2 Volumes Final Proceedings - Washington 1984.pdf - IARC Research

10Roger J.E. Brown of Canada, who has been mentionedtwo or three times already. Dr.Brm participatedin the first three congresses and it is known thathe was, of course, the chairman of the third conference.At this time: Dr. Mackay.J. ROSS MACKAY - Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen:I have been asked to say a few words in remembranceof the late Dr. R.J.E. B K ~ . As manyof you know, he died in 1980 after a long andcourageous struggle against cancer. It was justfive years ago last week that Canada hosted theThird International Conference on Permafrost atEdmonton, Alberta. Roger was the perfect choicefor chairman of the Canadian organizing committee.Much of the success of the conference wasdue to Roger's unselfish and untiring efforts.He was as much at home with permafrost scientistsfrom the United States and abroad as he was withhis fellow Canadians. He traveled in the SovietUnion and the People's Republic of China, alwayswith the objective of fostering friendships andinternational collaboration. Roger had the cheerfuland infectious smile, a genuine interest inpeople, and a happy facility for making friendships.He had looked forward with great anticipationto being able to attend this Fourth InternationalConference on Permafrost which is beginningso auspiciously today. In tribute to Dr. Brown,the proceedings of the Fourth Canadian PermafrostConference were published last year in a memorialvolume. The Canadian Geotechnical Society has establisheda Roger J.E. Brown Memorial Award, whichwill be presented for outstanding contributions topermafrost at the next and future internationalconferences on permafrost.TROY L. P$d - Thank you, Dr. Mackay. Our nextspeaker is Dr. Jerry Brown, who is Chairman of theCommittee on Permafrost of the Polar ResearchBoard of the United States National Academy ofSciences.JERRY BROWN - Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentleuen:On behalf of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences,and its president, Dr. Frank Press, it ismy pleasure to welcome the participants to theFourth International Conference on Permafrost. Iwould like to thank our hosts here in Alaska andat the university for providing this opportunityto meet in Fairbanks. Dr. Gunter Weller, ViceChairman of the U.S. Organizing Committee, deservesparticular thanks for undertaking the localarrangements, Special acknowledgment is appropriateto our Canadlan colleagues who have providedconsiderable assistance in the review process forthe contributed papers and In undertaking thepost-conference field trip to the Mackenzie RiverValley.In the remaining few minutes of this openingsession, I would like to briefly discuss the statusof permafrost research in the United States.Scientific and engineering investigations on frozenground are conducted by many institutions andorganizations, including universities, federal andstate organizations, and privately financed industrialorganizations. Numerous professional organizationsare involved in organizing meetings, seminars,and conferences on the subject of permafrostand freezing and thawing of soils. Notableare the American Society of Civil Engineers andthe American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Thegeographic and disciplinary diversity of theseU.S. activities is characterized by the approximately100 U.S. papers which will be presentedduring the next five days. A special conferencebibliography produced by the World Data. Center forGlaciology in Boulder, Colorado, identifies manyother U.S. publications which have become availablein the last five years.Current investigations are underway in threemajor regions: (1) offshore or subsea permafrost(particularly in the Beaufort Sea), (2) land-basedpermafrost areas in Alaska, and (3) in the alpineregions of the contiguous United States. In thepast five years, major efforts have been directedto the continental shelf in association with petroleumexploration. There the occurrence anddistribution of ice-bonded permafrost has beenidentified by both drilling and geophysical methodsoff Prudhoe Bay and in Harrison Bay.On land in the Arctic, the temperature anddepth distribution of permafrost have been furtherdefined using boreholes drilled for oil exploration.The bottom of ice-bearing permfrost hasbeen delineated through the examination of boreholedata from the arctic coast to the BrooksRange. The distribution of near-surface massiveice has been further characterized. The occur-