08/06/2008 23:00
08/14/2008 23:00
Etc/GMT
Geoscience World Congress 2008
“Earth System Science: Foundation for Sustainable Development"
For more information, please see: http://www.33igc.org
Several symposia at the 33rd International Geological Congress are of interest to InterRidge scientists.
Abstract submission deadline EXTENDED to 29 February 2008.
Topical Symposium EME-05: The Future of Marine Resources
Conveners: Sven Petersen, James Hein, Klaus Wallmann, Michael Wiedecke
Deep-ocean mining will become a reality within this decade. Consequently, this is a crucial time for the consolidation and advancement of our understanding that can be applied to the exploration for and development of marine resources world wide. These efforts are being driven and promoted by National concerns and private industry alike. Energy and metal prices have as much as quadrupled over the past five-to-ten years and clearly show that economic and political factors will drive increasing exploration and exploitation in the oceans over the near term. This Special Session will emphasize the presentation of overview talks on individual marine resources, their resource potential, and their impact on humankind and the environment. Examples of potential resources that will be stressed include polymetallic/massive sulfides, ferromanganese crusts, manganese nodules, phosphorites, and gas hydrates.
Biogeoscience General Symposium BGB-02: Geomicrobiology: Low temperature alteration, mineralization and microbial interactions
Conveners: Ingunn Thorseth and Crispin Little
The importance of microorganisms in many surface and subsurface geochemical processes (e.g. rock weathering, diagenesis, hydrothermal activity) is widely recognized. However, further extensive interdisciplinary research effort is required to fully explore and evaluate these processes. The objective of this session is to present the latest results and approaches in linking water-rock geochemical reactions and microbial processes. Contributions ranging from laboratory experiments, field studies and modeling are welcome.
Geodynamics and Plate Motions Interdisciplinary Symposium GDP-07: Mid-ocean ridges, a major geo-bio-hydro interface
Conveners (alphabetical): Donna Blackman, Colin Devey, Chuck Fisher, Chris German, Nadine LeBris
Until recently, our knowledge of many of the geological processes active at Mid-Ocean Ridges - one of the dominant features of global-scale plate-tectonics - and of the remarkable chemosynthetic communities that they host has been restricted to the results of short (< 1 month) very localised research cruises. Advances in deep submergence technology are rapidly making "fieldwork on the seafloor" and long-term continuous observation a feasible proposition. The intense volcanic, tectonic, hydrothermal and biological activity on oceanic spreading centers makes them one of the scientifically most exciting and interesting places to use these new technologies. In combination with ongoing broader-scale studies in the same area, these multi-disciplinary data allow new insights which stand to fundamentally change our view of the inter-dependent geological, hydrological and biological systems along the mid-ocean ridge axis. This session will showcase advances in ridge research, especially highlighting the results of international collaborations under the auspices of InterRidge.
Symposium MRD-03: Recent Developments on Marine Mineral Deposits
Co-conveners: David S. Cronan (d.cronan@ic.ac.uk), Peter A. Rona (rona@imcs.rutgers.edu) and Akira Usui (a-usui@cc.kochi-u.ac.jp)
This is an exciting and pivotal time for marine minerals. Industry is gearing up for initial mining of seafloor volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) deposits in volcanic island arcs of the western Pacific. Mining of offshore diamond placers is a sustainable industry offshore southwest Africa. Marine aggregates for beach nourishment and construction materials continues as the global mainstay of marine mining. Pioneer Investors are positioned with the International Seabed Authority for exploration and eventual mining of manganese nodules in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone in the eastern equatorial Pacific and in the Indian Ocean. Exploration and assessment continues on cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts on oceanic seamounts, and for various types of placer deposits and phosphorites on continental margins.
The Session will attempt to encapsulate the current 'state of the art' in research on all of these marine minerals, and serve as a snapshot of the present situation in this field. It will be supported by two pillars, hydrothermal minerals and placers/aggregates, the two most active areas of research and development at the present time, with other marine minerals topics between. The relative importance of these respective topics can be estimated from the fact that marine aggregate and placer mining is well established, with mining of marine hydrothermal deposits projected for the end of the present decade.
