum
(D.B. Madsen ed.). University of Utah Press.
Fukumoto, M.M., Mahiques,
M.M.
and Tessler, M.G. Reconstruction of the Late Holocene history of Santos
Bay (Southeastern Brazil) based on organic matter characteristics. Journal
of Coastal Research, Special Issue 39. (in press).
García, A. and
Chivas,
A.R. (2004). The euryhaline genus Lamprothamnium (Charales,
Charophyta)
from Australia: statistical analyses and application to
paleoenvironmental
reconstruction. Journal of Paleolimnology (March 2004).
Hetherington, R., Barrie,
J.V.,
Reid, R.G.B., Macleod, R., and Smith, D.J. 2004. Paleogeography,
glacially-induced crustal displacement, and Late Quaternary coastlines
on the continental shelf of British Columbia, Canada. Quaternary
Science Reviews 23: 295-318.
Hetherington, R., Barrie,
J.V.,
Macleod, R., and Wilson, M. 2004. Quest for the Lost Land. Geotimes,
February: 21-24.
Hetherington, R. and
Barrie,
J.V. Interaction between local tectonics and glacial unloading on the
Pacific
margin of Canada. Quaternary International IGCP 437 special
journal
publication. Edited by U. Radtke, in press.
Iriondo, M., (2004). The
littoral
complex at the Paraná mouth. Quaternary International,
114:
143-154
Lin, I., Wang, C.H. and
Lin,
S.W., (accepted). Seasonal variations of oxygen isotopic compositions
in
the Pingtung coastal waters, Taiwan. Western Pacific Earth Sciences.
Violante, R.A. and Parker,
G.,
(2004). The post-Last Glacial Maximum transgression in the de
la Plata
river and adjacent inner continental shelf, Argentina. Quaternary
International,
114: 167-181
- List of countries involved in the project
Argentina*, Australia*, Belgium, Brazil*,
Bulgaria*,
Canada*, Chile, China*, Chinese Taiwan*, Denmark*, Egypt, Estonia*,
Finland*,
France*, Germany*, India*, Indonesia*, Israel*, Italy*, Japan*,
Lithuania*,
Korea*, Mozambique*, Netherlands, New Zealand*, Nigeria*, Norway,
Poland*,
Portugal*, Russia*, South Africa*, Spain*, Sweden*, Thailand, Turkey,
United
Kingdom*, USA*.
Six new member countries joined in 2003, and the
total
number of scientists reached 335 drawn from 37 countries.
- Activities involving other IGCP projects
The project is a member of the
CHANGES program which is a super-IGCP collaboration of Quaternary
activities also involving sister projects on the carbon cycle, karst,
and drylands. Our task
in this is to provide information relating to the carbon budget
(storage and
loss during episodes of subaerial exposure of the continental shelves).
This is recognised by the
IGCP-464 dedicated
topical symposium (T-05.03) nested with the CHANGES theme (T05) at the
forthcoming
IGC (Florence, August, 2004).
- Participation of scientists from developing countries
Project strategy
One of IGCP-464’s strategies is
the emphasis on research co-operation and research training (i.e.
capacity-building). We wish our project to achieve outcomes beyond
those that are a sum of several countries’ own independent research
programs.
There are several ways that our
strategy is expressed; as short courses given, where possible, to
participants in developing
countries, and as fostered research co-operation. The test of our
success,
is the documentation of those activities or projects that would not
have
developed without the IGCP-464 umbrella.
The following are examples of activities during 2003:
A. Offering a short-course
on marine isotope geochemistry (by A. Chivas) at the National Institute
of
Oceanography, Goa, India (24-25 January, 2003), attended by 80
participants. There are plans to repeat and lengthen this course and
re-present it in
June 2004.
B. The short courses presented at the 2003
Annual
meeting in Wollongong were well attended by participants from the
developing
world (China, India, Brazil, Korea, Poland) and post-graduate students
from
Spain, Italy and Australia.
C. A joint research agreement and funding
between
teams from France and China to work on the Northern South China Sea
shelf,
over several years.
D. Enthusiastic teams involving several
institutions from Argentina and Brazil have commenced joint work on the
east-coast South American shelves. During 2003, major supplementary
funds were sought for this activity from national granting agencies.
E. The offering of equipment and facilities
at host institutions in France, Australia, Italy, UK and Hong Kong to
project participants to enable study to occur on the continental
shelves of other countries. Under this plan, we can report:
(i) Three projects are underway, using Australian
resources,
for projects involving Indian scientists, in both the Arabian Sea and
the
Bay of Bengal.
(ii) Dr Prabhaker Shirodkar (Goa,
India) spent 2 months in Australia, refining techniques for isotopic
analysis.
iii) External funding sought
under the IGCP-project banner, permitted Paolo Abballe, pre-PhD
student, University of Rome, to undertake a one-year research program,
from October 2003, in Australia.
iv) Two Italian PhD students
(Laura Cassatta and Chiara Altobelli) are spending one year and five
months, respectively, in exchange, working on carbonate platforms, at
Curtin University, Perth, Australia.
F. Most of the members
within
the project, and also those who attend our annual meetings, are from
developing countries. Our funds are used almost exclusively to support
their participation in such meetings.
- Proposed activities for the year ahead
- General goals
To offer short courses to developing countries on
several topics, including seismic stratigraphy, geochemistry,
geotechnics and palaeoceanography. In 2003 we broadcast generalised
requests for expressions of interest for such plans, and received
positive replies from Argentina, Brazil, China, India,
Nigeria, Poland and Vietnam.
We are now completing a schedule for these
activities, including a request to UNESCO and /or the IGCP Secretariat
for further funds to permit these short-courses to be offered. There is
a concrete schedule for courses in India in mid 2004.
3.2 Future meetings
- Session T05.03 "Continental Shelves during the
last
Glacial Cycle" (IGCP-464) at the International Geological Congress,
Firenze
(August, 2004), has attracted 20 offered papers. The five invited oral
papers
are designed to showcase the project and to summarise its progress.
- The 2004 annual meeting of the project will be
held
in Rome (28 August-2 September) immediately after the IGC. It will
include
real-time sea-bed data gathering using the RV Urania in a
cruise to
the Pontine Islands, as part of an instruction course aimed at
delegates
from developing countries.
- For 2005: IGCP-464 thematic meeting on
Economic
Deposits on Continental Shelves, St. Petersburg, Russia, May/June 2005.
- For 2005: Regional meeting of the project, La
Plata,
Argentina, September, 2005
4. Project funding requested
We would like to request funding
at or near the upper end of the range, to financially support
attendance at two
meetings in 2004.
The back-to-back, IGC (Florence)
and Project annual meeting (Rome; with ship-based field collection),
will be expensive
with respect to travel, and on-site accommodation, for participants
from
developing countries. We will need support for delegates coming from
Argentina,
Brazil, China, India, Malaysia and Russia. As usual, we will allocate
all
our funding to the support of participants from developing countries.
On another front, we have written
separately to Dr Eder, requesting that consideration be given to
additional funding (possible
from UNESCO, more broadly), to allow our offering short courses in
developed
countries.
5. Project extension: N/A.
To contact IGCP464
email:
francesco.chiocci@uniroma1.it
Dip. Scienze della
Terra, Univ. "La Sapienza", P. Aldo Moro 5, 00185, Roma, Italy
