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International Geological Congress 2012 - First Circular issued

Friday, 29 October 2010 10:12 administrator
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The IGC Planning Committee has issued the first Circular regarding the Draft program for the 34th IGC. Read the circular here.

This large and prestigious Geoscience World Congress will be held in Brisbane, Australia, from 5-10 August 2012. The scientific program will cover all aspects of the geosciences. It will demonstrate how geoscience knowledge and applications are contributing directly to meeting societal needs, for example through innovation in the resources and energy based industries, better informed land and water management, enhanced understanding and mitigation of climate change and geohazards, and building major cities and infrastructure.

 

All geoscience groups are invited to consider integrating their 2012 meetings into the 34th IGC, to benefit from the opportunities it offers for synergies and networking. There will be about 40 pre and post Congress field trips offered, and a major exhibition. The GeoHost support program for delegates from low income nations will be linked to participation in training workshops. The 34th IGC will feature a major Theme dedicated to geoscience benefiting low income nations.

The IGC Organising Committee seeks all feedback on the Draft program, including any proposed Symposia you would like to nominate, input to proposed Symposia, and also any volunteer Co-ordinators for proposed Symposia. Please note that there will not be a mail out of the printed Circular. Please pass on the information about the Circular to your colleagues in case they have not received the information. The Congress website www.34igc.org will be the main vehicle for dissemination of updated information.

Last Updated on Tuesday, 03 May 2011 17:02  

Newsflash

16 April 2013 - A survey of the South Tarawa lagoon has revealed some potentially explosive secrets from its past as one of the major battlegrounds of WWII. The survey was designed to identify battle debris that still litters the floor of the lagoon seventy years after the infamous Battle of Tarawa in 1943.

Funded by the New Zealand Regional Ocean Sciences Grant, the survey was undertaken as part of the Government’s work to reduce the atoll’s damaging reliance on beach mining by identifying potential sources of construction aggregate on the floor of the Tarawa Lagoon. The widespread practice of beach mining has been weakening the atoll’s vulnerable shoreline along with Government efforts to protect communities from the worsening impacts of climate change and rising sea levels.

The Government turned to SOPAC, the region’s Applied Geoscience & Technology Division of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, for guidance on safe methods to dredge an alternative source of sand and gravel from Tarawa’s southern lagoon. Before dredging can begin, as part of the European-Union funded Environmentally Safe Aggregate for Tarawa (ESAT) project, SOPAC first needed to identify any potential problems that might be posed by any unidentified and unexploded ordnance.

During WWII, the islands of Kiribati saw some of the Pacific’s bloodiest encounters.  From 20-24 November 1943, an invasion flotilla of 18,000 US Naval and Marine Corps troops attacked the fortified Japanese garrison on Betio in Southern Tarawa. The 4,600 Japanese defenders fought almost to the last man, and more than 1,000 Americans lost their lives.

SOPAC’s Survey Leader, Geophysicist Robert Smith, is still analysing the data but he has already identified two previously unknown vessel wrecks and unearthed numerous artillery remnants. Of the vessels, Smith says, “These may be sunken Higgins boats, which would have carried 20-30 marines each.” The US government has already expressed a keen interest in Smith’s findings.