and Recoveries in the Holocene

wrapped up by a last plenary session: either a more philosophical approach, or a social of a series of insurance companies gave his own analysis of risk. groundwater demand-and-supply ﬂuctuation ity; water management aspects of drinking supply; water quality aquifer of assessment of

The 'Environmental Catastrophes and Recoveries in the Holocene' conference held here at Brunel on 28 August-2 September closed to great acclaim. According to the Secretary General of the international research organization that sponsored the event (INQUA), " ... the meeting at Brunel was excellent, and among the best meetings I have ever attended". This view has been echoed in the post-conference responses from senior scientists and younger scientists alike. So why the great success? What was so special about the conference? Well, although organized by the Department of Geography & Earth Sciences, the 150 participants from 27 countries represented a startling range of disciplines and spoke on a breathtaking myriad of topics. The majority of the delegates were geographers, geologists, archaeologists and anthropologists, but amongst them mingled historians, astrophysicists, ecologists and health experts. Topics ranged from linkages between major volcanic eruptions recorded in the Greenland ice core and a plague in Ancient Rome, between civilization collapse in the Middle East and rainforest retraction in equatorial Africa 4000 years ago, and between recent climatic downturns and the incidence of modern droughts such as that of Dustbowl America in the 1920s. Such topics ensured great media interest, with Nature, Science and New Scientist being amongst those picking up on conference highlights, such as the controversial reappraisal of the 1908 Tunguska cometary impact in Siberia, new ideas on a cometinduced mega-tsunami that devastated eastern Australia several thousand years ago, and the politics of an earthquake fault and lies below Salt Lake City's recently constructed Olympic Stadium.
Bringing together such a rich diversity of researchers was one of the main objectives of the conveners, Professor Suzanne Leroy and Dr Iain Stewart. Breaking down the usual barriers between scientific communities to forge a new mix of people was a real challenge, but one that seems to have been at the heart of the meeting's success. The broad sweep of the conference was about abrupt environmental changes that had affected the planet in the last 10,000 years, whether these changes reflected natural or human actions and the evaluation of their impact on our past and future societies. This immediate implication of such analyses is to put in a wider time perspective the events that occur at the moment (floods, fires, hurricanes, earthquakes, epidemics, extinctions) and be ready (if possible) for the extreme ones.
At the same time some nine thousands kilometers away, those attending the Johannesburg Earth Summit were hearing how humans are imposing environmental havoc on an otherwise balanced and passive Earth. The Brunel conference instead heard about a naturally variable and frequently harmful environment in which humans were often incidental.
So what of the future? The conference will spawn a number of special journal issues in international science and Leroy and Stewart will convene a follow-up conference in Reno (USA) next July. However the main legacy of the Brunel meeting will be a new INQUA-sponsored research initiative that will build on the energies and synergies generated by the London meeting. That initiative aims to galvanise a new interdisciplinary research community to engage more closely with policy makers in disentangling the natural and human influences on environmental change, and in acknowledging the 'dark side of nature'.
Some words now on the structure of the conferences. A programme of carefully selected keynote speakers was organized for the 5 mornings around the 5 key themes of the conference: geological catastrophes, ecological catastrophes, climatic catastrophes, health catastrophes and ci ili ation collapse

Introduction
Reconstruction of the Earth's early history becomes one of the most topical problems of modern geology, and the main points of the problem are what the primary earth crust was and what its formation conditions were. Investigation of ancient shields provides the necessary material. In this respect, the northeastern part of the Baltic shield, or, to be more exact, its Pechenga geoblock is a convenient polygon. It is composed of Archean amphibolite-gneiss complexes and Proterozoic sedimentary-volcanogenic rocks that have been intersected by the world's deepest Kola superdeep borehole (KSDB-3). The geoblock includes large sulfide coppernickel deposits being exploited at present. It is rather well exposed and has been studied by geological-geophysical methods.
The Kola superdeep borehole drilling was carried out within the framework of the program for investigation of the continental crust by scientific drilling in Russia. For this purpose, a sinking complex has been constructed and a drilling technology and geophysical equipment to measure physical field parameters under high temperatures and pressures have been developed. The KSDB-3 drilling started in May 1970, and stopped in early 1995. The well has reached 12,261 m in depth. It has crossed Proterozoic and Archean rocks, which are included in the crustal granite-metamorphic layer. The Archean complex (gneisses, granitoids, amphibolites) forms a sial basement, which is overlain by sedimentary-volcanogenic formations of the Proterozoic Pechenga structure, wiich has originated as a result of intraplatform rifting, and developed without forming the oceanic crust.
A new wave of intensive investigation started in 1998, in connection with a new Project "Comparison of Composition, Structure and Physical Properties of Rocks and Minerals in the Kola Superdeep Borehole (KSDB-3) and Their Homologues on the Surface". This Project was carried out from 1998 to 2002 within the framework of the International Geological Correlation Program IGCP-408 approved by UNESCO Division of Earth Sciences. Some advanced results in the mineralogy, petrology and physical fields and those relating to properties of deep and surface rocks have been received since 1998.
Among the revealed parameters, characteristics, properties and phenomena, those which are determined by physical fields and the properties changing with depth and influencing interpretation results for seismic work deserve particular attention. One such characteristic is elastic and structural anisotropy of crystalline rocks, suites, strata, rock masses and the Earth's crust as a whole.

Scope of the meeting
The plenary closing meeting of IGCP-UNESCO Project No. 408 "Rocks and Minerals at Great Depth and on the Surface" was held in Zapolyarny, Russia, September 9-14, 2002. It was attended by 23 scientists from Russia, two from the Czech Republic, two from Slovakia, three from Germany, one from the Netherlands, one from France, one from Norway, one from Finland and one from Great Britain. The meeting was attended by the President of International Union of Geological Sciences Prof. Eduardo de Mulder.

Achievements of the meeting
The participants presented 27 papers covering all trends of thematic research groups: geological and geophysical, borehole measurements and heat flow measurements. In the presentations, it was noted that deep horizons of the earth crust intersected by the Kola Superdeep Borehole (KSDB-3) are composed of anisotropic rocks fractured to different degrees. The practical importance of the discovery lies in the fact that it may be used for interpretation of physical fields, prediction of deep and superdeep boreholes deviation, establishing new methods for studying rock structural features and evaluation of geospace prospects to construct underground storage facilities. The previously existing model of linear increase in the substance density and plasticity with depth has been disproved.
A great deal of research conducted in the KSDB-3 geospace on the continental crust evolution in the geochronological interval of 0-3.0 Ga allows to assess the formation velocities of stratigraphic subdivisions, and volcanic and sedimentary-tuffaceous rocks in the section of KSDB-3. A higher accumulation velocity of volcanic rocks relative to sedimentary rocks and a substantial increase in sedimentation in the process of crust evolution have been established.
The Archean granite-gneiss section of the KSDB-3 representing the Pechenga structure basement down to a depth of 12261 m is rich in mafic and ultramafic rocks, composing a total of 1381 m-25.5% of its vertical thickness. Metabasites forming 182 geological bodies of 1240 m total thickness dominate among them. Based on petrographic, mineralogical and geochemical analyses as well as on the study of rare earth element (REE) distribution pattern two genetic groups have been distinguishedmetamorphic (having no protolith relicts) and metamorphosed magmatic rocks correlating with the corresponding formations in the KSDB-3 site area.
It has been found that the basement of the Early Proterozoic Pechenga palaeorift is formed by Late Archean granite-greenstone rocks and is penetrated by KSDB-3 at a depth of 6842-1226 m. Unlike the analogous rocks in the Pechenga framing, the rocks from the borehole Archean complex have been greatly altered during palaeorift formation. Among the most conspicuous Proterozoic processes are the following: intrusion of numerous bodies of basic and ultrabasic composition, retrograde metamorphism under conditions of medium-low-temperature amphibolite and epidote-amphibolite facies, coeval rock granitization and injection of intrusive bodies of postfolded granites.
The structure of geological sections of the Majarvi and Orshojarvi-Pirttijarvi Formations (OP-formation) has been refined for KSDB-3 and the near-surface zone. The OPformation section in KSDB-3 has been divided into two subformations-the upper bimodal subalkaline basalt-trachydacite (Orshojarvi Formation) and lower extended subalkaline picrobasalt-basalt-mugearite-trachyandesite-trachydacite (proper Pirttijarvi Formation) bringing the section in agreement with the previous data for the Pechenga structure surface.

Outcome of the meeting
In the discussion and the leaders' (Prof. H.-J. Kuempel, Prof. F.P. Mitrofanov and Dr. D.M. Guberman) concluding remarks the plenary conference considered the project outcome. It was mentioned that investiga-tions conducted during five years in all directions resulted in obtaining essential findings. Those results were presented at the plenary meetings in Zapolyarny (Russia, 1998), Zapolyarny and Apatity (Russia, 1999), Prague (the Czech Republic, 2000), at the KTB drill site (Windischeschenbach, Germany, 2001) and in Zapolyarny (Russia, 2002). In addition to the papers published in different journals including international ones, the following monographs and volumes of papers on the relevant topics have been published: During this period young researchers V. Il'chenko (Russia) and K. Schulze (Germany) working on the Project themes defended their PhD theses.
Website addresses related to the project: http://icdp.gfz-potsdam.de or http://icdp.gfz-potsdam. de/html/kola/news. html In the presentations it was also mentioned that the crust investigations in the Kola Superdeep Borehole area have been carried out for more than 20 years and the assurance exists that they will be continued in future. The reason for such a conclusion lies in the uniqueness of the material lifted from the depths below 12 km and in the confidence that the material will remain unique for a long time since at the moment the world geological community has no plans to repeat h di t d d t ti i t th new researchers will return to the study of such a deep (down to 12261 m) earth substance. At the closing meeting it was decided to issue the project's concluding proceedings report. The tentative title of the report is "Kola Superdeep Borehole and its Surrounding-the IGCP 408 results of investigations, 1998-2002". The editors of the report are F.P. Mitrofanov, D.M. Guberman and H.J. Kuempel and the editor-in-chief is F.F. Gorbatsevich. The report will be issued in Russian and English. The editor of the English report is Prof. C. Gillen. The report should get internal and external reviews. It is presumed that the editorial staff and reviewers will prepare the layout of the report before January 2004.
On the whole, the meeting participants concluded that the new scientific data obtained on IGCP-UNESCO Project 408 substantially complement the results previously published. Besides, the work of specialists dealing with Project 408 for five years enabled the establishment of an international team united by common scientific interests. It is expected that the team will be able to work fruitfully on future projects related to fundamental problems of investigation of the bowels of the Earth.
The Project leaders F. Mitrofanov, D. Guberman and H.-J. Kuempel have expressed assurance that the Kola Superdeep Borehole and unique core material will allow new discoveries in terms of composition and structure of the continental crust deep zones. Since their inception in Belgrade in 1988, the international rudist meetings have succeeded in assembling most of the world's devotees of these engagingly baroque fossil bivalves. This latest meeting, held in the scenic old town of Rovinj in Istria (the peninsula that juts out into the northern end of the Adriatic), was no exception, fully living up to its 'international' billing. At least seventeen nations were represented, by just over 50 participants, ranging from Mexico to Japan and from Germany to Saudi Arabia, though, as might be expected, with a preponderance of folk from the Mediterranean countries.

F.F. Gorbatsevich
In established tradition, the congress celebrated the memory of the region's foremost rudistologist. This time it was the turn of Ante Polsak , whose seminal studies of Istrian rudists made a major contribution to rudist biostratigraphy in general, as well as providing the stratigraphical basis for work in the region today.
The 27 oral and 20 poster presentations given at the meeting, together with a few further abstracts submitted by those who were unable to attend, covered a wide diversity of topics. I will treat the contributions under five thematic headings, mentioning just a few highlights to convey a sense of that variety.

Systematics and evolutionary patterns
Modern approaches to the low level taxonomy of rudists are (at last!) beginning to take root, with increasing emphasis on the morphometric discrimination of inherently variable populations. This certainly involves more work per publication than the mere typological naming of every slight variant (a habit that is, alas, not entirely extinct), but it does offer the promise of getting closer to the real biological species, hence the foundations for any serious palaeoecological or evolutionary analysis.
Examples presented at the meeting covered the rudists' stratigraphical spectrum, from the Upper Jurassic to the Upper Creta-ceous. Especially memorable was the report from Dietrich Schumann (Darmstadt) on his haul of spectacular specimens of Torreites from southern Oman-beautifully illustrated, as always. This genus has a curiously disjunct distribution. Besides Arabia, it has also long been known from the Caribbean region, where it has nevertheless only ever been found in small numbers. On account of its strange distribution, as well as an aberrant morphology (even by rudist standards), for many years it enjoyed the accolade usually accorded only to dinosaurs and the like of being the subject of more papers than there were known specimens. However, Schumann has found it to be very abundant at certain horizons in Arabia, allowing him a good insight into its variability, which strongly reflects the constraints of individual growth attitude and accommodation to neighbours. It was also gratifying to see Simon Mitchell (Kingston, Jamaica) tackling the wild jungle of the smaller Upper Cretaceous Jamaican radiolitids, while Tvrtko Korbar and Ivan Gusic (Zagreb) did battle with the Praeradiolites of Brac Island, both using a similar approach. All good, solid, much-needed, taxonomic gardening.  Rovinj, Croatia, September 29-October 5, 2002 cyclicity considered to have yielded them, to calculate ky-scale rates of carbonate production.

Sixth International Congress on Rudists
Intriguing results also came from smaller scales of observation. Tvrtko Korbar and Vlado Jelaska (Zagreb) documented preferred life orientations in radiolitids that suggest entrainment of the radial bands with respect to ambient currents. Stefan Götz and colleagues from Karlsruhe built up a breathtakingly detailed 3D computer image of individual settlement and growth within a hippuritid cluster, based on closely spaced serial section-grinding. In this instance they found no relationship between available settlement space and juvenile survival, but they did detect a correlation between number of coeval settlers and later survivorship, suggesting a predominant competitive control on eventual cluster density. They also found a strong hint of annual (seasonal) spatfalls. Meanwhile, Iván Regidor-Higuera and colleagues from Bilbao presented an exquisitely well resolved sclerochronological study of radiolitid shells. Such careful, highly detailed studies of rudist settlement, survivorship and growth promise fascinating insights into their palaeoautecology. They will also provide much-needed quantitative data on the contribution of rudists to the sedimentary budget of Cretaceous carbonate platforms.

Geochemical investigations
Geochemical analyses of rudist shells, especially of their isotopic compositions-a field in which, incidentally, Ante Polsak was also a pioneer-have provided many valuable new data in recent years. Topics addressed at Rovinj ranged from correlation based on strontium-isotope ratios (Riccardo Cestari, AGIP, Ravenna; Thomas Steuber, Bochum) to diagenetic effects (Regidor-Higuera et al.; Ahmed Mansour, Alexandria), thus proving the value of isotopes from the stratigraphical to the petrographical scales of investigation.

Biostratigraphy and Palaeobiogeography
Studies of the rudists themselves, as described above, were well balanced by those of their distribution in time and space, and the implications of such patterns. Naturally, it was here that the broad international scope of current rudist research was most evident, with descriptions of faunas from nearly every corner of the rudists' empire. Besides the chemostratigraphical correlations mentioned above, useful progress is being made in the biostratigraphy of rudist limestones through the integration of different taxa. A notable project in this respect is that of Bob Scott (Cleveland, Oklahoma), who reported on continuing progress with his massive graphic correlation scheme for the Barremian-Turonian, which now integrates 1800 taxa, as well as geochemical event-, magnetochron-and sequence stratigraphical levels. Sacit Özer (Bornova-Izmir) also deserves a medal for his patient retrieval of cryptic stratigraphical information from marbles in the Menderes Massif of SW Turkey, where rocks that were formerly considered Permo-Carboniferous now turn out to be Upper Cretaceous, based mainly on the identification of hippuritid rudists.

Miscellaneous
A few presentations dealt with yet other issues. Ann Molineux (Austin, Texas) explained how modern curatorial methods are being applied at the Texas Memorial Museum of Science and History, where a number of important rudist collections are housed, with on-line access to the data-base and specimen illustrations a major objective. palaeontology-lose out to high-profile (and big-appetite!) machine-based science in the funding game. Also in pursuit of maximising data-retrieval, Wyn Hughes, with colleagues from Saudi Aramco, demonstrated how computer tomography and Formation Microscanner Imaging can reveal the distribution and orientations of specimens in unslabbed cores and uncored wells, respectively. These nondestructive methods will make it much easier than before to map out distinct associations (e.g. elevator-, or recumbent-dominated) in the sub-surface. Finally, Mileva Sladic-Trifunovic (Belgrade) looked back over the preceding international rudist meetings by way of a build-up to announcing the long-awaited publication of the proceedings from the first meeting, in 1988. A few honoured delegates received their copies there and then from the small supply that she had been able to bring with her. The rest of us eagerly await ours.

Other aspects
The meeting was conveniently held in the well-appointed hotel where delegates were accommodated, and our Croatian hosts on the organizing committee did an excellent job of ensuring flawless multimedia projection facilities. Delegates also enjoyed several lively social gatherings, the highlight of which was the conference dinner, held in a rustic village setting. There, we were greeted by a display of traditional dances and treated to a wonderful meal of local produce, finishing up with the now also traditional homegrown eisteddfod (for some curious reason, rudist researchers seem to be an unusually musical, even operatic lot!).
Those who were fortunate enough to be able to stay on after the meeting enjoyed a dream field-trip around this virtual paradise of rudist limestones, in superb weather, and guided by the richly informative field-guide edited by (the seemingly ubiquitous) Igor Vlahovic and Tvrtko Korbar. The highlight was a boat trip that provided us with both spectacular views of clinoforms of rudist debris filling in a Cenomanian intra-platform depression, along the coast of Frasker Island, and a landing on Fenoliga Islet, where we were able to see a trail of dinosaur footprints right across the top of a rudist biostrome! Needless to say, our Croatian hosts also saw to it that we were treated to a variety of local culinary delights along the way.
In all respects, then, the meeting was a great success, for which the Croatian organizing team deserve the congratulations of the rudistological community. The next international rudist meeting is to be held in Austin, Texas, in 2005, convened by Bob Scott (E-mail: rwscott@ix.netcom.com) and Ann Molineux (E-mail: annm@mail. utexas.edu). And of course, in Texas the rudists are, well ... So, if you have the slightest affinity for them, you won't want to miss it.

The Cenomanian clinoforms of Frasker Island.
A five-day International Conference, titled "The Role of Natural Resources and the Environment in Sustainable Development in South and Southeast Asia (NESDA)" was successfully organized jointly by the Geological Survey of Bangladesh (GSB), Association of Geoscientists for International Development (AGID) and Society of Economic Geologists and Mineral Technologists (SEGMITE) in Dhaka in January 17-21, 2003. The economic growth of any nation is basically dependent on exploration and exploitation of natural resources, their proper conservation and utilization through industrial development and also on maintenance of healthy and hygienic environmental ecosystems. Misuse of natural resources, environmental degradation, the problem of environmental protection and all sorts of pollution control are getting unprecedented attention because without solving these problems sustainable development can not be achieved. The objectives of this event were to gather innovative ideas, information and new technology regarding sustainable management of issues like natural resources, geohazards and environmental protection by international geoscientists, directly or indirectly involved with these disciplines, and also to publish an international standard publication based on geoscientific contributions, opinions and recommendations given by geoscientists from at home and abroad. It is expected that this publication will play a significant role in sustainable development in South and Southeast Asia. It will create an awareness and will help to regenerate cooperation and coordination among the Asian countries, and bring about sustainable benefits. The countries in the Asian region are far behind in development of natural resources and mineral-based industries; and in the improvement of the environment and mitigation of effects of natural hazards, and thus the achievement of sustainable development which is one of the key factors for regional as well as global economic development. Considering these points, emphasis was given to Asia, but the geographic scope was global and opened to all concerned geoscientists all over the world. Therefore, there was a tremendous (i l di b t 200 f i )  , who died on 4th January 2003 was given by his friend and colleague Dr. Deryck Laming, Editor, Journal of AGID Geoscience and Development. Then an Address of Welcome was given by Ms. Afia Akhtar, the Convener of the conference. She mentioned that the world's population is increasing day by day, and in such circumstances it is a must to explore and exploit more and more natural resources to meet the growing demand of the ever-growing population. The proper utilization of these natural resources is also required to ensure the development of industrialization using modern technology. Otherwise, sustainable development cannot be achieved. She also mentioned that at the same time, due to the exploding population, the world is facing a series of serious environmental problems which hamper development activities, and therefore the maintenance of healthy environmental ecosystem is also one of the key factors for the development of a sustainable society. She pointed out that we the human beings are the topmost sensible species in the world as we have unique ability to identify problems and then to invent devices to solve the problems accordingly. Therefore, if we have strong determination to go forward with Dhaka, Bangladesh, January 17-21, 2003 Chief a positive attitude to cope with all sorts of problems, then we hope that one day, we will be able to offer an endurable and sustainable society to our future generations. She stated that the economic growth of any nation, greatly influenced by proper exploration, exploitation and conservation of natural resources together with maintenance of a healthy and hygienic environment ultimately governs the world economy. Nevertheless, most Asian countries lag far behind in this regard, and so, to create awareness, she mentioned that the main theme of the conference was selected. She concluded by expressing heartfelt gratitude to Shell-Bangladesh, UNOCAL-Bangladesh, UNESCO, PGCL, Petrobangla and Nur-Telefilm for their kind financial and logistic support for the conference. Prof. Dr. Viqar Hussain, Convener of SEGMITE, also welcomed the delegates on behalf of his organization. President of AGID Dr. S.D. Limaye highlighted AGID and its geoscientific activities for sustainable development throughout the world, especially in the developing world. He raised some questions: Why is there such concern about sustainability and the environment in the developing countries? Why do we have desertification, soil erosion, loss of forest cover, drying-up of wetlands, devastation by floods, salinization of irrigated farms, uncontrolled urbanization and serious pollution of water and air in most of the developing countries? Why is the urban environment degrading very rapidly, with the same scenario from Buenos Aires to Bangkok, from Delhi to Dhaka, from Johannesburg to Jakarta, from Karachi to Colombo and from Mombasa to Manila? He also suggested some solutions to these problems, which lie in population control, creating on-farm employment opportunities in villages, promoting rural credit facilities through institutions like Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, adopting integrated river basin management and creating awareness of the importance of the prudent use of natural resources. NGOs can play an important role, and that's why international NGOs like AGID and SEGMITE were involved in this conference. M. Nazrul Islam, Director General, highlighted the contribution of GSB to the development of mineral resources in Bangladesh, and also mentioned some of GSB's recent activities. Khandaker Shahidul Islam, Secretary of the EMRD, MEMR, Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, mentioned that geoscience plays the role of a mainstream for the industrial and economic development of a country. He said that natural resources development should keep pace with the protection of the environment and ecology, and these days the maintenance of an environmental and ecological balance is very important. The present conference covers a wide spectrum of subjects, he said, and these subjects have a t i li ti f ff ti li ki water resources and making water available for drinking, domestic and agricultural uses constitute a challenge for geoscientists all over the world. Energy is another important topic for Asian countries, the consumption of which is increasing day by day together with growing populations. He also expressed his hope that this type of conference would help to share and consolidate our experience, knowledge and vision for our posterity by the proper development and utilization of natural resources. State Minister of the E&MR Division, MEMR, A.K.M. Mosharraf Hossain, FCA, MP, Govt. of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, said that development is very much related to the evolution of civilization, and through development mankind has achieved its present glorious position. However, we have also destroyed our natural inheritance to some extent in the name of development, which is a threat to us both regionally and globally. He mentioned some major environmental problems such as deforestation, scarcity of safe drinking water, increased population, sanitation and air pollution. He expressed the hope that the results of the conference would provide guidelines for sustainable development of natural resources and the environment in South and Southeast Asia. With these few words, he inaugurated the NESDA International Conference. An abstract volume of 92 pages, containing 139 abstracts, and an attractive souvenir album of the conference have been published by the organizers. During scientific sessions 77 papers were presented, including some poster presentations. Themed scientific sessions were started by a keynote speech. Nusrat K. Siddiqui of Pakistan focused on the worldwide history of oil exploration, the distribution of world oil reserves, and their growth, production trends, and consumption and resulting pollution, as well as the history of oil price fluctuations. M. Badrul Imam stated that several geotectonic units are defined in the Bangladesh Basin, and these are rated differently with respect to the occurrence of geologic conditions required for commercial accumulation of hydrocarbon gas. M. Nurul Hasan mentioned that geophysical exploration supported by geological information and drilling has resulted in the discoveries of coal-bearing Gondwana coal, hard rocks, magnetic bodies and other minerals in northern Bangladesh, and further geophysical exploration is needed to obtain ore infor ation abo t the s bs rface geol monds in central India, exploration strategy for gold resources in Orissa, exploration of multi-mineral placer occurrences and silica sand in the offshore domain of India, the geothermal energy potential of India, and mud volcanoes and the future potential energy resources of Pakistan. Sustainable development, which means "meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs" or "improving the quality of human life while living within the carrying capacity of the supporting ecosystem" was mentioned by prominent geoscientist S. A. Bilgrami. W.F. Wan Hasan said that Malaysia has plentiful mineral resources, and these resources, together with rubber, have made a very significant contribution to the country's economy. Other papers highlighted the aspects of renewable energy potential in sustainable development, the ecological stress of water-logged conditions on resources management and the immense ecological significance of floating islands on the environment. Viqar Hussain said that the main obstacles in the development of modern mining and mineral-based industries are lack of political will and clear-cut or friendly legal and fiscal mining policies for investment, lack of technical and financial inputs, poor infrastructure, law and order situation and unfair distribution of mineral sector income between the provinces and federal governments of Pakistan and other developing countries. Mike Katz of Australia stressed the importance of leadership in countries where sustainable development in mining is under the most economic and social stress. Authors from other countries spoke about phosphate deposits in Jordan and their economic importance, the role of provincial governments in the development of smallscale mining in Pakistan, the multi-directional impact of system loss in natural gas distribution in Bangladesh, primary gold mineralization in the central belt of peninsular Malaysia, the importance of minerals for a cro ded island like the UK and also on There is a need to formulate pragmatic legal, fiscal and environmental methodologies to ensure the sustainable development of natural resources.

International Conference on the Role of Natural Resources and Environment in Sustainable Development in South and Southeast Asia (NESDA)
• Industrial minerals have increased their socio-economic importance, particularly in rapidly developing highly populated regions such as South Asia. The conference recommends that the respective governments provide suitable policies with the objective of encouraging local and foreign government and private investment in the industrial minerals sector. Furthermore, small-scale mining and processing should receive appropriate levels of technical and financial assistance.
• To move towards a more sustainable approach to natural resources development, the conference recommends that steps be taken to: (a) create mass awareness, and draft and implement necessary legislation to ensure the conservation, recycling and re-use of natural resources; (b) encourage and prioritize the development of alternative resources where possible; and (c) encourage developmental approaches to minimize the consumption of natural resources.

•
The conference recommends that a strategy be developed to encourage a balanced utilization of water resources.
• The conference recommends that governments encourage detailed surveys and assessments of surface water and groundwater resources to identify toxic elements such as arsenic and fluorine. Remedial methodologies should be developed to the highest scientific standards.

•
The conference recommends that a systematic survey be undertaken to define hazard-prone areas. Disaster mitigation and education programs should be aimed at a range of audiences, particularly at l bl iti

Group photographs of NESDA delegates at the PGCL premises, NW Bangladesh.
able throughout the region. Geoscientists can offer high-quality advice, technical input and policy options for a wide range of natural resource and infrastructure developments of central importance to governments and societies. This approach will encourage South-South co-operation.
• Governments should utilize the skills and expertise of NGOs and the private sector, with the objective of ensuring higher community participation in all developmental processes. Governments should invite NGOs to become development partners in sustainable development initiatives.
• Geoscience departments in universities should be provided with adequate funding for developing their teaching programs, with the help of multidisciplinary staff, in curriculum areas such as environmental geology, urban geology, groundwater, and the management and mitigation of natural hazards.

•
Steps should be taken to introduce elements of earth science and their applied aspects within the formal school curriculum from the 5th to 10th grades or equivalent.

•
The conference strongly recommends that a follow-up conference be organized in the South or Southeast Asian region within the next three years, to focus on the sustainable development of natural resources.
• Systematic studies of coastal zone management should be promoted for development and proper use of such zones.
The Honorable State Minister, A.N.M. Ehsanul Haque, Ministry of Education, Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, was present as the Chief Guest at the closing session, and said that undoubtedly, Asian countries enjoy valuable natural resources. Proper technical know-how to explore and exploit natural resources as well as proper management of such resources are expected to play a vital role in the sustainable development of this region. He mentioned that the natural balance of the world is at stake. Extensive use of artificial products made through modification of natural resources, the problem of recycling the wastes of artificial products and the lack of proper management of natural resources like oil, gas, coal and water have caused an imbalance of the natural environment of the earth, our habitat. Socio-economic conditions also play a significant role in this regard. He therefore requested everyone to take care of the environmental balance while working for the sustainable development of natural resources and also to find out the way to reach the goal of national development through the optimum use of natural resources and environment. Ms. Akhtar expressed the hope that the presentations of papers, discussions and recommendations of the confer-ence would help the efforts for the sustainable development of natural resources and the environment in the South and Southeast region and would also help to regenerate cooperation and coordination among the geoscientists of this region as well as other parts of the world.
An excursion to the northwest along the Asia Highway to the Pashchimanchal Gas Company Limited (PGCL) at Nalka, Sirajganj near the Jamuna bridge, about 192 km from Dhaka, was arranged by the Conference Committee. On the way to Nalka, the conference delegates visited the National Monument built up on Pleistocene upland at Savar, one of the best architectural designs in the sub-continent. Delegates enjoyed both urban and rural views, and then crossed the Jamuna Multipurpose Bridge over the Jamuna River. At the PGCL premises, A.K.M Shamsuddin, Managing Director of PGCL, demonstrated the layout of the 30-inch-diameter high-pressure natural gas transmission line along the Jamuna Bridge and the distribution of gas to Sirajgonj Town.

CALL FOR PAPERS
Episodes is the quarterly science and news journal of the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS). It focuses on the publication of results of scientific research and other information addressing issues of interest to the global earth-science community. Special emphasis is given to topics involving geological aspects of population growth and economic development and their resulting impacts on or implications for society. As the principal publication of the IUGS, Episodes also carries information about IUGS scientific programs and activities to the extent necessary to communicate effectively with the worldwide IUGS constituency.
Contributions of the following types of manuscripts are here solicited: • review papers • scientific articles • conference reports • news and views • letters to editor • book reviews • information on training courses (especially those geared to participants from developing countries) • noteworthy new publications, including national or regional geologic maps Episodes also invites photos or other images for the front cover. Photos must be of high technical quality and tell an interesting geological story. A color transparency and one color print (at least 9 cm × 12.6 cm) are required for submission, which should be supplemented with a short explanatory paragraph (no more than 100 words).