IGCP Board; 10th session; Report of the ... - unesdoc - Unesco

Canada, the USA, Mexico, Central America,
Caribbean Islands, Bahama Islands, and Bermuda.
Canada has indicated its willingness to
participate, and Mexico is studying the idea.
Activities planned. (1) Symposium on Remote
Sensing of Arid and Semi-Arid Lands, Cairo,
Egypt, 19-25 January, 1982 and (2) the COS-
PAR Symposium on Remote Sensing and Mineral
Exploration in Ottawa, Canada, from 17-22
May, 1981. The proceedings of the COSPAR
Meeting will be published by Pergamon Press,
Oxford, England, and will constitute the final
Project report. In Ottawa, there will be a discussion
of a proposal for future plans and; it is
believed that a new project plan will be developed
and recommended for submission of the IGCP
Board.
No. 146 RIVER-FLOOD AND LAKE-LEVEL
CHANGES
R. Paepe and L. De Meyer, Belgian Geological
Survey, Jennerstraat 13, B-1040, Brussels,
Belgium.
Description. The primary objective of the Project
is the establishment of a river-flood and
lake-level fluctuation curve on the basis of the
stratigraphical evidence of their related deposits.
Correlation of regional results aims at the worldwide
validity of the curve, as well as its climatical
implication. It should lead to comparison
with sea-level curves and climatic fluctuations of
the periglacial area. The stratigraphical scheme
for the last 10, 000 yrs greatly using archaeological
material should serve as a model which is
to be extended to classical geological periods
beyond this date.
Summary of activities. Project activities in
1981 expanded unexpectedly.
A general meeting was held in Brussels in collaboration
with the "Centre for Quaternary Stratigraphy"
(Brussels), on Mediterranean Quaternary
Stratigraphy (13 January 1981) and on Palaeoclimates
and Palaeoenvironments of African
Lakes (19 and 20 November 1981).
The meeting at the "Korean Institute for Geology
and Energy Research, KIER" on 19 October
1981 was followed by an excursion to important
Quaternary sites. The East coast of Korea
proved to be especially promising since a continuous
sequence dating from Miocene up to the
present day was encountered. The facies changed
gradually from lake to fluviatile through time,
intermingling along the coast with marine
deposits. An intensive investigation programme
has now started and will continue for at least the
next 5 years. Stratigraphy, clay geology and
clay weathering, pollen analysis, neotectonics
and tephrochronological investigations will form
the basis of this research.
44
Investigation in Greece continued as it has been
linked up with the European Economic Community
Project on Palaeoclimatology. New sites in the
vicinity of Athens make it possible to date geological
deposits at 20-year intervals. On the island
of Skyros (North Sporadhes) a number of
new sections have been studied from the geological
and achaeological point of view. They confirm
the results obtained in Attica. A joint programme
of the Belgian Geological Survey, the Catholic
University of Louvain and the Vrije Universiteit
Brussel resulted in computation of climatic curves
which seems to correlate with the Shackleton
Oxygen-isotope curve and the Berger Astronomical
curve. New projects are foreseen in western
Greece and investigations in Macedonia continue.
Investigations in the interlake region between
Lake Kivu and Lake Tanganika (Zaire, Rwanda,
Burundi) continued,especially with regard to the
setting up of a climatic curve based on salinity
ratios. Humid versus drought phases have thus
been recognised.
New projects have locally been established:
foraminifera studies of the Yellow Sea Terraces
(China); Terrace studies around the site of Homo
pithecanthropus (Indonesia); Coral reef studies
along the Red Sea Coast (Sudan); Coral reef studies
along the Indian Sea Coast (Somalia); Stratigraphy
and sedimentology in the Sinai desert
(Egypt); River terraces in Lower Bangladesh
(Bangladesh).
The attempt to set up a manual on "Lake Level
and River studies" as discussed at the 26th IGC
Congress has failed despite overall encouragement.
Activities planned. The Xllth INQUA Congress
will be convened in Moscow in August 1982, at
which a monograph of selected papers will be presented
on the following topics: Late Quaternary
Geology of Greece; Late Quaternary Geology of
Brazil; Aspects of Quaternary Geology of Peru;
Aspects of Lake Valencia Quaternary deposits
(Venezuela); Comparison of some Climatic Curves
of the Late Pleistocene from Temperate,
Subtropical and Tropical Regions.
No. 148 EVALUATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF
QUANTITATIVE STRATIGRAPHIC CORRELATION
TECHNIQUES
F.P. Agterberg, Geological Survey of Canada,
601 Booth Street, Ottawa, Canada, K1A 0E8.
Description. The main objective of the Project
is the development of computer-based mathematical
theory and analysis of geological information
required for the practical application of automated
correlation techniques in quantitative stratigraphy.
Working along parallel lines, researchers
in different countries are conducting this
work in the fields of biostratigraphy and litho-