News Release

Geological Society of America: Annual Meeting 2000

Meeting Announcement

Geological Society of America

September 29, 2000
GSA Release No. 00-24
Contact: Ann Cairns
303-447-2020 ext. 156
acairns@geosociety.org
MEDIA ADVISORY The Geological Society of America 2000 Annual Meeting:
"Summit 2000"
Information for Science Writers and Editors

Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Highlights
  3. Media Briefings and other Events
  4. Newsroom
  5. Media Registration Policies and Procedures
  6. Additional Information for Public Information Officers

1. Introduction

The 112th Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America will be held November 9-18, 2000, at the Reno/Sparks Convention Center (RSCC) in Reno, Nevada. Approximately 7400 geoscientists from around the world are expected to attend. Thirty-four hundred speakers will participate in over 150 technical sessions, covering recent advances in all fields of geoscience.

A sample of meeting highlights is presented below. Visit GSA’s web site, http://www.geosociety.org/meetings/2000/techprog.htm for descriptions of all symposia and sessions. Keep checking this link for the availability of GSA’s "GeoTimer," with which you can view and search abstracts as well as build a personalized meeting schedule. (Note: Meeting room numbers are subject to change.)

2. Highlights

  • PARDEE KEYNOTE SYMPOSIUM: A NEW AGE OF PLANETARY EXPLORATION: SAMPLE RETURNS, IN SITU GEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS, AND HUMAN MISSIONS TO OTHER WORLDS (K4)
    RSCC Hall B, Mon., Nov. 13, 1:30p.m.-5:30 p.m.
    Speakers include:
    • Michael E. Zolensky, NASA Johnson Space Center, Recovery of asteroidal material by the Muses-C mission.
    • Donald S. Burnett, California Institute of Technology, Genesis: Return of solar matter to Earth.
    • M. E. Taylor, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, New geological instrumentation in development at the Microdevices Laboratory.
    • Carol Stoker, NASA Ames Research Center, Rovers as geological helpers for planetary surface exploration.
    • Harrison H. Schmitt, Univ. of Wisconsin Madison, Rationales for human return to the Moon and human exploration of Mars.
    Note: The session will conclude with rover and instrument demonstrations.
  • STRUCTURE AND TECTONICS OF PLANETS AND SATELLITES (T4)
    RSCC Ballroom B, Mon., Nov. 13, 8:00a.m.-12:00p.m.
    Speakers include:
    • Thomas R. Watters, Smithsonian Institution, Tectonism on Mercury.
    • M. P. Golombek, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Tectonics of Mars.
    • Peter C. Thomas, Cornell Univ., Structure and tectonics of Asteroids and small satellites.
    • Robert T. Pappalardo, Brown University, Tectonics of the Galilean satellites.
    • William B. McKinnon, Washington Univ., Tectonics of the satellites of Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
    • Simon A. Kattenhorn, Univ. of Idaho, Evidence for two complete nonsynchronous rotations of Europa’s outer crust.
    • Louise M. Prockter, Applied Physics Laboratory, Folds on Europa: Insights into crustal cycling.
  • FRONTIERS IN GAS HYDRATE RESEARCH I AND II (T2)
    Sponsored by the Geochemical Society
    RSCC Room B5, Mon., Nov. 13, 8:00 a.m.-12:00p.m. and 1:30p.m.-5:30p.m.
    Speakers include:
    • Jeffrey S. Kargel, U.S. Geological Survey, Gas Hydrates – Abundant and widespread building blocks of the solar system.
    • Miriam Kastner, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Methane gas hydrate formation and dissociation in the Eel River Basin, offshore northern California.
    • W. P. Dillon, U. S. Geological Survey, Structure of a major blowout vent on the Blake Ridge, resulting from inferred gas hydrate processes.
    • Charles K. Paull, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Piston cores from the Blake Ridge collapse structure.
    • W. Steven Holbrook, Univ. of Wyoming, Seismic studies of the Blake Ridge: Implications for gas dynamics, hydrate distribution, and methane expulsion.
    • Ivano Aiello, Univ. of California Santa Cruz, Anatomy and origin of carbonate structures in a Miocene cold seep field.
    • Wenyue Xu, Georgia Institute of Technology, Global climate change and methane emission from the seafloor.
  • SUPERPLUME EVENTS IN EARTH HISTORY: CAUSES AND EFFECTS (T12)
    Atlantis Hotel Ballroom B, Wed., Nov. 15, 8:00a.m.-12:00p.m. and 1:30p.m.-4:00p.m.
    Speakers include:
    • Lee R. Kump, Penn State Univ., Plume activity and the rise of atmospheric oxygen
    • David J. DesMarais, NASA Ames Research Center, The Precambrian biogeochemical carbon isotopic record: Contributions of thermal versus biological processes
    • Yoshiyuki Tatsumi, Kyoto Univ., Geochemical evidence for activation of Pacific superplume during mid-Cretaceous and carboniferous
    • Anthony Hallam, Univ. of Birmingham (UK), The end Triassic mass extinction in relation to a superplume event.
    • Donna M. Jurdy, Northwestern Univ., Superplume events and polar wander
  • INTEGRATED STUDIES OF ACTIVE WESTERN NORTH AMERICAN TECTONICS (T8)
    Sponsored by the American Geophysical Union
    Atlantis Hotel Ballroom B, Tues., Nov. 14, 1:30p.m.-5:00p.m.
    Speakers include:
    • James A. Spotila, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University of Virginia, Assessing the behavior and seismic hazard of complex thrust and strike-slip faulting along the northern front of the San Bernardino Mountains, southern California.
    • T. H. Dixon, Univ. of Miami, Present-day slip rates for the Aqua Blanca and San Miguel-Vallecitos faults in northern Baja California, Mexico
    • M. Meghan Miller, Central Washington Univ., Along-strike variation in Cascadia margin kinematics: Implications for relative plate motion, subduction zone coupling and permanent deformation.
    • Marc-Andre Gutscher, Univ. Bretagne Occidentale, Crustal structure and rheology of the Cascadia subduction zone offshore Washington and implications for natural hazards.
    • Lucy M. Flesch, SUNY Stony Brook, Understanding the dynamics of the western United States using seismic, geologic, topographic, and geodetic data.
  • PALEOCLIMATOLOGY AND CLIMATOLOGY OF SOUTH AMERICA (T152)
    RSCC Room B1, Tues., Nov. 14, 8:00a.m.-12:00p.m.
    RSCC Rooms A2/A6, Tues., Nov. 14, 1:30p.m.-5:30p.m.
    Speakers include:
    • Wallace S. Broecker, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, recipient of the Don J. Easterbrook Distinguished Scientist Award, The big climate amplifier: Ocean circulation-sea ice extent-storminess-dustiness-cloud albedo
    • Geoffrey O. Seltzer, Syracuse Univ., Tropical Andean climate change since the last glacial maximum from lacustrine carbonates.
  • APPLICATION OF HYDROLOGIC AND GEOLOGIC STUDIES TO THE PERFORMANCE OF A POTENTIAL GEOLOGIC REPOSITORY AT YUCCA MOUNTAIN, NEVADA (T79)
    Sponsored by the United States Dept. of Energy
    RSCC Room B2, Thurs., Nov. 16, 8:00a.m.-12:00p.m. and 1:30p.m.-5:30p.m.
    Speakers include:
    • Philip S. Justus, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Risk-informed and performance-based evaluation of seismotectonic processes at the candidate high-level nuclear waste repository, Yucca Mountain, Nevada.
    • Charles Haukwa, Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Seepage and drainage of condensate water in the potential geological repository of nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, Nevada.
    • Zell E. Peterman, U. S. Geological Survey, Saturate zone flowpaths based on hydrochemical and isotopic data from ground water in the Yucca Mountain area, Nevada.
    • Stephanie P. Kuzio, Sandia National Laboratory, Parameter sensitivity in the saturated zone site-scale model for performance assessment at Yucca Mountain.
    • John S. Stuckless, U. S. Geological Survey, Archaeological analogues for the performance of a mined geological repository.
    Plus:
    PARDEE KEYNOTE SYMPOSIUM: NUCLEAR WASTE DISPOSAL – BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN SCIENCE AND POLICY (K7)
    RSCC Hall B, Tues., Nov. 14, 8:00a.m.-12:00p.m.
  • DEVELOPING PALEONTOLOGY: THE EMERGING DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY/PALEOBIOLOGY SYNTHESIS (T117)
    Sponsored by the Paleontological Society
    RSCC Rooms B8/9, Mon., Nov. 13, 8:00a.m.-12:00p.m.
    Speakers include:
    • Rudy A. Raff, Indiana Univ., Evolution, development, and the exploration of the history of life.
    • Eric Davidson, California Institute of Technology, Bilaterian evolution: The regulatory view.
    • Robert L. Carroll, McGill Univ., Developmental biology and the evolution of vertebrates.
    • David K. Jacobs, UCLA, Developmental genes, evolution and degeneration in the base of the Metazoan tree.
  • BIG STORMS OF THE PAST: EVIDENCE AND IMPORTANCE OF PALEOSTORMS IN THE GEOLOGIC RECORD (T54)
    RSCC Room B8/9, Thurs., Nov. 16, 1:30p.m.-5:30p.m.
    Speakers include:
    • Jeffrey P. Donnelly, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Sedimentary evidence of prehistoric hurricane strikes in southern New England.
    • Lisa Greer, Univ. of Miami, A multi-proxy reconstruction of Holocene storm activity from tropical reef biota, Dominican Republic.
    • Blair R. Tormey, Univ. of Wisconsin, Storminess of the last interglacial: Geologic evidence of intensity from coastal calcarenites of Eleuthera Island, Bahamas.
  • SCIENCE AND POLICY ISSUES ABOUT DAM REMOVALS
    Geology and Public Policy Committee Forum
    Atlantis Hotel Tradewinds Conference Center, Wed., Nov. 15, 1:30p.m.-3:30p.m.
    Speakers include:
    • Mary Doyle, Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Water and Science
    • Lee Emery, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
    • Gordon Grant, U.S. Forest Service
    • William Graf, Arizona State Univ.
    • Martin Doyle, Purdue Univ.
    • John Shuman, St. John’s Water Management District, Florida

3. Media Briefings and Other Events

A series of scheduled media briefings, to be held Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, Nov. 12-15, is under development. Details will be distributed in a second media advisory.

Media representatives are invited to attend the Presidential Address and Awards Ceremony Sunday afternoon, Nov. 12, 3:00-5:00 p.m. GSA President Mary Lou Zoback will speak on “Grand Challenges in Earth and Environmental Science – Science, Stewardship, and Service for the 21st Century.”

Immediately following the Presidential Address is the Annual Meeting Welcoming Reception from 5:30-7:00 p.m. During the reception, editor Jill Schneiderman and contributing essayists will sign copies of The Earth Around Us: Maintaining A Livable Planet in the GSA Headquarters area.

On Wednesday evening, Nov. 15, 5:30p.m.-7:00p.m., media representatives are invited to attend a wine and cheese reception in the Newsroom.

4. Newsroom

GSA’s Newsroom will be located in room A8 in the Reno/Sparks Convention Center. Sunday, Nov.12, through Thursday, Nov. 16. Newsroom hours will be 7:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. On Thursday, Nov. 16, the Newsroom will be fully operational from 7:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. After 1:00, the room will remain open but equipment and supplies will be removed during the course of the afternoon.

Newsroom facilities, available for use by registered media representatives and public information officers, will include:

  • Computer with Internet access and printer
  • Telephones
  • Fax
  • Copier
  • Message boards
  • Tables for distribution of press releases related to the meeting

The Newsroom telephone number for incoming calls is 775-335-8886. The fax number is 775-335-8888. Please provide these numbers to those who may need to contact you during the meeting. There is no charge for outgoing business calls and faxes.

Scheduled media briefings will also be held in room A8. This room will be equipped with a raised platform for speakers and AV equipment including slide projector, overhead projector, and screen. A mult box for audio recordings will be available, but no special lighting for video is provided.

5. Media Registration Policies and Procedures

Registration entitles journalists and public information officers (PIOs) from geoscience and other related organizations to access to all scientific sessions and the exhibition area, as well as to the Newsroom and events specifically for media representatives.

Eligibility for media registration is as follows, all of whom have equal access:

  • Working press representing bona fide news media with a press card, letter, or business card from the publication.
  • Freelance science writers, presenting a current membership card from NASW, ISWA, regional affiliates of NASW, or evidence of work pertaining to science published in 1999 or 2000.
  • PIOs of scientific societies, educational institutions and government agencies.

Representatives of the business side of news media, publishing houses, and for-profit corporations must register at the main registration desk and pay the appropriate fees.

Eligible persons are encouraged to pre-register online via GSA’s web site, http://www.geosociety.org/meetings/2000/mediaform.pdf. The deadline for media pre-registration is Oct. 31. Onsite registration will take place at the Newsroom.

Pre-registrants will receive the full book of abstracts via first class mail, while supplies last. For delivery via means other than the U. S. Postal Service, send the preferred carrier name and an account number to Ann Cairns. Those who register on-site will receive the abstract book upon arrival. All media registrants will receive the Program book upon arrival at the Newsroom.

Information on hotel accommodations is available on the GSA web site at http://www.geosociety.org/meetings/2000/g-lodge.htm. All media are encouraged to make their arrangements as soon as possible.

6. Additional Information for Public Information Officers

If you have press materials relevant to any of the sessions or media briefings at the meeting and are unable to attend, you may send them by mail or express delivery service. Materials may be shipped to the following address beginning October 12:
Geological Society of America
Ann Cairns, Room A8
C/O The Freeman Companies
Reno/Sparks Convention Center
4590 South Virginia St.
Reno, NV 89502

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