Changing palaeogeographical and palaeobiogeographical patterns in the Ordovician and Silurian

IGCP503 Annual Meeting, University of Glasgow, Scotland
30 August ¡§C 1 September 2006

FIRST CIRCULAR & CALL FOR PAPERS

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This conference is the main meeting for 2006 of IGCP 503 which aims to develop a better understanding of the environmental changes that influenced the Ordovician biodiversification, the end-Ordovician extinction and the Silurian radiation (http://sarv.gi.ee/igcp503/). The project encourages the application of a range of disciplines to understand the Ordovician and early Silurian Earth System and the patterns of biotic change.

Oral and Poster sessions

Two and half days (30 August ¡§C 1 September) of presentations are scheduled. Whilst the main emphasis of the conference is on palaeogeography and palaeobiogeography, contributions on any topic relevant to the aims of IGCP 503 will be welcome. Thematic sessions are envisaged on:

• Ordovician palaeobiogeography and plate tectonics

• Early Palaeozoic plankton

• Ocean dynamics

• Early Palaeozoic climate reconstructions

There will also be a session dedicated to a sister project, IGCP 497 ¡®The Rheic Ocean: its origin, evolution and correlatives¡¯ for which contributions on topics that relate to the understanding of the patterns and drivers of biotic change during the Ordovician and Silurian are also invited. If there is sufficient interest, a selection of papers from the conference will be published as rapidly as possible in a thematic set in an international journal.

Excursions:

• Pre-conference day excursion (29 August) - to the Scottish Southern Uplands, including the Ordovician-Silurian boundary stratotype section at Dob's Linn.

• Post-conference (2-4 September) - to the classical Ordovician and Silurian successions in southern Scotland at Girvan and in the Pentland Hills.

There will also be a half-day excursion on 31 August from Glasgow to see some of the geology and scenery of the southern edge of the Scottish Highlands

Social Events:

The programme includes receptions, a whisky tasting and a conference dinner.

Conference location:

The conference will take place at Glasgow University (http://www.gla.ac.uk/) in the west end of this vibrant and friendly city (http://www.seeglasgow.com/). The area around the University includes a great variety of places to eat and drink, the botanic gardens and the City Museum & Art Gallery and is a short journey on the Underground from the city centre with its many cultural and gastronomic delights The city has excellent rail and motorway links to the rest of the UK. The nearby international airports are served by a wide range of carriers, including budget airlines. Glasgow Airport is 7 miles (11 km) from the University and there is an airport bus to the city centre. Prestwick Airport is 22 miles (35 km) away and has a rail connection to the city centre.

Abstracts:

Abstracts should be e-mailed to the conference organiser as MS Word or RTF files by 1 May 2006. They should not exceed 500 words and should not include illustrations or tables. Please indicate the affiliations of all co-authors and the e-mail address of the senior author. Also indicate whether you would prefer an oral or poster presentation and whether you are interested in submitting a contribution for consideration for publication in a thematic set of papers from the meeting. Members of the Scientific Committee decide on the balance between oral and poster presentations after the receipt of abstracts and reserve the right to accept or refuse any submission. Participants will be informed in June whether their presentation has been accepted for an oral or poster presentation.

The registration form for the conference and field excursions will be included in the Second Circular the end of February along with information on booking hotel accommodation in Glasgow. There will be a reduced registration rate for students and, as part of the normal IGCP arrangements, some funds will be available to assist participation by scientists from developing countries.

Conference Scientific Committee: D.A.T. Harper (Copenhagen, Denmark), J. Li (Nanjing, China), A. Munnecke (Erlangen, Germany), A.W. Owen (Glasgow, Scotland, UK), Rong, J. (Nanjing, China), P. Sheehan (Milwaukee, USA), T. Servais (Lille, France), C. Xu (Nanjing, China)

Conference Organiser and Contact Address:

Dr Alan Owen, Department of Geographical and Earth Sciences, University of Glasgow, Gregory Building, Lilybank Gardens, Glasgow G12 8QQ, Scotland, U.K. [e-mail:  a.owen@ges.gla.ac.uk]