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10th CAVEPS and Quaternary Extinction Symposium
March 29 - April 2, 2005
Naracoorte, SA, Australia

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NOTICE: The server to the Winnipeg CANQUA abstract submission site has been periodically down for the past day or so. Please try again if you've been rebuffed; the format and address can be found on the meeting web site <http:www.umanitoba.ca/canqua>. We are extending the deadline until next week.

2nd International Congress
“The World of Elephants”

Hot Springs, South Dakota, USA September 22-25,  2005


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The Quaternary Times
Newsletter of the American Quaternary Association

Volume 29 Number 2 December 1999

Announcements


British Antarctic Survey Metadata

The British Antarctic Survey Metadata MDMS is maintained by the Antarctic Environmental Data Centre (AEDC), the designated repository of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) for UK Antarctic data. All aspects of Antarctic science are represented in the system, including:

  • Ice bed topography
  • Long-term ozone monitoring records
  • Sedimentary records from Antarctic and Sub-Antarctic lakes
  • Long-term meteorological records
  • Climate models
  • Ice-core records
  • Physical and biological oceanography
  • Mapping, GIS and GPS data
  • Atmospheric chemistry

The MDMS now contains several hundred publicly-available metadata records which can be accessed from http://www.nerc-bas.ac.uk:8000/query/ Contact: Adam Gardner; arga@bas.ac.uk

Graduate Traineeship

The entering award consists of a nine-month traineeship for graduate study in conjunction with interdisciplinary Research Training Group (RTG) in ecology, geology, archaeology, geography, and soils to enhance training in "Paleorecords of Global Change." Only citizens, nationals or permanent residents of the US qualify for stipends. Application deadline is January 4, 2000. For application, contact: Sue Julson, RTG, University of Minnesota, Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, 1987 Upper Buford Circle, St. Paul, MN 55108; 612-624-4238; Fax: 612-624-6777; julso001@tc.umn.edu; http://lrc.geo.umn.edu/RTG/. An equal opportunity educator and employer.

Geoarchaeology Interest Group

A formal Geoarchaeology Interest Group (GIG) has been established within the Society for American Archaeology (SAA). The Group has over 500 members and has scheduled a symposium, "Rockshelter Sediment Records and Environmental Change in the Mediterranean," and field trip for the 65th Annual Meeting of the SAA in Philadelphia, April 5-9, 2000. For additional information about GIG, contact Rolfe Mandel; mandel@ falcon.cc.ukans.edu or Julie Stein; jkstein@u.washington.edu. For more information about the symposium, contact Jamie Woodward at: jamie@ geography. leeds.ac.uk

The one-day field trip is planned for April 4th. The theme of the trip is "Current Geoarchaeological Research Topics in the Middle Atlantic Region." The trip is being organized and led by Doug Kellogg. After an urban stop near Independence Hall in Philadelphia, the route will lead from the Piedmont geomorphic province down onto the Coastal Plain province to several archaeological sites. Contact Doug at: dkellogg@johnmilnerassociates.com

ESH Announcement of Opportunity

The NSF and NOAA program managers for ESH (Earth System History) are issuing a new Announcement of Opportunity for ESH 2000 and 2001. The Announcement now defines six areas of emphasis and states that priority will be given to proposals that address those areas:

1. Paleoclimate Variability at Annual to Decadal Resolution (PAGES-CLIVAR). Emphasis is on two time streams (a) last 2000 years and (b) older intervals for which at least decadal resolution can be achieved.

2. Rapid (Abrupt) Climate Change. Any time scale, provided case is made for understanding either the cause of or response to a "rapid" change

3. Extreme Warm Conditions. Refers to climates warmer than the present; may include characterizing conditions, addressing processes at beginning and end of warm phases and feedbacks that sustain the warm period.

4. Spatial Patterns of Climate Change. Long, high-resolution records that contribute to large-scale (regional) aspects of climate change, such as teleconnections (tropical-high latitude, interhemispheric). Relevance to PAGES efforts such as PEP, PANASH, IMAGES and continental drilling is stressed.

5. Arctic Paleoclimate. Sensitivity of the Arctic system; see recent publication on Paleoenvironmental Arctic Sciences for major themes.

6. Data/Model Interactions. Using models to understand sensitivity of the Earth system, or testing a model against geologic data. In addition to these areas, proxy development, improved chronology, and proposals to develop/apply new statistical techniques to deal with multivariate data are encouraged.

A copy of the new announcement can be downloaded at:http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2000/nsf0011/nsf0011.html

Desert Soil- Geomorphology Project

A field study tour will be held in May 22-26, 2000 at the Desert Soil- Geomorphology Project Area in southern New Mexico. The tour is held in honor of Leland H. Gile, Project co-founder, who will be completing 45+ years of soil- geomorphic research. The tour features fundamentals in soil classification, soil morphology, soil genesis, and soil- geomorphic relations as they pertain to arid and semiarid regions will be stressed. Soils of a number of great groups in the Entisols, Aridisols, and Mollisols will be studied in the field. They will be illustrated in large trenches and arroyo exposures, some of which extend through several kinds of soils and illustrate soil boundaries. The Desert Project Guidebook and its supplement will be used on the tour. The tour will be led by John Hawley, H. Curtis Monger, Leland Gile, Robert Grossman, and Greg Mack. For fees and other information, contact H. Curtis Monger (Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, MSC 3Q, NMSU, Las Cruces, NM 88003; 505-646-1910; fax: -6041; cmonger@nmsu.edu) or see: http://soil-physics.nmsu.edu/DesertProjectTour/. The tour will be limited to 100 people.

Arctic Paleosciences

"The Arctic Paleosciences in the Context of Global Change Research-PARCS, Paleoenvironmental Arctic Sciences," published by the Earth Systems History (ESH) Secretariat at the American Geophysical Union, is now available. The report was developed through a workshop sponsored by NSF in Boulder, CO, on 8-9 October 1998. It is intended to build on the Paleoclimates from Arctic Lakes and Estuaries (PALE) component of the ESH and Arctic System Science (ARCSS) Programs to delineate research directions and an effective management structure that will enable the community's contribution to a more complete understanding of the Arctic's paleoenvironmental history and how arctic environmental processes are related to the global environment. Copies of the plan are available at: http://www. arcus.org/ parcs/fr_parcs.html or in printed form at: Earth Systems History Secretariat, Deptartment of Education and Research, American Geophysical Union, 2000 Florida Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20009-1277 USA; 202-939-3220; fax: 202-328-0566; JGiesler@agu.org

Geoarchaeological Field School

This field school will be held at the Gault Clovis Site, TX on January 20-April 30, 2000. It includes training in site excavation procedures and geoarchaeology, techniques for photographing and recording archaeological data, laboratory processing and sorting of archaeological materials, and evening lecture series on the application of archaeological theory to field archaeology. Contact: Harry Shafer, or Michael Waters, Anthropology Department, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843; 409-845-5242; h-shafer@tamu.edu; mwaters@ tamu.edu

Micromorphology of Glaciogenic Sediments

This course (February 14-18, 2000

Surrey, UK) will involve instruction in the techniques of sampling, preparation of thin sections including microscopic and image analysis of thin sections and their interpretation. The course will explore processes involved in the formation of the glaciogenic deposits. A presentation session will allow those attending to outline their own area of research interest.

For further details see: http://glacier. gg.rhbnc.ac.uk/ Contact: Jim Rose, Department of Geography, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey, TW20 0EX, UK; 00 44 1784 443 807; Fax: 00 44 1784 443 736; j.rose@rhbnc.ac.uk

Vigil Network: Internet Data Archival

The Vigil Network was established in the early 1960s to address the need for long-term, broad-spectrum data collection to facilitate geomorphic studies and the study of global climate change. The Vigil Network is a system of small sites and drainage basins where geomorphic, hydrologic, and biological data are periodically collected (Leopold, 1962). Observation periods are intended to be greater than the life span of a single individual so that long-term variations in landscape characteristics may be recognized. Data are intended to be archived in a readily retrievable format to allow study by future generations of scientists. There are currently 82 study sites in the Vigil Network representing the United States, Sweden, Puerto Rico, Israel, and Botswana. Landscape features of interest at a site are permanently benchmarked and are periodically resurveyed to observe changes in the features. The current archival method for the Vigil Network data base makes it difficult for scientists to access the data. Researchers must either visit a repository in person to view and print the data and reports contained on the microfiche, or they must request hard copies of site records from the repositories. A project is now underway at the USGS Project Office on Tumamoc Hill in Tucson, Arizona, to publish the Vigil Network data on the World Wide Web. The Vigil Network home page eventually will allow researchers with Internet connectivity to easily access data for any Vigil Network site. This will allow the Vigil Network to become a widely-known, convenient resource for scientists interested in studying the effects of global climatic change. Information on the requirements for including a site in the Vigil Network should be addressed to W. Osterkamp (wroster@usgs.gov); questions specific to the Vigil Network home page operation should be addressed to Tade Orr (tworr@usgs.gov). The Vigil Network home page is at http://wwwpaztcn.wr. usgs.gov/vigil/

Reference: Leopold, L.B., 1962, A national network of hydrologic bench marks, U.S. Geological Survey Circular 460-B, 4 pp.


Tade Orr
and
Waite Osterkamp
U.S. Geological Survey, Tucson