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Lettre d'information

Lettre d'information n° 21 (4/2004)

Association Internationale des Géomorphologues

Solidarity with Colleagues of Asia, Indonesia and other countries involved in the Sumatra earthquake and Pacific Ocean tsunami.

In such a dramatic and terrible disaster for your countries, I wish to express on behalf of the International Association of Geomorphologists, our full and sincere solidarity for the victims and the devastation in consequence of these disastrous earthquake and tsunami.

With all my feelings of friendship,

Mario Panizza President, IAG

European Manifesto on Earth Heritage and Geodiversity

The IAG has joined the European Federation of Geologists, European Geoparks Network, European Society for Soil Conservation, IUGS, and IGU to support the European Manifesto on Earth Heritage and Geodiversity. The active IAG Working Group on Geomorphological Sites also fosters the recognition and protection of sites of geomorphological significance. The European Manifesto, presented here, might serve as a model to be adapted for other countries or regions.

Earth Heritage for our Present and our Future: Geodiversity: the link between people, landscapes and culture forms the basis of European Society. Geological heritage: landscape, landforms, soils, rocks, minerals, fossils and water is an essential part of Europe's natural heritage. This valuable heritage and diversity has to be safeguarded for present and future generations.

Europe has Outstanding Examples of Geological Heritage and Geodiversity: Mount Etna of Italy, the Giant's Causeway of Northern Ireland, the Wadden of The Netherlands, the Dorset Coast of the United Kingdom, the maar lakes of the German Eifel, the caves of Slovenia, the Troodos Massif of Cyprus, the High Coast of Sweden, the glaciers and fjords of Norway, the Alps, and the volcanoes, icecaps and geysers of Iceland are but a few examples of Europe's rich geological heritage.

They Create Opportunities for Education, Recreation and Tourism: These landscapes and sites by themselves, or in combination with cultural, historical and ecological heritage, offer potential for sustainable tourism, education and landscape appreciation. European Geoparks are examples of the sustainable economic use of this heritage.

They Increase the Quality of Living in Cities and Rural Areas: Landscapes, landforms, patterns and sites add value to the development of cities and rural areas and help create a living space and environment of high quality.

The Task of the EU: "Safeguarding by Development, Safeguarding by Protection:" The EU should incorporate Earth Heritage in policy, planning and related procedures. Unique earth heritage sites and landscapes should be given protected status. Sustainable development and restoration (of sites) should respect and reflect natural geological patterns and processes.

The EU Strategy Offers the Opportunity to Realise These Goals!

Activities of Czech geomorphologists in the Research Centre for Earth Dynamics

The Czech Association of Geomorphologists, founded in January 1994, cooperates on several long-term projects in the Earth Sciences through activities of its members at the universities, in the institutes of the Academy of Science, and in the institutions of applied investigation in various natural science disciplines. Czech geomorphologists co-founded (1st July 2000) and participated in the Research Centre for Earth Dynamics (RCED), Czech Republic. This Centre, located at the Geodetic Observatory Pecny´ in the Ondrejovská Vrchovina Highland east of Prague, brings together specialized teams from the Research Institute of Geodesy, Topography and Cartography (Czech Geodetic Survey), the Astronomical Institute (Academy of Science of the Czech Republic), the Institute of Rock Structure and Mechanics (Academy of Science of the Czech Republic), the Department of Advanced Geodesy (Czech Technical University, Prague), and the Department of Physical Geography and Geoecology (Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague) in the project "Experimental research of the dynamics of the Earth and its surface."

Geomorphological themes in the project of the RCED are: 1) research on the recent intensity and range of changes of the natural environment and especially landforms, 2) geomorphological analysis and interpretation of results of geodetic and geophysical measurements related to relief evolution in the Late Quaternary, and 3) correlation and integration of geodynamic models with knowledge of the palaeogeographical history of selected areas on a regional scale. The physical geographical aspect of these topics represents especially complex research on the natural environment in selected climatically-sensitive and tectonically-active regions of Europe, Asia and Southern America using the integration of palaeogeographical records and experimental data, mainly related to Quaternary history and recent changes of landscape.

Other main Earth Science subjects of the RCED are 1) development of mathematical methods in physical geodesy, 2) study of the Earth´s gravity field using differential satellite altimetry, 3) development of the experimental/instrument basis of regional geodynamic research (in the Bohemian Massif and neighbouring areas), especially GPS permanent stations and analytic centres, 4) development of gravimetric laboratory at the Geodetic Observatory Pecny´ and research on non-tidal variations of gravity, 5) monitoring of microclimatic conditions of the astronomical and geodetic observatories Ondrejov / Pecny´ and GPS troposphere monitoring, and 6) determination of the Earth´s orientation parameters and realization of a global coordinate system by means of a combination of space geodesy techniques. More information is available at (http://pecny.asu.cas.cz/cedr and http://prfdec.natur.cuni.cz/~kfggsekr/research/vcdz).

Specialized education of young research workers as part of activities of the RCED is considered essential for the development of research in dynamic and evolutional geomorphology. Young research workers, post-graduate (PhD.) and Mgr. students of physical geography have great interest in geomorphological and interdisciplinary themes. As a result of the incorporation of the Czech Republic into the European Union, further extension of international cooperation and other activities of the Czech Association of Geomorphologists can be expected.

Dynamic and evolutionary geomorphology are progressively developing specializations of physical geography and Earth sciences as a whole, which are focused on research of the origin and intensity of changes and the evolution of landforms. Structure and themes of research work of the RCED are fully in accordance with integration trends in Earth Science. Multidisciplinary teams have developed which focus on monitoring of recent geodynamic phenomena and interpreting, correlating, and synthesizing measurements with the aim of understanding the present-day dynamics of landform evolution and changes of the natural environment on local and regional scales.

Jan Kalvoda

Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Science, Czech Republic. E-mail: kalvoda@natur.cuni.cz

Special issues and books published from the Fifth International Conference on Geomorphology, Tokyo, 2001

The following publications resulted from the Fifth International Conference on Geomorphology, in 2001 in Tokyo. Readers aware of additional publications from the Tokyo meeting are encouraged to contact Takasuke Suzuki (takas@kc.chuo-u.ac.jp), the local organizer of the 5th ICG, Tokyo, 2001, and Carol Harden (charden@utk.edu), IAG Publications Officer.

1. Takasuke Suzuki, Yukinori Matsukura, Judy Ehlen and Yukiya Tanaka (eds.) (2002) Rock Control in Geomorphological Processes (9 papers): Transactions, Japanese Geomorphological Union, Vol. 23, no. 2, pp. 159-355. (Contact: T. Suzuki: takas@kc.chuo-u.ac.jp).

2. Toshiro Naruse and Janet S. Wright (eds.) (2002) Loess and Eolian Dust (4 papers): Transactions, Japanese Geomorphological Union, Vol. 23, pp. 767-831. (Contact: T. Naruse naruse@soc.hyogo-u.ac.jp).

3. Kaoru Kashima and Mohamed Tahar Benazzouz (eds.) (2003) Geomorphic Revolutions and Quaternary Environmental Changes (13 papers): Supplementi di Geografia Fisica e Dinamica Quaternaria, pp. 5-109, Comitato Glaciologico Italiano, Torino. (Contact: Kaoru Kashima kashima@geo.kyushu-u.ac.jp).

4. I. S. Evans, R. Dikau, E. Tokunaga, H. Ohmori and M. Hirano (eds.) (2003) Concepts and Modelling in Geomorphology: International Perspectives (13 papers): TERRAPUB, Tokyo, 254 pp. (Contact: E. Tokunagatokusan@usagi.tamacc.chuo-u.ac.jp).

5. Margot Bose, Kazuomi Hirakawa, Norikazu Matsuoka and Tanobu Sawagaki (eds.) (2003) Glaciation and Periglacial in Asian High Mountains (13 papers): Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie, Supplement Volume 130, pp. 1-276. (Contact: Norikazu Matsuoka matsuoka@atm.geo.tsukuba.ac.jp)

6. Kazuko Urusibara-Yoshino and Paul Williams (eds.) (2003) Karst in a changing world (6 papers): Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie, Supple-ment Volume 131, pp. 1-112. (Contact: Kazuko Urushibara-Yoshino kazukouy@i.hosei.ac.jp).

7. Norikazu Matsuoka, Shuji Iwata and Wilfried Haeberli (eds.) (2003) Glacial and Periglacial Geomorphology (10 papers): Geomorphology, Vol. 52, pp. 1-164. (Contact: Norikazu Matsuoka matsuoka@atm.geo.tsukuba.ac.jp).

8. Presidential lecture at the 5th ICG: Olav Slaymaker (2002) The changing status of drainage basin geomorphology: Transactions, Japanese Geomorphological Union, Vol. 23, pp. 739-766. (Contact: Olav Slaymaker olav@geog.ubc.ca).

9. Arthur Conacher (ed. (2002) the Role of Geomorphology in ombatting Land Degradation (5 papers) Australian Geographical Studies, Vol. 40, No. 2, pp. 129–195. (Contact: Arthur Conacher (Arthur.Conacher@uwa.edu.au).

News from Canada

The Canadian Geomorphological Research Group (organized in 1993) maintains the CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology http://cgrg.geog.uvic.ca/cgi-bin/search.cgi, a searchable database dedicated to identifying publications and presentations describing the practice and application of geomorphology in Canada. It contains over 18,000 records related to the fields of aeolian, applied, coastal, fluvial, glacial, hillslope, karst, periglacial, permafrost and offshore geomorphology. The database also includes records describing Canadian Quaternary/Holocene environments and a substantial body of records related to Canadian hydrology.

The Canadian Geomorphological Research Group presented the 2004 Ross Mackay Award to Dr. Matthias Jakob, Senior Geoscientist, Bruce Geotechnical Consultants, Vancouver, for his outstanding research on landslides, debris flows and the hydroclimatic forcing of hillslope failures on the west coast of North America. The Ross Mackay award is given in recognition of a significant achievement by a young geomorphologist in Canada. The CGRG maintains a website at http://cgrg.geog.uvic.ca.

News from the USA

Most geomorphologists in the USA are members of one (or all) of three organizations: the Geomorphology Specialty Group of the Association of American Geographers (GSG-AAG), the Quaternary Geology and Geomorphology Division of the Geological Society of America (QG&G-GSA), or the Hydrology section of the American Geophysical Union (AGU).

In 2004, the GSG-AAG presented its Melvin Melvin G. Marcus Distinguished Career Award to Norbert Psuty (Rutgers Univ.), and the G.K. Gilbert Award for excellence in geomorphic research to Anne Chin (Texas A&M Univ.) for her paper: The periodic nature of step-pool mountain streams, American Journal of Science, Vol. 302, pp. 144-167. GSG-AAG officers for 2004-2005 are Gregory Pope (chair) and Michael Slattery secretary-treasurer, chair-elect).

The QG&G-GSA presented its 2004 Distinguished Career Award jointly to Derek C. Ford (McMaster Univ.) and William B. White (Penn State); the Kirk Bryan Award for research excellence to Stephen C. Porter (Univ. of Washington) for his 2001 paper: Snowline depression in the tropics during the Last Glaciation, Quaternary Science Reviews, Vol. 20, p. 1067-1091; the Easterbrook Distinguished Scientist Award to Edward Keller, (Univ. California at Santa Barbara); the Farouk El-Baz Research Award for outstanding work in the field of warm desert research by earth scientists, to Ashok K. Singhvi, (Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, India); and the Gladys W. Cole Memorial Research Award (for geomorphology of semiarid and arid terrains in the United States and Mexico) to J. Elmo Rawling, III (Univ. of Wisconsin at Platteville). QG&G officers are Alan Gillespie, Chair; John Costa, first vice-chair; John Schroder, Jr., second vice-chair; Janet State, secretary, and Scott Burns, treasurer.

Editor’s Note

The success of the IAG Newsletter depends upon the contributions that we receive. Please assist by sending commentaries, reviews of regional or national meetings and field trips, summaries of issues pertinent to geomorphology, and announcements of future meetings and workshops. Your contributions should be forwarded to the IAG Publications Officer:

Carol Harden, Department of Geography, 304 Burchfiel Geography Building, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA 37996-0925. Fax +1 865 974 6025. E-mail: charden@utk.edu

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