6^th Swiss Geoscience Meeting, Lugano 2008

1. Structural Geology, Tectonics and Geodynamics (open session)
2. Mineralogy-Petrology-Geochemistry (open session)
3. Palaeontology (open session)
4. Meteorology and Climatology (open session)
5. Quaternary Research (open session)
6. Geomorphology (open session)
7. Apply! Snow, ice and Permafrost Science (open session)
8. Geofluids and related mineralization: from shallow to deep
9. Building Stones - application, suitability, research
10. Natural hazards and risks
11. Anthropogenic impacts on hydrological regime
12. Who cares about water? - Social aspects of water
13. Environmental challenges of border regions
14. Data acquisition, Geo-processing, GIS, digital mapping and 3D visualisation
15. Global Change – lessons from the geological past

Structural Geology, Tectonics and Geodynamics. (Open Session)

Description:

Presentations are invited considering structural geology, tectonics, and geodynamics, including field, experimental and model studies of structures at all scales. The session should also provide a forum for more interdisciplinary contributions studying the interplay between surface processes, topography and tectonics. Young researchers are particularly encouraged to participate and present their results.

Mineralogy-petrology-geochemistry. (Open Session)

Description:

The aim of this session is to provide a platform for research reports in all fields related to Mineralogy, Petrology and Geochemistry that are not covered by other sessions (e.g. experimental petrology, new analytical approaches etc.). It is also intended to provide a plattform to young people that want to report about the results of their master/PhD projects. It is planned to have a accompanying poster session.

Palaeontology (Open Session)

Description:

This symposium will present works dealing fundamental palaeontology, especially in systematics. We expect the delegates to show how the systematics is important and why it has to be supported in the geosciences. In addition, this symposium is an open session to all palaeontologists, but also to geochemists and other scientists who want to present their works on palaeobiosphere

For the best paper and presentation in palaeontology, the Swiss Commission of Palaeontology (KSPA) proposes an award for young researchers.

Age limit: 35
Prize: 1000 CHF
Applicants have to send their abstracts to the President by e-mail (Christian.Meyer@bs.ch) no later than October 31st 2008.

Meteorology and climatology (Open Session)

Description:

Presentations are invited covering the whole range of actual research in meteorology and climatology in the regional and global scale, including phenomenological and experimental aspects in different fields, surface and satellite measurements, remote sensing as well as model studies. Young researchers are particularly invited to present their research and results. Contributions are welcome in German, French or English.

Quaternary Research (Open Session)

Description:

The Quaternary period is characterised by repeated and abrupt changes in climate. Quaternary research is primarily related to deciphering past variations in climate and their impact on environmental conditions and geomorphological processes as reflected by associated landforms and deposits. This session invites contributions related to this general topic from all kinds of disciplines. In addition to studies focusing on the reconstruction and impact of past climate change on environmental conditions and human migration and cultural development, contributions to methodological improvements in climate proxy studies or methods of age determination are also welcome.

Geomorphology (Open Session)

Description:

The session is dedicated to all topics related to ongoing or recent research activity in the whole spectrum of Geomorphology. Presentations dealing with applied geomorphology or multidisciplinary projects involving geomorphology are especially welcome. We strongly encourage contributions from young researchers.

Apply! Snow, Ice and Permafrost Science (Cryospheric Open Session)

Description:

This session addresses all topics, which are related to the Alpine and Polar Cryosphere. We expect contributions covering the whole range of Alpine and Polar snow, ice and permafrost research. We encourage theoretical, experimental as well as practical contributions, especially from young researchers. Presentations that address the aspects of dynamics and thermodynamics of snow, ice and permafrost and impacts related to natural hazards are particularly welcomed. The Swiss Snow, Ice and Permafrost Society will award a poster and an oral presentation prize for young scientist with an amount of CHF 1000.- per prize. More information is available on the following website: http://snow-ice-permafrost.ch

Geofluids and related mineralization: from shallow to deep

Description:

This session deals with all processes related to geofluid activity and mineralization that forms from these processes. Topics can include anything from ore deposits to non-economic mineralization such as thermal spring deposits, from field-based studies through analytical work to numerical modeling studies.

Building Stones – application, suitability, research.

Description:

Due to the Swiss topography, stones are an abundant and therefore important resource which has been used for construction purposes since Roman times. Traditional building techniques take advantage of local sources. They are highly diversified as a consequence of the varied local bedrock. Industrial building techniques have greatly changed and flattened this diversity. As an example, instead of massive stonework in ancient constructions, stone panels are widely used for aesthetic purposes on concrete and steel constructions. Faced to a powerful globalised stone trading, a series of Swiss stones are still quarried. The session focusses on past, present and future stone application in buildings. A database on historic building stones in Switzerland is presented. New architectural concepts and requirements, particular problems both of modern construction and of historic building’s conservation are discussed. A special issue are buildings in Lugano and in the Ticino region. An excursion on Sunday applies to this subject.

Natural Hazards and Risks

Description:

Natural hazards are an important direction of applied research in geosciences. This session wants to be a platform where the current topics and advances in research are presented and discussed. Natural hazards are a multi-disciplinary topic covering all disciplines of geosciences, so all branches are invited to propose posters and oral presentations, on topics such as assessment and monitoring of natural hazards, modeling, risk prevention and management, and awareness building.

The session will conclude with an open discussion on opportunities for research applications for disaster risk management in international project collaborations.

Anthropogenic impacts on hydrological regime

Description:

In recent years the scientific community has gradually become aware of the potential impacts of human activities on hydrological regimes. The phenomenon of rapid and frequent changes in flow regimes due to the operation of hydropower plants, known as hydropeaking, is a major issue. However, potential impacts on flood, average- and low-flow regimes can also be important, particularly in relationship to shifts in peak, seasonality and duration of low-flow regimes as consequences of climate change and human influence.
In an alpine country as Switzerland where the majority of the river regimes are artificially controlled sustainable water resources management as well as biodiversity can become major issues.

We encourage researchers to present observation, test applications and recent studie results in this field, mainly focusing on the impact assessment of rivers ecosystems and on the definition of mitigation strategies.

Based on the state-of-the-art in this area and related issues, the aim of the symposia is to discuss which topics still need to be worked on and to identify a sustainable approach to cope with these phenomena.

Who Cares About Water? - Social Aspects of Water

Description:

Water takes up a lot of space on Planet Earth. For good reasons: it is most important for all life on earth. Water is probably the most important element on our planet – every living creature depends on it. Furthermore, the forces of water shape(d) the earth’s surface. In recent years, the earth’s population had also to deal more often with negative aspects concerning water: Tsunamis and flooding created great damage and a loss of human beings.

In multiple ways water and society interact. Therefore, water plays important social roles e.g.

• The symbolic role: As media in religious ceremonies or in terms of sources decorating public and private places.
• The recreational role: Rivers, lakes or oceans are most attractive places for taking walks, swimming, or fishing.
• The economic role: The privatization of water and water supply systems is not only in Switzerland a theme we need to have a closer look at but is a rising trans-national phenomenon.
• The (geo)political role: access to water can be a very sensitive political issue, in particular in arid and semi-arid regions.

Beyond modelling flood waters or calculating measures of flood-control retention basins, we would like to focus on water and its divers social aspects as mentioned above. We are discussing the social construction of water as well as its social perception and forms of valuation. Furthermore we wish to throw up political questions such as: Is access to water a human right? Or: Is water gendered?

Environmental Challenges of Border Regions

Description:

Environmental issues do not respect national borders. The consequences of air, water and/or soil pollution are sometimes global, sometimes (inter)-regional, sometimes (inter-)local. Our symposium focuses on environmental issues that affect border regions of two or more countries. We analyze if, how and why problems appear and how involved actors and local populations along the border react in the relevant situations. We are interested in the consequences for nature as well as for the population.

At state borders, disputes on environmental pollution, for instance, are often more tense than within the national border, because pollution becomes an issue between people belonging to different “imagined” communities. Therefore, environmental issues potentially culminate in a discourse, in which the construction of “Self” and the “Other”, the construction of the neighbour at the other side of the border plays an important role.

Data acquisition, Geo-processing, GIS, digital mapping and 3D visualisation

Description:

Digital data acquisition and 3D visualisation of geospatial objects and processes are gaining increasingly importance in geosciences. For instance geodetic data capture in combination with digital geological mapping constitutes an important basis for various tasks in engineering geology and other fields in geosciences. Moreover, 3D modelling and visualisation of such data gives a better understanding of the respective geological setting.

In this symposium papers related to the value adding chain from data acquisition, geo-processing, GIS handling to the 3D modelling and visualisation will be presented. Topics like the development and application of digital tools for geological and geodetic data capture, the transformation from field data to digitally datasets, digital geological mapping and information systems as well as 3D modelling and visualisation of geospatial objects in general and geological objects in particular will be discussed.

Besides methodological papers special emphasis is put onto the presentation of applications of the modern techniques of data acquisition, processing, handling and visualisation and its impact on geosciences.

Global change – lessons from the geological past

Description:

This symposium looks at problems of future global change from a geological perspective. Earth history and climate geology provide examples of extreme perturbation of the climate system, of rapid change in global carbon cycling and its impact on climate. Earth history is marked by tectonically induced climate change or by episodes of exceptional volcanic activity resulting in climate shifts. Geological archives contain information on response of biosphere to climate change and on coupling of climate change with change in ocean chemistry. We invite geoscientists focussing on one of the many aspects of global change from a geological perspective to contribute to this symposium.