Moving plates and melting icecaps – Processes and forcing factors in geology, 4^th international Geologica Belgica meeting, September 11-14, 2012

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Résumé

The 4^th international Geologica Belgica meeting took place at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS) in Brussels from September 11 to 14 2012. This international conference, which is held every 3 years, was organized under the general theme “Moving plates and melting icecaps - Processes and forcing factors in geology” to celebrate the centenary of the first paper on the concept of moving continents published by Alfred Wegener. It brought together 241 participants to celebrate how the inspiring first idea of drifting continents has led to one of the most fundamental and influential revolutions in geological thinking. Ninety of the participants came from abroad representing 26 countries and making this meeting the largest and most international congress ever organized by the Geological Society of Belgium.

The ceremony was opened by Camille Pisani, general director of the RBINS and Rudy Swennen, vice-president of Geologica Belgica. The laureate of the André Dumont Medal 2012, Trond Torsvik (Oslo University, Norway), was the first keynote speaker of the meeting. He presented a fascinating introductory talk about Wegener’s concept of the supercontinent Pangaea surrounded by the vast Panthalassa Ocean and the comparison with the modern paleogeographic reconstructions.

During the four days of the congress five other plenary sessions were introduced by the keynote speakers Dorit Sivan (University of Haifa, Israel), Karl Foellmi (University of Lausanne, Switzerland), Gregg F. Gunnell (Duke University, USA), Glenn Milne (University of Ottawa, Canada), and Anne-Sylvie André-Mayer (Université de Lorraine, France). These sessions high-lighted key scientific topics in a wide range of geology related disciplines (Palaeohazards and geoarchaeology, Paleoenvironmental change, Paleobiogeography, Icecap dynamics and sea-level change, Ore geology and geodynamics). Under the splendid guidance of efficient session chairmen, a total of 137 talks and 99 posters were presented in 16 sessions related to the main research topics of Belgian geologists and paleontologists.

Guided tours in the gallery of evolution and in paleontological collections were organized for about 100 participants on the evening of the second day of the congress by Annelise Folie, the curator of the paleontological collections of the RBINS. This was followed by a dinner in the dinosaur gallery. A field excursion on “Building stones in Brussels” was organized on the last day of the meeting, and was guided by Marleen De Ceukelaire, the curator of the geological collections of the RBINS. During the meeting, the paleontological collections of the RBINS were accessible to researchers.

Finally, the evening of the last day was dedicated to the award ceremony of the student competition for the best posters (Pierre-Yves Declercq, Kris Welkenhuysen, Willemijn Quaijtaal), and oral presentations (Valentin Fisher, Sebastien Olive, Willemijn Quaijtaal). The closing ceremony was hosted by Michiel Dusar, head of the Geological Survey of Belgium.

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About: Xavier DEVLEESCHOUWER

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