INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIA, CONFERENCES AND FIELD MEETINGS

48th annual meeting of the Palaeontological Association (UK)

From 17 to 20 December 2004 in Villeneuve d'Ascq, N. France, T. Servais and A. Blieck (USTL & CNRS - UMR 8014 research unit) will host the 48th annual meeting of the Palaeontological Association (UK), including a half-day workshop on Dec. 17 about palaeobiogeography (details on PalAss website http://www.palass.org/; and on USTL websitehttp://www.univ-lille1.fr/geosciences/page_ufr/actualites/news.html).

Symposium: “Jaws! False teeth and Gums - what makes a vertebrate a vertebrate”

From 19 to 26 June 2005 at the NAPC in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Sue Turner is organizing a symposium on the topic "Jaws! False teeth and Gums - what makes a vertebrate a vertebrate", which welcomes any Ordovician specialist who has interest in the vertebrate phylogeny debate (see details on NAPC website http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/ napc/2005/index.html; and on David B. Scott's webpage http://www.dal.ca/~es/napc/napc.htm).

“V. V. Lamansky Session and field trip”

In the year 2005 there will be 100 years since V.V. Lamansky monograph “Die ältesten silurischen Schichten Russlands (Etage8). Mémoires Comité Géologique. Nouvelle Série, Livr. 20, 1-223. St.Petersburg” was published. The monograph made an epoch in the study of East Baltic Ordovician. To commemorate this event a special session dedicated to V.V. Lamansky will be organized during the 6^th Baltic StratigraphicConference in St. Petersburg, August 22-25, 2005. After the Conference a special 7 days field trip along the Russian and Estonian parts of the Baltic-Ladoga Klint will be organized (August 26 – September 1, 2005). During the field trip all the main outcrops studied by V.V. Lamansky will be demonstrated and recent advances in stratigraphy, sedimentary environments and sea-level changes interpretations in the Varangu-Kunda stratigraphic interval will be discussed.

Andrei Dronov and Tõnu Meidla

8th Meeting of the Working Group on the Ordovician Geology of Baltoscandia

The Eighth WOGOGOB Meeting will take place in Estonia in May 13-18, 2004. The organisers invite all Ordovician workers to attend the meeting and present results of their current research and new ideas in Ordovician geology. All relevant contributions on palaeontology, stratigraphy, sedimentology, geochemistry, mineralogy and other topics are welcome.

Two excursions can be organisized: pre-conference excursion to NW Estonia (1 day); post-conference field-trip to Central and NE Estonia (2 days). Scientific sessions can be held at the Institute of Geology, University of Tartu, in May 15-16, 2004.

The first circular is available and the pre-registration information can be submitted via internet using home page: http://www.gi.ee/WOGOGOB/

The second circular can be distributed during October 2003.

Linda Hints And Leho Ainsaar

First International Symposium on Early Palaeozoic Palaeogeography and Palaeoclimate

First Circular & Call for Papers

September 1 – 3, 2004, Erlangen, Germany

Field Meeting

September 4 – 12, 2004

Ordovician and Silurian of southern Sweden

(Fågelsång, Öland, Gotland)

http://www.pal.uni-erlangen.de/IGCP503/

Important Dates in 2004

16 February, First Circular - Call for Papers

31 May, Registration at reduced fees and deadline for submission of abstracts

16 July, Second Circular – Final Programme - Arrival Instructions

Welcome - Purpose of the Congress

We cordially invite you to join the First International Symposium on Early Palaeozoic Palaeogeography and Palaeoclimate in September 2004.

We will convene in the city of Erlangen, an old Huguenot town, and site of a prospering university. Erlangen is located in Franconia, northern Bavaria, which is famous for its surrounding geology with spectacular Jurassic sponge-microbial reefs. The world famous Archaeopteryx-site in Solnhofen is not far from Erlangen and will be visited during our meeting.

Franconia has the greatest density of micro-breweries in the world - about 1500. At least some of those genuine German beers will be offered during our symposium. Additionally, we have the pleasure to invite all participants to a traditional brewery in the city centre of Erlangen at the end of our meeting.

Our symposium will serve as the Opening Meeting for the new IGCP project n° 503 "Ordovician Palaeogeography and Palaeoclimate", the successor project to the very successful IGCP project n° 410 "The Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event" (1997-2002). After a three days indoor meeting at Erlangen, we have planned a field meeting to the Lower Palaeozoic in southern Sweden (palaeocontinent Baltica) with visits to the GSSP of the base of the Upper Ordovician at Fågelsång, the Ordovician of the island of Öland, and the Silurian succession of the island of Gotland.

Please, contact us for information about this meeting and we look forward to seeing you in Erlangen.

On behalf of the organising institutions and the Scientific Committee.

Organising Committee

International Scientific Committee

D.A.T. Harper Copenhagen, Denmark

J. Li Nanjing, China

A. Munnecke Erlangen, Germany

A.W. Owen Glasgow, Scotland, UK

P. Sheehan Milwaukee, USA

T. Servais Lille, France

C. Xu Nanjing, China

Local Organising Committee

(Institute of Palaeontology, Erlangen University)

Tim Beck

Lydia Beuck

André Freiwald

Oliver Lehnert

Sonja-B. Löffler

Axel Munnecke

Alexander Nützel

Chris Schulbert

Jürgen Titschack

Petra Wenninger

Symposium-Chair and Contact Address

Axel Munnecke

Institute of Palaeontology, Erlangen University

Loewenichstr. 28, D-91054 Erlangen (Germany)

Phone: 49 (0)9131 / 85-26957 Fax: 49 (0)9131 / 85-22690

E-mail: palaeo2004@pal.uni-erlangen.de

Web-site: www.pal.uni-erlangen.de/IGCP503/

For questions regarding IGCP n° 503 “Ordovician Palaeogeography and Palaeoclimate”, and in particular grant aid for participation, please contact:

Thomas Servais

UMR 8014 du CNRS, Université des Sciences et Technologies de Lille

Cité Scientifique, SN5, F-59655 Villeneuve d´Ascq (France)

Phone: 32 (0)3 20 33 72 20

Fax: 32 (0)3 20 43 69 00

E-mail: thomas.servais@univ-lille1.fr

Scientific Themes-Keynote Lectures-Proceedings

The aim of the Symposium is to provide an interdisciplinary platform for the understanding of Palaeo(bio)geography and palaeoclimate during the Early Palaeozoic — with a particular focus on the Ordovician and Silurian (Ordovician biodiversification, end-Ordovician extinction, Silurian radiation). The congress also serves as the official Opening Meeting of the new IGCP project n° 503 "Ordovician Palaeogeography and Palaeoclimate" that will run from 2004 to 2008, and is followed by the first Field Meeting of this new programme.

The following scientific themes will be scheduled during the scientific sessions:

Understanding Early Palaeozoic biodiversity trends

Early Palaeozoic palaeogeographical reconstructions

Palaeobiogeographical scenarios of different Early Palaeozoic fossil groups

Early Palaeozoic climate and climate modelling

Interpretation of isotope geochemistry in the Early Palaeozoic

Stratigraphical framework in the Early Palaeozoic Early Palaeozoic palaeoecology

The scientific programme will be designed to maximise opportunities for communication and discussion. Participants are encouraged to submit papers in the themes listed above, but are also invited to propose additional themes.

Oral and poster sessions will carry equal weight regarding quality of contributions. Both space and time will be reserved to ensure that appropriate attention can be given to the poster session. Therefore, the poster session will be open during the entire Symposium, and our coffee breaks are at the same location. The Scientific Committee will make decisions on the balance between oral and poster presentations after the receipt of abstracts, and reserves the right to accept or refuse any submission. Participants will be notified in June whether their paper has been accepted for a poster or oral presentation.

Several invited speakers are currently being contacted in order to present review papers. These Keynote Lectures (45 minutes duration) include papers on new palaeogeographic reconstructions, CO2 modelling, numerical climate modelling, isotope geochemistry, and other topics. In addition, based on the submitted abstracts, the Scientific Committee may ask a number of participants to modify their contributions for Keynote Lectures (30 minutes duration).

Abstracts will be published in a Symposium Volume available at the congress. In addition, we plan to publish a proceedings volume following the symposium and devoted to the scientific themes of the meeting. We are currently discussing with the editors of Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology the possibility to publish a special issue of this journal after our meeting. If you are interested in submitting a manuscript in a proceedings volume, please, contact the organisers as soon as possible, and not later than May 1st 2004.

Conference language: all presentations and abstracts will be given in English.

Provisional Programme

The Symposium venue is Erlangen Castle in the city centre of Erlangen, some 300 m from the Central Railway Station. All keynote lectures and talks will take place in the lecture hall in the Castle on the second floor (no parallel sessions are planned). Registration, the icebreaker party, all coffee and tea breaks and the poster session will take place in the hall on the first floor of the Castle.

Tuesday 31 August

Registration 16:00h - 20:00h

Erect posters 16:00h - 22:00h

Icebreaker-Party 18:00h - 22:00h

Wednesday 1 September

Opening Ceremony 09:00h - 09:30h

Keynote lectures and scientific session I 09:30h - 12:30h

Lunch Break 12:30h - 14:00h

Keynote lectures and scientific session II 14:00h - 17:00h

Opening meeting IGCP 503 17:00h - 18:00h

Guided tour, historic city of Erlangen 18:30h - 20:00h

Thursday 2 September

Keynote lectures and scientific session III 09:00h - 12:00h

Lunch Break 12:00h - 13:00h

Geological excursion and "Solnhofen" museum 13:00h - 19:00h

Conference Dinner "Bayerischer Hof" 20:00h - 23:00h

Friday 3 September

Keynote lectures and scientific session IV 09:30h - 12:30h

Lunch Break 12:30h - 14:00h

Keynote lectures and scientific session V 14:00h - 16:00h

Closing session 16:30h - 17:00h

Visit and "sampling" of beer at brewery Kitzmann 17:30h - 19:30h

Saturday 4 September

Departure for Field Meeting 08:00h

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Saturday 4 September - Sunday, 12 September

Field meeting (see next page)

Field Meeting - Geological Excursion

Immediately following the opening conference of IGCP n° 503, we are holding the first field meeting of the new IGCP project. We will visit the Lower Palaeozoic of southern Sweden (palaeocontinent Baltica), including the GSSP of the base of the Upper Ordovician at Fågelsång, the Ordovician of the Island of Öland, and the Silurian succession of the Island of Gotland. Departure and arrival point is Erlangen.

Provisional Excursion Programme:

Saturday 4 September

Departure Field Meeting, Erlangen at 8:00h

Arrival Lund, Sweden

Sunday 5 September

Visit GSSP Fågelsång

Field guide: Per Ahlberg

Arrival Öland

Monday-Tuesday 6-7 September

Geological excursion, Ordovician of Öland

Field guide: Svend Stouge

Wednesday 8 September

Travel from Öland to Gotland, first outcrops on Gotland

Thursday-Friday 9-10 September

Geological excursion, Silurian of Gotland

Field guides: Axel Munnecke, Lennart Jeppsson, Mikael Calner

Saturday-Sunday 11-12 September

Return to Erlangen. Arrival at Erlangen at about 19:00h

Transport from and to Erlangen will be by mini-buses. Accommodation in Sweden will be organised in hotels and in the geological field station of the University of Lund on Gotland. Please note that accommodation is only available in twin bed rooms!

Price of the excursion, including transport, accommodation, field guidebooks: 650 Euros. Except for several days when a lunch pack will be organised, lunch and dinner will be in restaurants. These costs are not included in the fee, and have to be paid by each person himself or herself (estimated additional cost 250 Euros).

Please note that the number of participants for the field excursion is limited to 20! We therefore recommend you to book early to make sure to get a place! Non-Europeans have to make sure they have valid visas for Denmark and Sweden.

Oral Presentations

Presentations are provisionally scheduled for 20 minutes, with 15 minutes for the talk and 5 minutes for discussion. The lecture hall will have available: 2 projectors for standard 35mm slides, screens, 1 overhead projector, and 1 beamer (PC-projector) for PowerPoint presentations. The latter should be delivered on CD-ROM. 2 Laptop computers (Mac OS X and PC Windows XP Professional) for video presentations will be provided by the local organising committee.

We recommend contacting us on August 31 while you register to check your presentation on the systems provided.

Poster Presentations

Poster presentations will form an important part of the symposium. Exact details of available poster space will accompany notification of acceptance. We will provide poster boards in DINA0 Format (841 x 1189 mm).

Abstract Submission

Abstracts must reach the Symposium-Chair by May 31, 2004. Late submissions will not be scheduled for oral presentation, and will not be included in the abstract volume. Acceptance of abstracts is subject to full payment of registration fees.

The abstract length should not exceed one A4 page (approximately 500 words). Abstracts must be submitted by e-mail to the Symposium-Chair as MS Word and/or RTF files. Please, do not include figures, plates, or tables in the abstract. Please, indicate the affiliations of all co-authors, and the e-mail address of the senior author. Note, if your abstract contains non-ASCII symbols and special characters (i.e. delta notations for isotopes, subscripts and superscripts, etc.) then a hard copy MUST also be sent.

Please indicate together with your abstract if you prefer an oral or poster presentation.

Social Events

A series of social events are organised. All activities, except the conference dinner and the Solnhofen museum, are free of charge for all participants and accompanying persons, but registration is required through the registration form.

The conference will open on Tuesday 31 August with an Icebreaker-Party that is scheduled from 18:00h – 22:00h in Erlangen Castle, where registration starts at 16:00h.

A guided sightseeing tour of Erlangen (90 minutes walking tour) will be organised after the first day of scientific sessions, Wednesday 1 September, from 18:30h to 20:00h. This tour will start from the Castle (Palace, Erlanger Schloss) and allows an appreciation of historical buildings such as the Huguenot Church, Palais Stutterheim, the Baroque Orangerie, the Palace Gardens, the Botanical Gardens, Margrave´s Theater, and others.

The afternoon of the second day of scientific sessions, Thursday 2 September, will provide all participants an opportunity to visit the world famous Jurassic Fossil-Lagerstätte of Solnhofen near Erlangen. A bus trip will bring us to the outcrops and to the museum at Solnhofen (between 13:00h and 19:00h).

This visit is followed by the conference dinner, that will take place in the historical vaulted cellar of the Hotel Bayerischer Hof in the city centre of Erlangen, where the medieval Margrave´s Buffet (including a large selection of Franconian specialities) will be served.

After the third and last day of scientific sessions, Friday 3 September, following the closing session of the congress, a guided tour through a 250 year old traditional family brewery will be organised. This guided tour will end in a „sample room“ where the local products can be tasted and enjoyed.

Meals

Meals are not organised, except the conference dinner on the evening of September 2. As the conference venue is in the city centre of Erlangen, a large number of restaurants are in easy walking distance. Meals are available at all price ranges and in various styles, ranging from fast-food restaurants to typical Franconian style local restaurants.

Accommodation

Accommodation is not organised and must be arranged individually. We recommend you to visit the website www.erlangen.de to find information about the city and accommodation.

The most convenient way to book your room is through the Tourist Information Office (see attached RTF document). The form sheet "Room Reservation" is available in various formats (WORD, RTF, PDF) under www.pal.uni-erlangen.de/IGCP503/accomm/. Rooms are available at a wide range of prices, from simple rooms in private houses (equivalent to B&B) starting with prices of about 15 Euros per person in single or double rooms, or „Hotels Garni“ and ranging up to 3 and 4 stars (up to 200 Euros per night per person). A youth hostel and camping sites are also available. There are a total of almost 50 hotels and guest-houses with over 2800 beds in the city centre, and another 1700 rooms within the city limits.

Please, note that Erlangen is an important regional and national centre and the headquarter of SIEMENS, and that hotel facilities may quickly be booked out. Therefore we suggest you to book your accommodation as soon as possible with the help of the Tourist Information Office (www.erlangen.de).

How to get to Erlangen

Erlangen is situated in northern Bavaria, a few kilometres north of Nuremberg. Motorways, airports and major railway lines allow easy access from inside and outside Germany.

By plane

The nearest airport is Nuremberg about 15 km south of Erlangen. From here you can choose the U2-subway from the airport to the Nuremberg Central Station within 20 minutes where frequent trains leave to Erlangen (another 15 minutes). Taxi shuttle fares from the airport to Erlangen cost about 23 Euros (phone 0911-19410). For detailed information, please visit the airport web-site: www.airport-nuernberg.de. If you arrive at the Frankfurt airport you also have train connections to Nuremberg and Erlangen (about 3 hours).

By car

There are several options to reach Erlangen by car from either direction. The motorways A73 and A3 pass Erlangen.

By train

Nuremberg Central Station is the nearest major railway station. From here you have to change train to Erlangen (about 15 minutes).

Climate

The meeting takes place in the late summer. Daily temperatures may still reach up to 20 °C but be prepared for occasional showers.

Immigration and Visa requirements

Participants are advised to check their individual circumstances for entry. Please, note that Germany, Denmark, and Sweden are Schengen countries and a single visa is valid for all countries belonging to the Schengen territory. If you need an official invitation to get your visa, please, contact the Organising Chair.

Insurance

All insurance is the responsibility of the participants. The Organising Committee accepts no liability or responsibility for death, illness, injury, or financial loss by any person attending the Symposium and the Field Meeting, whatever the cause. It is strongly recommended that overseas participants arrange their own health and accident insurance and travel assistance.

Currency and Banking

Germany is a country in the Euro-Zone. Exchange rates vary, but at the time of preparing this circular (February 2004) 1 Euro = ca. 1.25 US$. All banks (except in airports) are closed on Saturdays and Sundays, but automatic cash machines are available. Participants of the field meeting should note that Denmark and Sweden are not in the Euro-Zone, and Danish and Swedish crowns are required for payments in bars, restaurants and shops.

IGCP - Grant Aid for participants

Our symposium serves as the official opening meeting of the new IGCP project n° 503 (Ordovician Palaeogeography and Palaeoclimate). The International Geoscience Programme (IGCP) (http://www.unesco.org/ science/earthsciences/igcp/) is a joint endeavour of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) and IUGS (International Union of Geological Sciences). It was launched in 1972 to facilitate co-operation among geoscientists across frontiers and boundaries. Its objective is to bring scientists from all over the world together and enhance interaction, particularly between North and South, through joint research work, meetings and workshops.

According to the rules of the IGCP, the financial support allocated to IGCP project leaders is to cover partly the costs of organising and managing the project and to facilitate, in particular, the participation in meetings and field excursions of scientists from developing countries. If you are not yet listed as participant of IGCP n° 503, but if you are interested in participating in our new IGCP project, please contact Thomas Servais.

We reserve the financial support allocated to IGCP project n° 503 to participants from developing countries that wish to take part in the Erlangen meeting. Scientists (and in particular young researchers from central and eastern Europe presenting their results at the meeting) are requested to ask the Project Leaders about the possibilities of funding to take part in the Erlangen meeting and the field excursion to Sweden. For information about IGCP project n° 503 and for a request for financial help, please contact:

Thomas Servais

Phone: 32 (0)3 20 33 72 20

Fax: 32 (0)3 20 43 69 00

E-mail: thomas.servais@univ-lille1.fr

Registration

Registration and the payment of fees in EURO must reach the organisers by the end of May 2004 to ensure acceptance of the abstract in the abstract volume and participation in the field excursion. Late registration is possible after June 1st at an increased rate. Students benefit from a reduced registration fee, but must provide a certificate of their student status.

The registration fees cover the abstract volume, final programme, list of participants, the icebreaker reception, coffee and refreshments during the scientific sessions, as well as all social events, except the conference dinner and the Solnhofen excursion. Please, note that registration is required for these social events.

Mode of payment:

Payment by credit card is not possible. Payments must arrive before May 31, 2004 by (international) bank transfer on the following bank account:

Banking details:

for non-Germans:

Holder of the bank account:

Staatsoberkasse Bayern in Landshut

Address: Postfach 2849, D - 84026 Landshut, Germany

Name of the Bank: Bayerische Landesbank München

SWIFT/BIC Code: BYLADEMM

IBAN Code: DE66700500000301279280

Account Number: 301279280

Reference: DST 808 317-2 (important!!)

for Germans:

Kontoinhaber: Staatsoberkasse Bayern in Landshut

Adresse: Postfach 2849, D - 84026 Landshut, Germany

Name der Bank: Bayerische Landesbank München

Bankleitzahl: 700 500 00

Kontonummer: 301279280

Kennwort: DST 808 317-2 (sehr wichtig!!)

Your participation in the symposium and confirmation to present either a talk or a poster is only guaranteed by the receipt of your fee before May 31, 2004.

Please, note that the international bank transfer costs (varying for each country and each bank) are covered by the participants.

The reception of your registration fee will be confirmed to you as soon as possible via e-mail.