| International Association of Geomorphologists |
Geomorphic Hazards: Towards the Prevention of Disasters, Regional Conference of the International Association of Geomorphologists, October 27-November 2, 2003 It is not often that one gets to attend an international conference with so much history behind the venue. Thus, it was a rare privilege and pleasure for the International Association of Geomorphologists (IAG) to hold their Regional Conference in the center of Mexico City under the auspices of the 174 year-old Sociedad Mexicana de Geografía y Estadística. In their courtyard we were greeted by a statue of Benito Juarez and a bust of Alexander von Humboldt. Juarez, according to the bronze plaque at the base of his statue, was the restorer of not only the Republic but also of the society, itself. As an added attraction, one evening in the courtyard colorfully dressed dancers provided a number of dances in honor of a variety of Aztec Gods. The dances must have worked because the program-at least from the standpoint of the participants-went off without a hitch. Of course, the organizing committee, under the dedicated leadership of Dr. Irasema Alcántara-Ayala, President of the Mexican Society of Geomorphology, had worked tirelessly for many months to insure the conference's success.
The theme of the conference was "Geomorphic Hazards: Towards the Prevention of Disasters." The paper and poster sessions were divided into 13 sections, including a section on Volcanic Geomorphology and Hazards, as one might expect since the conference was held not far from the sometimes active Popocatépetl. Other sections centered around such themes as river basins, hillslope processes, soil erosion, land degradation, coastal hazards, seismic hazards, remote sensing and hazards, risk analysis, and vulnerability. In addition, five plenary lectures touched on many of the conference themes.
The well-produced abstract volume is arranged topically and contains 218 abstracts. Most of the papers are authored by more than one person so that the total number of Geomorphologists involved was well over 250. The actual number of registrants totaled 152, with representation from 33 countries. Italy had the most with 27, followed by Mexico with 25 and Japan with 11.
In addition to the papers and posters presented during four days, the registrants were provided with a full-day field trip to either Popocatépetl or the Mexico Basin. The trip to Popo-as the locals often call it-provided the opportunity to see a fresh lahar that resulted from the volcano's recent activity. Pre- and post-conference field trips were held as was a special trip to Teotihuacán, the archaeological site north of Mexico City.
Social events were numerous and well orchestrated. Those participants who remained for Saturday and Sunday were treated to Mexico City's most important festival, Los Dias de los Muertos (The days of the dead) held on November 1 and 2, All Saint's Day and All Soul's Day.
Jesse Walker, Department of Geography & Anthropology, Louisiana State University, USA
The European Science Foundation (ESF) Network: Sedimentary Source-to-Sink-Fluxes in Cold Environments (SEDIFLUX) Climate change will cause major changes in the Earth surface systems, and the most dramatic changes are expected to occur in the cold climate environments of the Earth. Cold climate landscapes are some of the last wilderness areas containing specialized and diverse plants and animals as well as large stores of soil carbon. Geomorphological processes, operating at the Earth's surface, transferring sediments and changing landforms, are dependent on climate, vegetation cover and human impacts and will be significantly affected by climate change. In this context it is a major challenge to develop a better understanding of the complex ecosystems and the mechanisms and climatic controls of sedimentary transfer processes in cold environments. More reliable modelling of sediment transfer processes operating under present-day climatic settings is needed to determine the consequences of predicted climate change. It is necessary to collect and to compare data and knowledge from a wide range of different high latitude and high altitude environments and to develop more standardized methods and approaches for future research on sediment fluxes and relationships between climate and sedimentary transfer processes.
In Europe the wide range of high latitude and high altitude environments provides great potential to investigate climate-process relationships and to model the effects of climate change by using space-time substitution. The highly relevant questions to be addressed need a multidisciplinary approach and the joining of forces and expertise from different scientific fields. Especially a closer cooperation between geoscientists and biologists/ ecologists is urgently needed and links between running global change programmes and the ESF Network introduced here will be of major importance. The ESF Network, "Sedimentary source-to-sink-fluxes in cold environments" (SEDIFLUX, 2004-2006), will bring together leading scientists, key researchers, young scientists and research teams from different fields. The large number of projects run by the ESF Network participants demonstrates the high level of research activity of scientists working on sediment fluxes in different cold environments. The Network will form a framework for an integrated and multidisciplinary investigation of the research topic and will be a catalyst for strengthening and extending contacts and exchange. The Coordination Committee of SEDIFLUX consists of scientists from eight countries: Achim A. Beylich, Network Convenor, Sweden/Germany; Samuel Etienne, France; Bernd Etzelmüller, Norway; Vyacheslav V. Gordeev, Russia; Jukka Käyhkö, Finland; Volker Rachold, Germany; Andrew J. Russell, UK; Karl-Heinz Schmidt, Germany; Thorsteinn Samundsson, Iceland; Fiona S. Tweed, UK; and Jeff Warburton, UK.
The Network will be organized in different working groups. The following working groups are proposed: Weathering, Erosion, Chemical denudation, mass transfers, fluvial transfers and jökulhlaups, sinks, data management, sediment budgets, source-to-sink-fluxes/correlations. Network activities include four Workshops in Saudarkrokur, Iceland (2004), Clermont-Ferrand, France (2005), London, UK (2005) and Kevo, Finland (2006), Coordination Committee meetings, journal publications, publication of a handbook, and the diffusion and dissemination of Network activities and outputs by using electronic media (webpages, newsletters, forum).
A strong monitoring and operational data collection and more standardized methods will provide a baseline for the development of reliable models and for future research in the changing cold environments. Apart from further collaborations and collaborative research activities project and programme applications at a European level will be discussed.
For further information please contact Achim.Beylich@geo.uu.se
IAG Grants to young geomorphologists IAG Grants for the BGRG "Post-graduate Research Training Workshop", held at Cumberland Lodge, Windsor Great Park (UK), 8-11 December 2003, were awarded to Ph.D. students in geomorphology from Eastern Europe. Upon examination of the candidates' CVs and PhD research project abstracts, grants were awarded to György Sipos (Hungary) and Attila Nagy (Hungary).
Two IAG Grants were awarded to young Asian geomorphologists for the IAG Symposium on Geomorphology & Environment (Calcutta) and International Workshop on Landslides (Darjiling and Sikkim Himalayas), held in India, 27 February - 6 March 2004. After review of the applicants' CVs, IAG grants were awarded to Muh Aris Marfai (Indonesia) and Md. Saifuzzaman (Bangladesh). The Indian Institute of Geomorphologists (IGI), co-sponsor and organizer of the Symposium, also offered grants to Bamutze Yazdi (Uganda) and Silva Aguilera Crisanto Antonio (Venezuela). Unfortunately, they were unable to participate, so four young geomorphologists from India were supported instead: Biswajit Bhattarcharya, Paromita Majumder, Sutapa Saha, and Sumana Bhattacharya.
Another two IAG Grants were offered to young geomorphologists from less favoured countries for participating in the II Postgraduate Field Course on the Geomorphology and Quaternary Geology of Tierra del Fuego (Argentina, 6-22 March, 2004). These grants have been awarded to Juan M. Reynaldi (Argentina) and to Luz Maria Rodriguez Davila (Venezuela). Additional scholarships have been offered by local institutions to Argentine young researchers. The Antorchas Foundation awarded grants to Juan Federico Ponce (Argentina) and Leonardo Pierrard (Argentina). The Universidad Nacional del Centro, Tandil, Province of Buenos Aires, offered a grant to Maria Valeria Capristo (Argentina).
Please visit the IAG website (http://www.geomorph.org) for future training activities and grant offers.
Mauro Soldati, IAG Executive Committee Member
Spanish Geomorphological Society (SEG) The Spanish Geomorphological Society, which forms part of the IAG, was founded in Santander in 1987. At present the SEG has about 340 members, including scientists and technicians from universities, research centers, private and public institutions, students and other people interested in Geomorphology. Since its foundation, the SEG has focused its efforts in the promotion of activities related to the study and diffusion of the Spanish Geomorphology. The first national meeting was held in Teruel in 1990. Since then other meetings have been held every two years: in Murcia (1992), Logroño (1994), La Coruña (1996), Granada (1998), Madrid (2000) and Valladolid (2002). The next meeting will be held this year at Toledo. Selected oral and poster presentations of the biannual meetings are published in proceedings volumes. Other more focused meetings have also been convened, covering very different aspects like Present Perspectives in Geomorphology (Zaragoza, 1988), Slope Stability (Barcelona, 1989), Karst in Spain (Madrid, 1989), Volcanic Geomorphology (Tenerife, 1990), Palaeoweatherings in Western Spain (Salamanca, 1991), and Coastal Processes (Cádiz, 2000), all of which have been reported in proceedings volumes and/or field trip guides.
The SEG edits the journal Cuaternario & Geomorfología in collaboration with the Spanish Association for Quaternary Studies (AEQUA). The journal began in 1987 and 17 volumes have been published until now, with more than 120 articles, most of them related to geomorphological topics such as landscape evolution, environmental change, active processes or natural hazards. At the same time, a series of technical bulletins, "Cuadernos Técnicos de la SEG," are being published each year. At present 11 issues have appeared, dealing with different geomorphological techniques, like "Methods in Aeolian Erosion Studies", "Palynological Techniques", "Lichenometry", and "Rainfall Interception Measurements". More recently, during the V International Conference on Geomorphology held in Tokyo in 2002, the SEG presented the book: Recent Developments in Spanish Geomorphology (1980/2000), which includes a detailed report of the most important contributions and present state of the Spanish geomorphological research.
Between 1987 and 1999, AEQUA and SEG jointly edited an informative annual newsletter, "Raña". This has been replaced by the SEG web page: http://www.udc.es/seg, where more information can be found about such topics as the Executive Committee, member's addresses, and future meetings. The SEG president is currently E. Serrano, and Secretary is F.J. Gracia.
During the V International Conference on Geomorphology, Zaragoza (Spain) was elected as the city that will host the VI International Conference, to be organised by Prof. Mateo Gutiérrez Elorza (University of Zaragoza) on behalf of the Spanish Society of Geomorphology (SEG). It will be entitled Geomorphology in Regions of Environmental Contrasts. This will include a very complete program of sessions and field trips throughout the Iberian Peninsula, Canary and Ballearic Islands. The contact e-mail address is: iag2005@posta.unizar.es.
F. J. Gracia, Universidad de Cádiz (javier.gracia@uca.es) SEG Secretary
French Geomorphology Group The new officers of the French Geomorphology Group (Groupe Français de Géomorphologie) are President: Eric Fouache (Professeur á Paris XII), Vice-President: Monique Fort (Professeur á Paris VII), Secretary: Nathalie Carcaud (Maître de conférences á l'Université d'Angers), and Treasurer: Daniel Delahaye (Professeur á l'Université de Caen).
Eric Fouache, Paris
The role of Holocene environmental catastrophes in human history Two research projects, one supported by the International Council for Science (ICSU) and one by the International Geological Correlation Programme (IGCP), are collaborating to refine the record of rapid environmental change during the Holocene, examine how past societies and communities reacted in the face of harmful change, and explore the implications of rapid natural change for current environmental and public policies. The ICSU project, called " Dark nature: rapid natural change and human responses," grew out of a conference in Brunel University, UK, in 2002 on Holocene catastrophes and recoveries. It is supported for 2004-2005. The IGCP project (460), "the role of Holocene environmental catastrophes in human history," has been approved for the period 2003 to 2007. The projects are interdisciplinary, extending from the earth sciences and geography into archaeology, anthropology, and ecology. The first two meetings are planned for Mauritania (January 2004) and Turkey (June 2004).
Professor Suzanne Leroy, from the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, Brunel University, UK, is the leader for the ICSU project, and co-leader, with Dr. Iain Stewart (University of Glasgow, Scotland) of the IGCP 490 project.
Both projects are supported by and in collaboration with IAG.
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 the IAG Publications Officer:
Carol Harden, Department of Geography, 304 Burchfiel Geography Building, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA 37996-0925. Fax 1+ 865 974 6025; e-mail: charden@utk.edu
INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF GEOMORPHOLOGISTS President
Mario PANIZZA
Dip. Scienze Terra
Universita di Modena e Reggio Emilia
Largo S. Eufemia, 19
I-41100 Modena, ITALY
Ph.: +39 059 2055840
Fax: +39 059 2055887Vice President
Andrew GOUDIE
School Geography & Environ.
University of Oxford
Mansfield Road
Oxford OX1 3TB, UNITED KINGDOM
Ph.: +44 1865 271921
Fax: +44 1865 271940Secretary
Dénes LOCZY
Dep. Physical Geography
University of Pécs
Ifúság útja 6
H-7624 Pécs, HUNGARY
Ph.: +36 72 327 622 e4482
Fax: +36 72 327 622 e4480
IAG Account number: 068-2376668-01 IAG - DEXIA Banque
Av. Centenaire, 42 - B-4102 Ougree, Belgium
Account IBAN: BE 43-0682-3766-6801
SWIFT: GKCCBEBBVisit the IAG Web Site at: www.geomorph.org
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