UIS Commission on Karst Hydrogeology and Speleogenesis

It is that time of year again to announce the call for papers for the Geological Society of America Convention. This year it will be held in beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on 19-22 October. Five karst or karst-related sessions are offered this year. The first two below are sponsored by NCKRI and the three that follow have related themes involving speleothems as records of paleoenvironmental and paleoecological changes. One karst field trip will be offered and its description is also below.
 
Registration for GSA opens tomorrow, 2 June, and general information on the conference can be found at this website.
 
The abstract deadline is 29 July. Information on how to submit abstracts and the full list of sessions is available here
 
Information on the field trips is at this page under the Science & Careers tab (the karst trip is in the Pre-Meeting menu option).


T82. Enhancing the Toolkit for Karst Investigations 
Douglas Gouzie, Matthew D. Covington, Joseph Myre 
GSA Hydrogeology Division; GSA Geophysics Division; Karst Waters Institute; National Cave and Karst Research Institute 
We will cover applications of novel, emerging, cost-effective tools used in karst investigations, emphasizing recent advances in instrumentation and remote sensing, isotopic and geophysical methods, computational models of karst processes and systems, or similar methods.

T83. Karst Systems and Processes in Mountainous and Alpine Terrain
Lewis A. Land, Tim R. Stokes, Chas Yonge
National Cave and Karst Research Institute; GSA Hydrogeology Division; GSA Quaternary Geology and Geomorphology Division
Karst in alpine and mountainous settings is an under-investigated field of research. We seek presentations on karst-related topics, including geomorphology, hydrology, paleoclimatology, glaciation, and resource development, in alpine settings within the Pacific Northwest and internationally.

T119. Organic Carbon Proxies in Terrestrial Paleoecology
James M. Fulton, William C. Hockaday, Todd L. Longbottom, Lauren A. Michel
Geochemical Society; Society for Sedimentary Geology (SEPM); GSA Sedimentary Geology Division; GSA Limnogeology Division; GSA Coal Geology Division; Soils and Soil Processes Interdisciplinary Interest Group
This session seeks to include work covering molecular and isotopic information in organic molecules. Proxy development and/or applications to terrestrial records (in soils, sediments, tree rings, and speleothems) are of interest.

T192. High-Resolution Geochemical Proxies of Global Change: Progress, Problems, and Utility (Posters)
David P. Gillikin, David H. Goodwin, Alan D. Wanamaker Jr
Paleontological Society; Paleoceanography/Paleoclimatology; Geochemical Society
We seek papers presenting geochemical records of global change, including calibration/validation studies, in biologic or inorganic carbonates (e.g., mollusks, corals, speleothems) and highly resolved sediments. Geochemical studies highlighting recent progress, problems, or utility are welcome.

T193. Speleothem Records of Climate Change in North America
Jessica L. Oster, Isabel P. Montañez
Geochemical Society
This session focuses on speleothem records of North American climate. We encourage presentation of records utilizing multi-proxy approaches to investigate multiple facets of paleoenvironmental change and those aimed at refining analytical tools applicable to speleothems.

402. Karst Lands of Central Vancouver Island 
Wed.–Sat., 15–18 Oct. This trip begins and ends in Nanaimo, British Columbia.
Cost: US$621 3B, 4L, 1D, 3ON
Leader: Tim R. Stokes, Vancouver Island Univ.
Cosponsors: GSA Quaternary Geology and Geomorphology Division; GSA Environmental and Engineering Geology Division
Trip Description 
A four day field trip is proposed to examine the spectacular karst lands of Central Vancouver Island. Little is known about the origin and evolution of these karst landscapes, therefore the focus of the field trip is to explore some of the likely geological, geomorphic and hydrologic constraints that have led to the formation of these regions during the last 100,000 years. Vancouver Island hosts this significant temperate rainforest karst, similar to that found in SE Alaska, Tasmania and New Zealand. The evolution of these dynamic karst landscapes has been influenced by such factors as the limestone geology, the present and past climates, past glacial events, tectonic uplift and sea level changes. Visits will be made to a range of karst landscapes from: alpine/sub-alpine to forested mid-slopes and valley bottoms, as well as some of the coastal (littoral) karst settings. The field trip will be based in Campbell River on the east side of Vancouver Island and day trips will be carried out from here. Possible sites that will be visited include—Upana Caves, White Ridge Provincial Park, Quadra Island and Horne Lake Caves Provincial Park—a center of cave/karst tourism on the Island. Side trips will also be included giving an insight into the first nation history and culture of Vancouver Island, as well as the resource activities such as mining and forestry. 
 
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George Veni, Ph.D.
Executive Director
National Cave and Karst Research Institute