Starting July 6, 2009 - Ending December 6, 2009
Call for participation and application for small aid grants from IGCP 572
International Geological Correlation Program - UNESCO IGCP 572: Recovery of ecosystems after the Permian-Triassic mass extinction
2010 Field Workshop at GUtech, Muscat, Oman February 20-26, 2010 ---First circular
Scientific Committe for the Third IGCP 572 Fieldworkshop : Michaela Bernecker (GUtech, Muscat), Sylvie Crasquin (Paris), Alda Nicora (Milano), Aymon Baud (Lausanne), Charles Henderson (Calgary), Leopold Krystyn (Vienna) and Oliver Weidlich (Kassel).
Objectives Much evidence indicates that many of Earth's ecosystems are under threat during the present day. This is nothing new, as Earth has suffered major extinction and upheaval on numerous occasions over the geological past, the most serious of which occurred during the Permian-Triassic transition. Of the major factors proposed to have caused the Permian-Triassic biotic crisis, including increased carbon dioxide concentrations, oceanic anoxia, hypercapnia, and rapid global warming, some are observed in the present day, and others are predicted for the near future. The Permian-Triassic rock and fossil records may thus record a natural experiment in global-scale ecosystem collapse that, if properly deciphered, could provide insights into the possible responses of modern ecosystems to present day climate and environmental change.
The field workshop aims to investigate the recovery of ecosystems following the end-Permian mass extinction through analyses of the rock and fossil records via studies of biostratigraphy, paleontology, paleoecology, sedimentology, geochemistry and biogeochemistry.
Potential participants : Members of the IGC 572 Program, Members of the Permian Subcommission on Stratigraphy, Members of the Triassic Subcommission on Stratigraphy, all interested Geoscientists from Middle-East and Oil Companies.
Schedule: February 20-26, 2010
The topics of the one and half day conference at the Gutech, February 21 and 22, 2010, will address recovery patterns of various fossil groups; reconstruct global Permian-Early Triassic oceanic and climatic conditions; outline P/Tr ecosystem types; and correlate these types of data with a global stratigraphic framework. New data on Permian-Triassic transition in Oman will be presented.
Conference room and a meeting room for the organizing committee, meeting convenors field trip leaders and IGCP officers will be provided by GUtech for the one day and half Conference.
Abstract submission deadline October 15, 2009
Tentative Costs of the 6 days fieldworkshop: 750.- € (Conference fee at GUtech: 150.-€)
The four and half days fieldworkshop excursion will offer to the participants the opportunity to visit the magnificent outcrops of the Oman Mountains, that provide unparalleled access to the Permian-Triassic transition units along the Gondwana margin of the Tethys, from shallow carbonate platform, Tilted block margin, continental slope and abyssal plain deposits.
Fieldtrip Organisation and Schedule:
Leaders: O. Weidlich, A. Baud, B. Beauchamp, L. Krystyn, A. Nicora, C. Henderson, S. Richoz, T. Aigner
The maximum number of participants to the fieldtrip will be 30
Duration: 4 & 1/2 days involved
Cost : The estimation of the cost of the fieldtrip is 600.-€ (4 & 1/2 days)
Tentative itinerary:
First Half Day, February 22: Permian-Triassic transition in Wadi May (Oliver Weidlich)
February 23: Permian-Triassic bloc in Wadi Wasit (A. Baud, L- Krystyn)
February 24: Permian-Triassic transition on Saiq Plateau (A. Baud, T. Aigner)
February 25: Permian-Triassic transition in deep water: the Buday'ah section (A. Baud, B. Beauchamp, L. Krystyn, A. Nicora, C. Henderson)
February 26: Permian-Triassic transition in slope deposit: the Wadi Maqam section (Sumeini), (A. Baud, B. Beauchamp, L. Krystyn,. S. Richoz)
IGCP 572 Website: http://www.igcp572.org/
GUtech Website: http://www.gutech.edu.om/
Small grants are available from IGCP 572 for participants to apply and assist them to participate in this event.
Pre-registration will start in August, 2009;
The pdf version of the First Circular is attached here.
For further info contact Michaela Bernecker michaela.bernecker@gutech.edu.om
