5-9 October o Houston, Texas

Dear Caribbean Region Colleagues,

   We are organizing a Topical Session on Caribbean Tectonics for the 2008 Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America, which we think will be of interest to you.  Please take a look at the description below, and plan to submit an abstract for this session.  We are attempting to contact all current researchers on Caribbean Tectonics, but our list is no doubt not complete.  If you know of others who should be contacted, please send this message on to them.  The meeting will take place October 5-9, in Houston, Texas, and the abstract submittal deadline is June 3, 2008.  See below for more details.
 
Topical Session Number 65
LATE JURASSIC TO RECENT GEODYNAMIC EVOLUTION OF THE CARIBBEAN REGION
Conveners: Sandra J. Wyld, swyld@..., James E. Wright, jwright@...
Sponsorship:  GSA Geophysics Division, Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies
Scientific Categories: Tectonics, Geophysics/Tectonophysics/Seismology, Stratigraphy

The geodynamic evolution of the Caribbean region, from its origins in the break-up of Pangea to its complex current tectonics, continues to be a topic of widespread and active research, multidisciplinary interest, and ongoing controversy.  Houston's location so close to the Caribbean and its easy access for international flights makes it an ideal venue for  bringing together the diverse and highly international group of earth scientists working on this region. The focus will be current research on such topics as: origin of the Caribbean Large Igneous Province (CLIP) and associated marine basins; evolution of Cretaceous and Cenozoic magmatic arc systems; tectonic reconstructions of the region and its rapidly evolving plate boundaries; tectonic driving forces and geodynamic modelling; terrane translation, strike-slip faulting and collisional orogenesis;  and active plate motions, seismology and neotectonic processes.  The conveners are part of the BOLIVAR Southeast Caribbean Continental Dynamics Project_(lead institution Rice University, in Houston), that is investigating accretion of the Leeward Antilles to the South American plate margin through on-land geologic studies, land and marine seismology and geodynamic modelling. 

We solicit presentations on all aspects of the geodynamic and tectonic evolution of the Caribbean plate, its fringing arc systems, and adjacent continental provinces. Both oral and poster sessions are planned.  Note that speakers may present two volunteered abstracts during the Annual Meeting, as long as one of these abstracts is a poster presentation. (This limitation does not apply to, nor does it include, invited contributions to keynote symposia or GSA topical sessions.)   All talks are 15 minutes slots.  Poster sessions will be scheduled for the entire day, with authors to be present from 4 to 6 p.m., followed by a reception.

Note that all abstracts must be submitted electronically through the GSA website, and are due by midnight (Eastern time, USA), June 3.  The electronic submission form is currently available at http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2008AM/index.epl .  Please make sure to submit your abstract to Topical Session Number 65, and to specify your preference for Oral or Poster (or Either).  More information on the meeting can be found on the following website:  https://www.acsmeetings.org/2008/

We look forward to seeing you there!

Sandra and Jim
**********************************************************     
Sandra Wyld (Associate Professor) and Jim Wright (Professor)
Department of Geology, Room 308, GG Bldg.
University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA
ph: 706-542-9908 (Sandra) or 706-542-4394 (Jim)
e-mail: swyld@...  or  jwright@...
FAX: 706-542-2425

http://www.gly.uga.edu/default.php?PK=4&&iPage=4
http://www.gly.uga.edu/wright.html
http://www.gly.uga.edu/wyld/