The
IGCP 429 Annual Report No.1, 1998
ORGANICS IN MAJOR
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
DURATION AND
STATUS: 1998 - 2002 - ONGOING
PROJECT LEADERS: JAN PASAVA & JAN JENIK, (IGCP)
(MAB)
Czech Geological
Survey (address on guiding pages) & Faculty of Botany, Klarov 3 Charles
University, CS-118 00 Praha 1 Benatska
2, Czech Republic CS-128 01 Praha 2
phone: (+420)-2-5817390 &
phone:(+420)-2-21953119; fax: (+420)-2-5818748& fax: (+420)-2-21953125,
e-mail: pasava@cgu.cz & jenik@prfdec.natur.cuni.cz
PROJECT SECRETARY: ANDREW P. GIZE,
Department of Geology, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL,
UK
phone:
(+44)-61-275-3832; fax: (+44)-61-275-3947; e-mail: andy_gize@email.msn.com
INTRODUCTION
IGCP Project #429
"Organics in Major Environmental Issues" (1998-2002) was approved by
UNESCO in February 1998. In the period from March, 1998 to October 15, 1998 which
was the first year of the Project around 70 scientists from 31
countries participated in the Project activities.
The configuration of the Project is as follows:
National
Working Group Suggested Representative
Argentina |
M. Brodtkorb |
Australia |
B. Lottermoser |
Austria |
H. Lobitzer |
Bulgaria |
T. Todorov |
Brazil |
Laecio C. de Souza |
Canada |
J.F. Barker |
China |
Fan Delian |
Czech Republic |
B. Kribek |
Estonia |
E. Puura |
Finland |
K. Loukola-Ruskeeniemi |
France |
M. Leblanc |
Germany |
K. Bosecker |
Hungary |
M. Polgari |
Israel |
Y. Chen |
Italy |
P. Lattanzi |
Japan |
S. Nakashima |
Korea |
H.T. Chon |
Macedonia |
T. Serafimovski |
Mongolia |
B.
Tumenbayar |
Nigeria |
S. Akande |
Philippines |
E.C. Santiago |
Poland |
W. Mayer |
Romania |
C. Dinulescu |
Russia |
A. Kontorovich |
Slovakia |
I. Rojkovic |
Slovenia |
T. Dimkovski |
South Africa |
K. Walemba |
Spain |
I. Suarez-Ruiz |
Switzerland |
J. Spangenberg |
United Kingdom |
J. Parnell |
United States |
T. Giordano |
1. SUMMARY OF MAJOR
PAST ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE PROJECT
N/A
2. ACHIEVEMENTS OF
THE PROJECT THIS YEAR
2.1. GENERAL
SCIENTIFIC ACHIEVEMENTS
v
1998 was the first year of the
IGCP Project #429, characterized by the organization of its structure and by
delineation of its scope and aims. National Working Groups or Correspondents
have been established in 31 countries.
v
Newsletter #1, including full description
of the Project #429 and the proposed agenda for the Inaugural Meeting, was
distributed to all participants shortly after approval of the Project.
v The activity of virtually all the newly
formed National Groups was concentrated on the formulation of the goals which
were to be discussed at the Inaugural Meeting of the Project.
v The Inaugural Meeting of the IGCP #429 was held in Prague, Czech Republic between September
10-13, 1998. The two day
meeting was followed by a one day field trip. Forty one participants from 20
countries took part in this event with the aim to present and discuss the
proposed Project management structure, work plan, schedule of annual
international
v meetings, creation of working groups as
well as publication policy. At the very beginning, the following basic
information about IGCP and its rules were presented by Jan Pasava:
PURPOSE AND
OBJECTIVES OF THE IGCP
v
co-operative
enterprise of the IUGS and UNESCO
v
idea to
create IGCP was suggested at a joint IUGS-UNESCO Meeting in October 1967 in
Prague with the final approval in 1972
v
the first
meeting of IGCP Board took part in May 1973 in Paris
PURPOSE:
to encourage and facilitate international
co-operation in research on geological problems and thereby to promote the wise
use of the Earth as a human habitat, as a source of natural resources and to
reduce the effects of natural disasters
OBJECTIVES:
increasing our
understanding of the factors controlling the global environment in order that
living conditions may be improved
developing more
effective ways in finding and assessing natural resources increasing our
understanding of geological processes and developing new geological concepts in
order to meet future human needs
improving
research capacities, methods and techniques of research, through international
collaboration of scientists from developed and developing nations
promoting
transdisciplinary co-operation, especially within the framework of UNESCO, on
joint programmes of global importance
IGCP GENERAL
POLICIES
v
new projects
are approved by IGCP Scientific Board (16 members) for a period of not more
than 5 years
v
project
leader must submit to UNESCO an annual report by 15 October each year which is
reviewed by IGCP Scientific Board (new projects reviewed after 2 years)
v it is important that project leader
receives from National Representatives a summary report covering major
activities (national meetings, major scientific highlights, planned workshops
or field excursions for the year ahead) by September 1, each year level of
financial support allocated annually from UNESCO and IUGS is based on the
results of the reviewing process and money can be used to:
o
cover part
of organizational expenses
o
facilitate
participation of active scientists preferably from developing countries in
plenary meetings of the project (requests directly to project leader/s)
o
NO RESEARCH
AND PUBLISHING MONEY AVAILABLE FROM IGCP BUDGET
v scientists participating in a project should keep in touch with their National Representative who has to be approved by IGCP National Committee
v each publication which is a contribution
to an IGCP should possibly bear IGCP logo and the IGCP project should be
mentioned in acknowledgements
v one copy of each publication should be
sent to project leader who should attach it to the Annual Report for UNESCO
Following
the official opening of the IGCP 429 Inaugural Meeting, the proposal for the
IGCP 429 Management Structure and IGCP 429 - MAB (Man and Biosphere UNESCO
Programme) initiative were presented, discussed and approved by the
participants:
IGCP 429
MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE
Co-Leaders:
Jan PASAVA
(IGCP) (CZECH REPUBLIC) pasava@cgu.cz
Jan JENIK (MAB)
(CZECH REPUBLIC) jenik@prfdec.natur.cuni.cz
Scientific
Secretary:
Andrew Paul GIZE
(UNITED KINGDOM) andy_gize@email.msn.com
Regional
Vice-Leaders:
Kagumbu WALEMBA
(AFRICA) 065KABUN@cosmos.wits.ac.za
Delian FAN
(ASIA) fandl@public.intercom.com.cn
Bernd
LOTTERMOSER (AUSTRALIA) blotterm@metz.une.edu.au
Kirsti
LOUKOLA-RUSKEENIEMI (EUROPE) kirsti.loukola-ruskeeniemi@gsf.fi
Tom GIORDANO
(NORTH AMERICA) tgiordan@NMSU.Edu
Laecio CUNHA DE
SOUZA (SOUTH AMERICA) laecio@geologia.ufrn.br
It must be stressed that the IGCP 429 is unique in being the
the first IGCP Project to be internationally co-ordinated by a geoscientist
(Dr. Jan Pasava - experienced leader of several IGCP Projects from the Czech
Geological Survey in Prague) and a biologist (Dr. Jan Jenik - MAB chairperson
from the Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Charles University in
Prague). The primary objective of this collaborative venture is to integrate
varied groups of geoscientists and biologists in order to bridge a gap between
two major UNESCO
Programmes - IGCP and MAB, and thus serve our society more effectively.
After introduction of Man and Biosphere Programme, Prof. Jenik has strongly
encouraged all the participants to get in touch with local MAB representatives
in order to inform them about IGCP 429 activities with the aim to initiate
joint studies.
The
participants have agreed that the IGCP 429 will become together with the Czech
Geological Survey and UNESCO/Paris one of the co-organizers of the GEOCHIM
postgraduate course in Exploration and Environmental Geochemistry. Adding a
“training component” and encouraging the involvement of more people especially
from developing countries will be another very important aspect of IGCP 429
activities. This course will be held in Prague and Dolni Rozinka (Czech
Republic) from September 7-20, 1999 and more information is available at
GEOCHIM, Czech Geological Survey, Geologicka 6, 150 00 Praha 5 - Barrandov,
Czech Republic, phone : +420-2-5817390, fax: +420-2-5818748, e/mail
<kribek@cgu.cz or pasava@cgu.cz>.
Jan
Pasava has emphasized major goals of the IGCP 429 – see the description of the
Project above.
TOPICAL WORKING GROUPS
WG1: Organic
matter - metals interaction
(A.P. Gize,
UK - e-mail: <andy_gize@email.msn.com>
WG 2: Microbial
leaching in environmental clean up
(K. Bosecker,
Germany - e-mail: <k.bosecker@bgr.de> )
WG 3: Weathering
of organic matter
(B. Kribek,
Czech Republic- e-mail: <kribek@cgu.cz>)
WG 4: Acid mine
drainage
(E. Puura,
Estonia - e-mail: <epuura@math.ut.ee> or <erx@ket.kth.se>)
WG 5:
Environmental models of black shale hosted mineral deposits
(W. Mayer,
Poland - e-mail: <wmayer@geol.agh.edu.pl>)
WG 6: Organic
atmospheric particulates
(K. Hall,
U.K.l)
WG 7: Organic
matter in nuclear waste issues
(D. Mossman,
Canada - e-mail: <dmossman@mailserv.mta.ca>)
WG 8: Organics
in aquifers and water systems
(L. de Souza
- <<laecio@geologia.ufrn.br>and R. Melo, Brazil, J. Spangenberg,
Switzerland - <Jorge.Spangenberg@imp.unil.ch>)
ANNUAL
INTERNATIONAL MEETINGS
1998 -
Inaugural Meeting, Prague, Czech Republic (September 10-13) (done)
1999 -
Annual International Meeting (session 2 “Organics in the formation and remediation of mineral deposits”, within the
5th SGA-IAGOD Meeting), London, U.K (August 25-28) - confirmed more info at http://www.immr.tu-clausthal.de/sga.html
2000 -
Annual International Meeting (within the 31st IGC ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (August 6-17) - under negotiation with the
organizers
2001 -
Annual International Meeting (within the 6th SGA Meeting), possibly in Krakow, Poland ?
2002 -
Final Meeting in a country with the most advanced research (most likely at the GAC/MAC Meeting in
Canada or GSA Meeting in USA)
The meeting was
followed by a one day field trip to the North Bohemian Coal Basin, co-organized
by the North Bohemian Coal Mining Joint Stock Company. It has been documented
in several case studies that lignite mining and waste heap remediation have to
address problems such as the generation of acid mine drainage, and various
agrochemical properties resulting from newly formed organic substrates. Such
issues will be evaluated during the IGCP 429.
It has been agreed that an IGCP 429 WEB SITE
will be set up by A.P. Gize (UK) <andy_gize@email.msn.com> who
will announce its precise address to all the participants.
The participants of the Inaugural Meeting
have agreed to e/mail about 1 page abstract of their talks presented at the
meeting to Jan Pasava <pasava@cgu.cz> by September 30, 1998. They will be
printed in the Proceedings of the IGCP 429 Inaugural Meeting and distributed to
the participants.
Newsletter #2,
describing the Inaugural Meeting of the IGCP 429 was distribute to all the
participants shortly after the meeting.
2.2. LIST OF
MEETINGS WITH APPROXIMATE ATTENDANCE AND NUMBER OF COUNTRIES
1. IGCP 429 Inaugural Meeting
(September 10-13, 1998, Prague, Czech Republic)
41 scientists from 20 countries
2.3. NUMBER OF PUBLICATIONS (INCLUDING MAPS) - LIST OF MAJOR OR MOST IMPORTANT PUBLICATIONS
Proceedings of the Inaugural Meeting will be
published at the end of 1998 in the printing house of the Czech Geological
Survey (Prague). Excursion guide to the Ianugural Meeting of the IGCP 429 was
prepared by J. Godany and B. Kribek from the Czech Geological Survey
(attached).
2.4. LIST OF
COUNTRIES INVOLVED IN PROJECT
(* COUNTRIES ACTIVE THIS YEAR
Argentina,
Australia, *Austria *Bulgaria, *Brazil *Canada, *China, *Czech Republic,
*Estonia, *Finland, *France, *Germany, *Hungary, *Israel, *Italy, *Japan,
*Korea, *Macedonia, *Mongolia, *Nigeria, *Philippines, *Poland, *Republic of
South Africa, *Romania, *Russia, *Slovakia, Slovenia, *Spain, *Switzerland,
*UK, *USA,
2.5. ACTIVITIES INVOLVING OTHER IGCP PROJECT, IUGS OR MAJOR PARTICIPATION OF SCIENTISTS FROM DEVELOPING COUNTRIES.
It must be stressed that the IGCP 429 is
unique in being the the first IGCP Project to be internationally co-ordinated
by a geoscientist (Dr. Jan Pasava - experienced leader of several IGCP Projects
from the Czech Geological Survey in Prague) and a biologist (Dr. Jan Jenik -
MAB chairperson from the Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Charles
University in Prague). The primary objective of this collaborative venture is
to integrate varied groups of geoscientists and biologists in order to bridge a
gap between two major UNESCO Programmes - IGCP and MAB, and thus serve our
society more effectively.
The Project will become together with the
Czech Geological Survey and UNESCO/Paris one of co-organizers of the GEOCHIM
postgraduate course in Exploration and Environmental Geochemistry. Involvement
of more people especially from developing countries will be another very
important aspect of IGCP 429 activities.
3. PROPOSED
ACTIVITIES OF THE PROJECT FOR THE YEAR AHEAD
3.1. GENERAL GOALS
v
Based on the approved IGCP #429
work plan the following activities were proposed for 1999:
v
Development of new and
continuation of ongoing transdisciplinary research projects covering the eight
major topics of the Project with possible involvement of MAB specialists on
both national and international levels
v
Active participation in GEOCHIM
postgraduate training course on the exploration and environmental geochemistry
v
Presentation of scientific
results on both national and international levels
v
Publication of new results in
local and internationally recognized periodics
v
Editing Newsletters
v
Updating Project web site
3.2. SPECIFIC
MEETINGS AND FIELD TRIPS (*INDICATION OF PARTICIPATION BY DEVELOPING
COUNTRIES
1.
Annual International Meeting, session 2 - “Organics in the
formation and remediation of mineral deposits”, - co-convenors: A.
Gize, J. Pasava and A. Fleet
organized
within a joint SGA-IAGOD Meeting), London, U.K (August 25-28)
more
info at http://www.immr.tu-clausthal.de/sga.html
2.
GEOCHIM - training course in exploration and environmental geochemistry, - co-organized
with the Czech Geological Survey and UNESCO,
Prague and Dolni
Rozinka, September 7-20, 1999
3.3 PROPOSED MAJOR
PUBLICATIONS
Chapter in a hard
cover proceedings of the SGA-IAGOD International Meeting in London (A.A.Balkema
Publisher).
4. PROJECTED
FUNDING REQUEST
In 1998, the IGCP #429 appreciated medium
funding (US $ 7,000). This budget, coupled with contributions from two local
coal mining companies (Severoceske Doly a.s., Chomutov - North Bohemian Coal
Mining JSC Chomutov and OKD a.s. - Ostrava-Karvina Coal Mining JSC, contributed
significantly to the participation of 24 scientists from 19 countries
in the Inaugural Meeting of the IGCP 429, held in Prague (Czech Republic) The
complete financial statement was mailed along with a brief report immediately
after the meeting to the Secretary General of IUGS for approval with a copy to
the IGCP Secretary.
In
1999, IGCP 429 will hold two major events - annual international meeting in
London, UK and GEOCHIM - a postgraduate training course in exploration and
environmental geochemistry.in the Czech Republic. Frankly, both places mean
extra high travel expenses, especially for people coming from the former Soviet
Union countries, South Africa, Australia, SE Asia (Korea and China) as well as
North and South America (Brazil). Considering
the
great efforts of the IGCP 429 leadership to integrate varied groups of geoscientists
and biologists in order to bridge a gap between two major UNESCO Programmes -
IGCP and MAB, we hope that Members of the IGCP Scientific Board will be able to
recommend high funding for 1999.
5. REQUEST FOR
EXTENSION
N/A
6. SUMMARY
1998 was the first year of the Project #429, characterized by the
organization of its structure and by delineation of its scopes and aims.
Project links have been established in 31 countries. The very well attended
Inaugural Meeting was held in Prague, Czech Republic in September with the
attendance of representatives of 20 countries.
It must be stressed that the IGCP 429 is
unique in being the first IGCP Project to be internationally co-ordinated by a
geoscientist (Dr. Jan Pasava - experienced leader of several IGCP Projects from
the Czech Geological Survey in Prague) and a biologist (Dr. Jan Jenik - MAB
chairperson from the Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Charles
University in Prague). The primary objective of this collaborative venture is
to integrate varied groups of geoscientists and biologists in order to bridge a
gap between two major UNESCO Programmes - IGCP and MAB, and thus serve our
society more effectively.
Two major events will be held in 1999 -
Annual International Meeting in London, UK and GEOCHIM - a postgraduate
training course in Exploration and Environmental Geochemistry which will be
co-organized with the Czech Geological Survey in Prague and UNESCO/Paris.
Involvement of more people especially from developing countries will be another
very important aspect of IGCP 429 activities.
Two newsletters (April and September 98) were
distributed to the participants and the Project has arranged its web site.
7. OTHER RELEVANT
INFORMATION
It has been
recommended at the Inaugural Meeting in Prague, that the IGCP Secretariat in
Paris should consider informing MAB Secretariat in Paris about newly initiated
activities and ask for any help in distributing this information through
individual MAB National Committees as possible.
8. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The
Project leadership wishes to express best thanks to the Czech Geological Survey
in Prague, the Severoceske Doly a.s. and OKD a.s. for their significant
sponsorship of the Inaugural Meeting.