International Association of Geomorphologists
Newsletter no. 16 (2/1999)

Sohei Kaizuka (1926-1998)
Sohei Kaizuka, Prof. Emeritus of the Tokyo Metropolitan University, was a leading Japanese geomorphologist and Quaternary geologist. He also served as President of the Japanese Association for Quaternary Research and Chair of the National Committee for Quaternary Research. His research included tephrochronology of the Tokyo area, rapid uplift of volcanic islands, geomorphic development of coastal areas related to sea level and tectonic movement, formation of low relief erosional surfaces, origin of mountains and plains, and the role of plate tectonics in the formation of Japanese Islands. His study area extended to North America, Chile and China. He published more than 100 scientific papers and several books on natural history and landforms. In addition, he instigated, planned, and largely prepared Geomorphology Illustrated (1985), the Quaternary Map of Japan (1987), Active Faults of Japan (1980), and a greatly expanded edition of the Active Faults book (1991). All these books became fundamental references in Japan. Overseas he is perhaps best known as one of the co-authors of Landforms of Japan (1981), an English-language introduction to Japanese geomorphology. He completed his final book, Historical Geomorphology (1998), while ill, but saw it published two months before his death in November. His next big project was to have been a seven volume Japanese-language treatise on the landforms of Japan. Inspired by Professor KAIZUKA, other scientists are proceeding with this effort and plan to publish the volumes, dedicated to him, in the year 2000.
YOKO OTA
Alfred Jahn (1915-1999)
With great sadness, we announce the unexpected death of Professor ALFRED JAHN, the senior Polish geomorphologist of worldwide reputation, on April 1, 1999. His remarkably long career began in the late thirties in Lwow (Lvov), with geomorphological studies in what is now western Ukraine and, after interruption by World War II, continued in Lublin and then, since 1949, in Wroclaw. He became Professor of Geography, and then served as Head of the Geographical Institute, Dean of the Natural Sciences Faculty and, in 1962-68, as Rector of the University of Wroclaw. Although he retired in the early nineties, he remained active and as late as 1998 attended the IV Conference of Polish Geomorphologists, generating much respect from younger generation geomorphologists for his energetic dancing.
Alfred Jahn is difficult to classify by subject because the thematic range of his writings was so wide. He wrote about periglacial processes and landforms, glaciers and glacial landscapes, mass movements on slopes in different climates, granite landforms and weathering, loess and many other subjects. Yet he himself would probably emphasize his dedication to polar environments, which he saw for the first time in 1937 in Greenland. The list of Polar regions visited by Alfred Jahn is imposing: Alaska, northern Canada, Spitsbergen, northernmost Norway, great expanses of Siberia, and, of course, Greenland. His approach to Polar areas was unlike most approaches of today. Alfred Jahn made clear that he was seeking analogues to the cold Pleistocene environments of central Europe, trying to explain the past through the present. And indeed many details of the geomorphology of Poland would probably have gone unnoticed in the absence of Alfred Jahn's experience from the north. This inclination towards comparative method was also reflected in his later attempts to explain pre-Quaternary geomorphology of SW Poland through comparisons with the present-day tropics and processes operating there, including deep weathering. Unfortunately, this work will remain unfinished.
What is the distinctive contribution of Alfred Jahn to the world of geomorphology? It is never easy to assess the impact of people from non-English or non-German speaking countries because the access to many of their papers is inevitably difficult. For instance, his thorough regional study of the Lublin Upland 'Wyzyna Lubelska', published in Polish more than 40 years ago, has become the fundamental reference work for all dealing with upland geomorphology of Poland, but it is virtually unknown outside Poland. There are however fields where Alfred Jahn did gain unquestioned worldwide reputation. First of all was his understanding of contemporary slope processes. He concentrated attention on the phenomenon of soil creep and was the first scientist to provide a long-term creep record in mountain environments that encompassed more than 15 years. Widely quoted are also his papers on gravitational deformation of steep mountain slopes, extreme events in high latitudes, periglacial landforms, granite tors, and last, but not least, the book 'Problems of the Periglacial Zone' translated into English in 1975.
Alfred Jahn's involvement in geomorphological commissions of the IGU was also significant. In the seventies, he chaired the Present-Day Geomorphological Processes Commission and he was active in the Periglacial Processes Commission. We have lost an internationally respected geomorphologist. It is our obligation to maintain and enhance the scientific legacy he has left.
PIOTR MIGON
Fifth International Conference on Geomorphology, Tokyo, 23-28 August, 2001
The Fifth International Conference on Geomorphology will be hosted by the Japanese Geomorphological Union (JGU) at the Korakuen Campus, Chuo University. Chuo University is located in the centre of Tokyo about 60 km from Tokyo (Narita) International Airport. Tokyo is notorious for high costs, but the JGU will make every effort to reduce expenses, e.g. through special arrangements with hotels etc. suited to the rather informal style of geomorphologists. The Conference program features plenary lectures, symposia, sessions (paper, poster, video and computer display), one-day excursions and other events. Pre- and post-conference activities include field trips, commission and workshop meetings.
Main Topics: Presentations may be submitted on any geomorphic topic but the organising committees wish to concentrate on themes related to "Geomorphology in a tectonically, climatically and anthropologically sensitive zone", exemplified by the Japanese islands.
Various sessions are planned, covering the main topics of the discipline. Tentative themes for the symposia are:

Rock control in geomorphological processes,
Rapid mass movements and related fluvial processes,
Geomorphological significance of active faults and seismo-tectonics,
Volcanic landforms,
Hydrogeomorphological processes in humid regions,
Geomorphic response to global change,
Geomorphic processes and lake sedimentation,
Laboratory approaches to geomorphological problems,
Geomorphological consequences of large-scale anthropogenic transformation of the Earth's surface,
Geomorphometry, modelling and theory,
GIS and Geomorphology.

The Organising Committee is open for proposals for further symposia or special sessions. Any questions or suggestions concerning the scientific program should be addressed to
K. Okunishi
Disaster Prevention Research Institute,
Kyoto Univ.,
Uji, Kyoto, 611-0011, Japan.
e-mail: okunishi@slope.dpri.kyoto-u.ac.jp.
Field trips: The following pre- and post-conference field trips have been proposed and will be run if there is a sufficient number of participants. Costs are provisional estimates only.
A: pre-conference field trips,
B: post-conference field trips,
C: Field trips in China and Korea

A1: Subtropical landforms and soils: The Ryukyu Islands and Minami-daito Island, with K. Urushibara-Yoshino et al. Start and finish at Naha. 6 days. 140,000 yen.
A2: Active volcanoes and volcanic landforms: Kyushu, with S. Yokoyama et al. Start at Nagasaki and finish at Kagoshima. 5 days. 90,000 yen.
A3: South-western Japan transect: Shikoku and Chugoku including marine terraces, big landslides, anthropogenic landforms due to old iron smelting, erosion surfaces, and volcanoes. Start at Kochi and finish at Yonago. 5 days. 90,000 yen.
A4: Huge man-made landforms, earthquake disasters and granite landforms: Around Kobe, with T. Okimura et al. Start and finish at Kobe or Kansai International Airport. 3 days. 35,000 yen.
A5: Active faults at the tip of Philippine Sea plate: Around Fuji and Hakone, with H.Yamazaki et al. Start at Fuji City and finish at Tokyo. 3 days. 40,000 yen.
A6: Rock control, abrupt seismic upheaval, and natural and man-made coastal landforms: Boso Peninsula and Tokyo Bay, with T. Sunamura et al. Start at Narita (New Tokyo International Airport and finish at Tokyo. 4 days. 50,000 yen.
A7: Field experiments in hydrogeomorphology and rock control at Northern Hokkaido, with Y. Tanaka et al. Start and finish at Sapporo. 3 days. 35,000 yen.
B1: Active tectonic phenomena along the Median Tectonic Line: Kyushu, Shikoku, Awaji, and around Osaka, with A. Okada et al. Start at Oita and finish at Kobe or Kansai International Airport. 5 days. 90,000 yen.
B2: Field experiments in hydrogeomorphology and rock control in west-central Japan: Around Nagoya, Kyoto and Kobe, with Y. Onda et al. Start at Nagoya and finish at Kobe or Kansai International Airport. 3 days. 40,000 yen.
B3: Alpine landforms: Japanese Alps, with N. Matsuoka et al. (tentatively). Start and finish at Tokyo. 5 days. 80,000 yen.
B4: Huge landslides and debris flows: Central Japan, with K. Okunishi et al. Start and finish at Tokyo. 4 days. 60,000 yen.
B5: North-eastern Japan transect: Erosion surfaces, fossil periglacial phenomena, marine terraces, a big caldera and pyroclastic flow deposits, and landslide swarms in northern Honshu, with T. Tamura et al. Start at Morioka and finish at Aomori. 5 days. 75,000 yen.
B6: Glaciation, volcanic activity and fluvial and marine terracing in Northern Japan: Hokkaido, with K. Hirakawa et al. Start and finish at Sapporo. 5 days. 80,000 yen.
B7: Fluvial and tectonic landforms in central Japan: Kwanto and Chubu Districts, with H. Ohmori,K. Saito et al. Start and finish at Tokyo. 5 days. 70,000 yen.
C1: Xining - Lhasa, 10 days (by land cruiser), pre-congress: August 11 - 20 (21-22/8 for transportation from Lhasa to Tokyo via Beijing or Shanghai); post-congress: August 31 - September 9 (29-30/8 for transportation from Tokyo to Xining via Beijing). ca. 2,000 US$.
C2: Xian - Urumqi (Loess Plateau - Hexi Corridor - Gobi desert), 12 days (by coach), pre-congress: August 9 -20 (21-22/8 for transportation from Urumqi to Tokyo via Beijing); post-congress: August 31 - September 11 (29-30/8 for transportation from Tokyo to Xian via Beijing). ca. 1,800 US$.
C3: Yichang - Chongqing (by boat), 7 days, pre-congress: August 14 - 20 (21-22/8 for transportation from Chongqing to Tokyo via Beijing or Shanghai); post-congress: August 31 - September 6 (29-30/8 for transportation from Tokyo to Yichang via Beijing). ca. 1,050 US$.
C4: Kunming area, 7 days (by car), pre-congress: August 14 - 20 (21-22/8 for transportation from Kunming to Tokyo via Beijing or Shanghai); post-congress: August 31 - September 6 (29-30/8 for transportation from Tokyo to Kunming via Beijing). ca. 1,050 US$.
C1-C4: For information contact: Z. Quingsong or Z. Guoyou, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Fax: 8610-6491-1104 or 8610-6491-1844
C5: Dynamic Taiwan: Taipei, Toroko National Park, Taitung and Hualian (longitudinal valley), with L. Jiun-Chuan et al. Start and finish at Taipei. 6 days. August 17 - 22. 400 US$.
C6: Coastal and river terraces, karst landforms, pediment morphology in South Korea withK. Jong Wook et al. Start at Pusan and finish at Seoul.

Registration: Preliminary (not binding) registration is necessary to receive the Second Circular! If no registration form is available provide the following information: Your name and title, mailing address, phone, fax, e-mail address. If you want to submit a presentation indicate its format (paper, poster, other) and provisional title or theme. If you are interested in attending one or more of the field trips indicate your three top choices in order of preference. Send your registration to: Fifth International Conference on Geomorphology c/o Convention Linkage, Inc. Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-0052, Japan. FAX: +81-3-5770-5532, e-mail: 5icg@aptech.co.jp
(On-line registration at http://wwwsoc.nacsis.ac.jp/jgu/).
News from Members
Carpatho-Balcanic Conference on Geomorphology, Baile Herculane - Orsova - Turnu Severin, Romania, October 11-17, 1998
The conference celebrated the 35th anniversary of the Carpatho-Balcanic Association of Geomorphology and was the first Conference on Geomorphology of such broad regional and international interest to be held in Romania. It was organised by the Institute of Geography of the Romanian Academy and the Faculty of Geography of the Bucharest University. 26 invited delegates from Armenia, Croatia, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Turkey and Hungary and 80 Romanian geomorphologists attended the Baile Herculane Conference. The welcome address was given by the President of the Geonomic Sciences Section of the Romanian Academy, Prof.Mircea Sandulescu. The IAG was represented by its Vice-president, Prof. Mario Panizza from the University of Modena (Italy).
On the first day two paper sessions addressed four topics:

"Neogene Evolution of the Carpatho-Balcanic Region",
"Present-day Geomorphological Processes and the Environment",
"Structural Geomorphology" and
"Fluvial Processes and Valley Evolution".
The second day was devoted to poster sessions with more than 60 posters in four sections:

"Structural Geomorphology and Paleogeography",
"Glacial and Periglacial Geomorphology",
"Present-day Geomorphological Processes and Natural Hazards" and
"Geomorphology and Environment in Mountain Areas".
In the afternoon a round table was held in the town of Orsova on "Geomorphological Hazards and Environment in Mountain Areas".
On the following three days there were field trips to the western part of the Southern Carpathians and the southern part of the Western Carpathians. The first route included the karst areas of Cerna, Mehedinti and Valcan Mountains and the Mehedinti Plateau (relief evolution, karst morphology and applied aspects). The second and the third routes focused on the Danube Gap at the Iron Gate (evolution and present-day processes on the valley's slopes). On a boat trip on the Portile de Fier Reservoir abrasion processes and geoecological problems of the lake region were discussed.
During the conference Prof. Dan Balteanu was elected new chairman of the Carpatho-Balcanic Association of Geomorphology and the programme of the Association for the next period was fixed. The conference papers included the programme, a volume of abstracts and a field guidebook. A volume of the proceedings is in print. All the material is published in English. For further information please contact the Institute of Geography of the Romanian Academy, Bucharest, str. Dimitrie Racovita 12, 70307, Tel: 0040-1-3135990, Fax: 0040-1-3111242, E-mail: danbalteanu@hotmail.com
SORIN ROATA
Editor's Note
The success of the IAG-Newsletter depends upon the contributions that we receive. Please assist by sending commentaries, reviews of regional or national meetings and field trips, summaries of issues pertinent to geomorphology, and announcements of future meetings and workshops.
Your contributions should be forwarded to
C. EMBLETON-HAMANN, Institut fuer Geographie der Universitaet Wien, Universitaetsstrasse 7, A - 1010 Wien, Austria. Fax: (+431) 4277 9486; e-mail: christine.embleton-hamann@univie.ac.at.

© 1999 International Association of Geomorphologists
All rights reserved

A1:	Subtropical landforms and soils: The Ryukyu Islands and Minami-daito Island, with K. Urushibara-Yoshino et al. Start and finish at Naha. 6 days. 140,000 yen.
A2:	Active volcanoes and volcanic landforms: Kyushu, with S. Yokoyama et al. Start at Nagasaki and finish at Kagoshima. 5 days. 90,000 yen.
A3:	South-western Japan transect: Shikoku and Chugoku including marine terraces, big landslides, anthropogenic landforms due to old iron smelting, erosion surfaces, and volcanoes. Start at Kochi and finish at Yonago. 5 days. 90,000 yen.
A4:	Huge man-made landforms, earthquake disasters and granite landforms: Around Kobe, with T. Okimura et al. Start and finish at Kobe or Kansai International Airport. 3 days. 35,000 yen.
A5:	Active faults at the tip of Philippine Sea plate: Around Fuji and Hakone, with H.Yamazaki et al. Start at Fuji City and finish at Tokyo. 3 days. 40,000 yen.
A6:	Rock control, abrupt seismic upheaval, and natural and man-made coastal landforms: Boso Peninsula and Tokyo Bay, with T. Sunamura et al. Start at Narita (New Tokyo International Airport and finish at Tokyo. 4 days. 50,000 yen.
A7:	Field experiments in hydrogeomorphology and rock control at Northern Hokkaido, with Y. Tanaka et al. Start and finish at Sapporo. 3 days. 35,000 yen.
B1:	Active tectonic phenomena along the Median Tectonic Line: Kyushu, Shikoku, Awaji, and around Osaka, with A. Okada et al. Start at Oita and finish at Kobe or Kansai International Airport. 5 days. 90,000 yen.
B2:	Field experiments in hydrogeomorphology and rock control in west-central Japan: Around Nagoya, Kyoto and Kobe, with Y. Onda et al. Start at Nagoya and finish at Kobe or Kansai International Airport. 3 days. 40,000 yen.
B3:	Alpine landforms: Japanese Alps, with N. Matsuoka et al. (tentatively). Start and finish at Tokyo. 5 days. 80,000 yen.
B4:	Huge landslides and debris flows: Central Japan, with K. Okunishi et al. Start and finish at Tokyo. 4 days. 60,000 yen.
B5:	North-eastern Japan transect: Erosion surfaces, fossil periglacial phenomena, marine terraces, a big caldera and pyroclastic flow deposits, and landslide swarms in northern Honshu, with T. Tamura et al. Start at Morioka and finish at Aomori. 5 days. 75,000 yen.
B6:	Glaciation, volcanic activity and fluvial and marine terracing in Northern Japan: Hokkaido, with K. Hirakawa et al. Start and finish at Sapporo. 5 days. 80,000 yen.
B7:	Fluvial and tectonic landforms in central Japan: Kwanto and Chubu Districts, with H. Ohmori,K. Saito et al. Start and finish at Tokyo. 5 days. 70,000 yen.
C1:	Xining - Lhasa, 10 days (by land cruiser), pre-congress: August 11 - 20 (21-22/8 for transportation from Lhasa to Tokyo via Beijing or Shanghai); post-congress: August 31 - September 9 (29-30/8 for transportation from Tokyo to Xining via Beijing). ca. 2,000 US$.
C2:	Xian - Urumqi (Loess Plateau - Hexi Corridor - Gobi desert), 12 days (by coach), pre-congress: August 9 -20 (21-22/8 for transportation from Urumqi to Tokyo via Beijing); post-congress: August 31 - September 11 (29-30/8 for transportation from Tokyo to Xian via Beijing). ca. 1,800 US$.
C3:	Yichang - Chongqing (by boat), 7 days, pre-congress: August 14 - 20 (21-22/8 for transportation from Chongqing to Tokyo via Beijing or Shanghai); post-congress: August 31 - September 6 (29-30/8 for transportation from Tokyo to Yichang via Beijing). ca. 1,050 US$.
C4:	Kunming area, 7 days (by car), pre-congress: August 14 - 20 (21-22/8 for transportation from Kunming to Tokyo via Beijing or Shanghai); post-congress: August 31 - September 6 (29-30/8 for transportation from Tokyo to Kunming via Beijing). ca. 1,050 US$.
C1-C4: For information contact: Z. Quingsong or Z. Guoyou, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Fax: 8610-6491-1104 or 8610-6491-1844
C5:	Dynamic Taiwan: Taipei, Toroko National Park, Taitung and Hualian (longitudinal valley), with L. Jiun-Chuan et al. Start and finish at Taipei. 6 days. August 17 - 22. 400 US$.
C6:	Coastal and river terraces, karst landforms, pediment morphology in South Korea withK. Jong Wook et al. Start at Pusan and finish at Seoul.

International Association of GeomorphologistsNewsletter no. 16 (2/1999)

Sohei Kaizuka (1926-1998)

Alfred Jahn (1915-1999)

Fifth International Conference on Geomorphology, Tokyo, 23-28 August, 2001

News from Members

Editor's Note

HTMLed by The Association of Polish Geomorphologists

International Association of Geomorphologists
Newsletter no. 16 (2/1999)