APRIL 2008

Australian Earth Sciences Convention, July 20-24, 2008

The Australian Earth Sciences Convention is Australia’s premier geoscience conference. Held every two years and hosted by the Geological Society of Australia and the Australian Institute of Geoscientists this year’s theme is: New Generation Advances in Geosciences. In this special edition of GEOZ we provide a review of what's on offer.

There is something at the AESC for everyone. The streams are:

Geoscience in the Service of Society

Resources: Foundation for our Future

Evolution of Life and the Solar System

Earth’s Environments: Past, Present and Future

Dynamic Earth: From Crust to Core

Plenary session speakers:

Prof. Peter Cawood (University of Western Australia & 2008 Mawson Prize Winner) - The Mawson Lecture Making mountains: Geological drivers and environmental consequences.

Dr Peter McCabe (CSIRO & President of the American Geological Institute) - Australia's Energy Future.

Prof. Malcolm Walter (Australian Centre for Astrobiology) – What does the Geological Record tell us about Climate Change?

Dr Barry Drummond (Geoscience Australia) - The Tsunami Risk to Australia and what is being done to mitigate it.

Phil Commander (WA Geological Survey and the Department of Water) – The Yarragadee Aquifer.

Prof. Michael Gurnis (California Institute of Technology, USA) - The dynamic earth - the new perspective from deep seismic imaging.

Dr Jeffrey Taylor (Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, USA) - New Views of the Chemistry and Geology of the Crust of Mars.

Geoscience in the Service of Society

Geoscience is becoming integral to the effective functioning of our communities and this stream will address changing attitudes to geohazards, environmental management, land-use planning, education and geoscience information provision.

Resources: Foundation for our Future

Exploration and resources are intimately linked and at this Convention the challenge of finding and developing new resources will be explored in depth through seven interrelated topics:
Precompetitive Geoscience Information – Windows into the Future
Being Smarter with our Data
Mineral Exploration Strategies and Technologies
Ore Systems and Metallogenesis
Mineral Commodities
Energy Resources
Groundwater Resources

Evolution of Life and the Solar System

In an attempt to put the evolution of the Earth and its life-forms into a broader perspective at this Convention, the recent geological and geochemical data from early Earth environments, Mars, the Moon, and meteorites will be explored and interpreted.

Earth’s Environments: Past, Present and Future

By integrating the ‘deep time’ perspective on Earth’s environmental changes and their geological drivers, with the current explosion of knowledge in this field, this stream will develop the geological perspective of what may be the most important global issue of our time - climate change.

Dynamic Earth: From Crust to Core

As our understanding of the Earth as a single, linked, dynamic and evolving system continues to grow, this theme enquires into how our Earth works, what it looks like and how the crust with which we are familiar came to be. It provides the context for understanding geology, the landscape and the setting of ore deposits and explores the nature of - and interplay between - convecting deep mantle, continental lithospheric mantle, the crust and plate tectonics.

Wait, there's more! There will be many additional functions scheduled for the AESC. Here is just one of them:

Society of Economic Geologists 2008 Mentoring Event – Monday, 21 July, 6-8pm

The SEG, supported by the Centre for Exploration Targeting at UWA, will hold a mentoring event at the Perth Convention Center as part of the AESC. A meeting to promote interaction between young geologists and members of industry in a relaxed setting. Informal discussions will be encouraged over snacks and drinks. Following this introductory session each of the industry participants will be asked to treat two young geologists or students to dinner at a local restaurant.
Students interested in participating should contact Geoff Heggie and interested mentors should contact Craig Hart by May 15th.

To view the full program or register visit the AESC website:
http://www.iceaustralia.com/aesc2008/index.html

NEWSBREAKERS

New crater makes an impact

Using Google Earth to survey a remote area of the Pilbara,Western Australian Geological Survey geologist Arthur Hickman recently discovered a meteorite impact site without leaving the office. The distinctive circular structure is about 260 metres wide and up to 30 metres deep and is thought to be between 10,000 and 100,000 years old.

Click here to use the KMZ file and Google Earth to view the site [requires Google Earth on your computer]

FROM THE DIVISIONS

Divisional information is regularly updated at http://gsa.org.au/events/divisionmeetings.html
Check this site for more recent information on the following events:

Queensland

24th June 2008: GSAQ General meeting
Dr Cec Murray, GSAQ: Magnitude, timescales and causes of past global climate change ¾is the past the key to the future?
The Theodore Club, 333 Adelaide St, Brisbane, 5.15pm for 6.00pm

Tasmania

16th May 2008: Joint meeting with Antarctic Climate & Ecosystems CRC
Dr Ted Moore, University of Michigan: Ocean Drilling Program Lecture Tour:
The Warm Earth We Know
Centenary Lecture Theatre, UTAS, Hobart, 6.00pm for 7.00pm

29th May 2008: GSA TAS Meeting and AGM
CODES conference room, UTAS, Hobart, 5.30pm for 6.00pm

Victoria

29th May 2008: GSA VIC Meeting:
Professor. Stan White: The Highland Controversy of the late 19th Century: Relevance to modern structural geology
Earth Sciences Bldg, Fritz-Loewe Lecture Theatre, University of Melbourne, 5.30 pm for 6.15 pm

19th June 2008: Howitt Lecture (GSA VIC and the Royal Society of Victoria):
Professor David Karoly: Climate change: challenges and opportunities for Victoria.
The Royal Society of Victoria, 5.30 pm for 6.15 pm

Western Australia

6th May 2008: GSA WA regular meeting
Dr Katy Evans, Curtin University: Speciation of sulphur in silicate melts: implications for ore-forming systems
Geography Lecture Theatre 1, Geology-Geography Building, University of Western Australia, 5.30pm

IN THE NEWS

Carbon capture on trial

Australia's first geosequestration trial has been launched in Victoria's southwest, near Warrnambool. The trial, by the CO-2 Cooperative Research Centre (CRC), will cost $40 million and will bury 100,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide underground for storage.

Geoscientist honoured

Geoscientist, Professor Zheng-Xiang Li of Curtin University of Technology, has been named as one of ten of the most pre-eminent researchers working in Australia based on their average citations per paper over a period of time. According to data gathered by Thomson Scientific, Australia also ranked among the top ten nations for the influence of its scientific papers in 2007.

Odd space rocks cause a stink

Several meteorites found in the Antarctic are proving problematic. According to the discoverer, the rocks were oddly rusty and salty and smelled like rotten eggs. Geochemical analysis suggests they are not from the Earth, the Moon, Venus, or any of the common sources of meteorites.

Image courtesy of NASA

ON THE WEB

Go exploring!

The Sydney Mineral Exploration Discussion Group website contains nearly a terabyte of information relating to mineral exploration, especially discovery case histories. It's all free and there are over 200 links to other sites with Earth science connections. www.smedg.org.au/papers.html

More from Space

The Victorian Space Science Education Centre has published its latest edition of the CAPCOM newsletter. It is available as a pdf download.

IN THE MEDIA

Nominations are open

Nominations for the 2008 Prime Minister's Prizes for Science are open. Here is your chance to nominate a member of the geoscience community for one of these prestigious awards. Nominations close Friday, May 9, 2008 at 17:00 AEST. https://sciencegrants.dest.gov.au/SciencePrize/Pages/Home.aspx

CSIRO Student Research Scheme needs your help

The Student Research Scheme is a national program that offers selected senior secondary science students, the opportunity to complete a brief research project under the supervision of practising researchers in laboratories, offices and field study areas. Here is your chance to capture the hearts and minds of tomorrow’s scientists!
www.csiro.au/csiro/channel/pch9r.html

COMING UP IN AJES

Volume 55 Issue No.3 2008

REVIEW PAPER
B. L. N. Kennett & H. Tkalčić: Dynamic Earth: crustal and mantle heterogeneity

RESEARCH PAPERS

S J Mills, W D Birch, R Maas, D Phillips & I R Plimer: Lake Boga Granite, northwestern Victoria: mineralogy, geochemistry and geochronology

B P J Stevens, R W Page & A Crooks: Geochronology of Willyama Supergroup metavolcanics, metasediments and contemporaneous intrusions, Broken Hill, Australia
Supplementary Paper

R Offler & D Foster: Timing and development of oroclines in the southern New England Orogen, New South Wales:
N G Direen, H M J Stagg, P A Symonds & J B Colwell: Architecture of volcanic rifted margins: new insights from the Exmouth–Gascoyne margin, Western Australia:
I Metcalfe, R S Nicoll & R J Willink: Conodonts from the Permian–Triassic transition in Australia and position of the Permian–Triassic boundary
D Clark, M Dentith, K-H Wyrwoll, Y Lu, V Dent & W Featherstone: Hyden Fault Scarp, Western Australia: paleoseismic evidence for repeated Quaternary displacement in an intracratonic setting
P W Haines, R M Hocking, K Grey & M K Stevens: Vines 1 revisited: are older Neoproterozoic glacial deposits preserved in Western Australia?
B E Cohen, K M Knesel, P M Vasconcelos D S Thiede & J M Hergt: 40Ar/39Ar constraints on the timing and origin of Miocene leucitite volcanism in southeastern Australia
Supplementary Paper

Volume 55 Issue No.4 2008

REVIEW PAPER
H Tkalčić & B L N Kennett: Core structure and heterogeneity: a seismological perspective

RESEARCH PAPERS
A G Rossiter & C M Gray: Barium contents of granites: key to understanding crustal architecture in the southern Lachlan Fold Belt?
A Reid, M Hand, E Jagodzinski, D Kelsey & N Pearson: Paleoproterozoic orogenesis in the southeastern Gawler Craton, South Australia
G A Kew,R J Gilkes & C I Mathison: Nature and origins of granitic regolith in bauxite mine floors in the Darling Range, Western Australia
M Raiber & J A Webb: Tectonic control of Tertiary deposition in the Streatham Deep-Lead System in western Victoria
K E Parker & J A Webb: Estuarine deposition and palaeoecology of a mid-Viséan tetrapod unit, Ducabrook Formation, central Queensland: implications for tetrapod dispersal
M Raveggi, D Giles, J Foden, M Raetz & K Ehlers: Source and significance of the felsic magmatism in the Paleoproterozoic to Mesoproterozoic Broken Hill Block, New South Wales
A D Heap & P T Harris: Geomorphology of the Australian Margin and adjacent seafloor
J A Salisbury, A G Tomkins & B F Schaefer: New Insights into the size and timing of the Lawn Hill impact structure: relationship to the century Zn-pb deposit.

WHAT'S ON

Call for papers – Deadline May 7

Ocean Drilling Consortium workshop (June 15–17)
The development of an outline of a proposal for a four-year drilling program
http://www.iodp.org/ODC

Call for Papers:Terry Leach Symposium (Oct 17)

The application of Petrology to Geological Models in Mineral Exploration
http://www.smedg.org.au/LeachSymp08.html

6th Aquifer Storage & Recovery (ASR) National Workshop, Melbourne, April 21-23 2008

Management of Aquifer Recharge, Storage and Treatment
http://groundwater.com.au/short-courses/

Getting to Know Groundwater & Surface water Workshop, Perth, May 7-9 2008

Practical training in hydrogeology for non-specialists who work with groundwater and
surfacewater
http://groundwater.com.au/short-courses/

Space Race 2020: To the Moon and Beyond, The Planetarium at Scitech, Perth, 7.30pm – 8.30pm, May 9, 2008

NASA plans to return to the Moon by 2020. CSIRO’s Dr Brent McInnes will speak on NASA’s plans to return to the Moon and the next generation of technologies being developed for the Constellation Program.

www.scitech.org.au

Bookings: bookings@scitech.org.au

Complex Systems Science Symposium, Victor Harbor SA, May 12-16, 2008

Patterns in our planet: defining new concepts for the application of multi-scale non-equilibrium thermodynamics to Earth system science
http://www.csiro.au/events/csssymposium.html

Sampling 2008 - Getting it right in the Commodity Boom, Perth, May 27-29, 2008

http://www.ausimm.com.au/content/wsc.aspx?ID=8

Imagining the real life on a greenhouse Earth, ANU Canberra, June 11-12, 2008

A conference organised by Manning Clark House in honour of Barry Jones.
http://www.anu.edu.au/anuie/index.php?pid=332

predictive mineral discoveryCRC* 2008 Conference, Perth, June 11-12, 2008

New perspectives: The foundations and future of Australian exploration.
http://www.pmdcrc.com.au/conferences.html

Surviving Australia, Australian Museum Sydney, opening June 14, 2008

A new permanent exhibition unlocking all the secrets and surprises of animal life in Australia through time.
http://www.australianmuseum.net.au/

17th World Hydrogen Energy Conference, June 15-19, 2008

Supplying Energy To A Changing World
http://www.whec2008.com/

ALTA 2008 Nickel/Cobalt, Copper and Uranium International Conference , Perth, June 16-21, 2008

Annual gathering of the global Nickel, Cobalt, Copper & Uranium Industries
http://www.altamet.com.au/

The 2006 Mt Isa Deep Crustal Survey Project workshop, Mt Isa, June 24, 2008

A one-day workshop to release the results of the Mt Isa Deep Crustal Survey Project.
http://www.ga.gov.au/minerals/research/pubs/minalert/min_alert_apr2008.jsp

Inaugural Global Geotourism Conference, Perth, 17-20 August 2008

http://www.promaco.com.au/2008/geotm/

Eastern Australian Basins Symposium III, Sydney, 14-17 September 2008

http://www.pesa.com.au/

2008 Sustainable Development Conference, Darwin, 15–19 September 2008

SD08: Solutions Through Collaboration
http://www.minerals.org.au/mcaevents/events/sd08_sustainable_development_conference

Terry Leach Symposium, Sydney, 17 October 2008