Upcoming First Major Workshop

The Subcommission on Subdivision and Calibration of the Precambrian Time Scale will convene its first major workshop on Sunday, 25 September, 2005, in Fremantle, next to Perth, Western Australia. The workshop will be held in conjunction with the Tectonics Special Research Centre's (TSRC, Perth, Australia) symposium on "Supercontinents and Earth Evolution" (see http://www.promaco.com.au/conference/2005/tsrc/).

Workshop Time & Location:
Time: Sunday, September 25, from 8:30 am to 17:30 pm; coffee, tea, and buffet lunch included.
Place: The King Sound/Admiralty Gulf Room, Esplanade Hotel, Fremantle, Western Australia (www.esplanadehotelfremantle.com.au)
See attached Map

The aim is to bring together a multi-disciplinary and international group of scientists to review new developments and tackle a number of the remaining issues with the Precambrian time scale. The workshop will comprise keynote lectures to introduce major themes or issues, short follow-up presentations, posters, and hopefully lots of productive debate. If we have a substantial quorum, we may conclude the workshop with tentative votes on some of the key issues, to help gauge where the international Precambrian community is situated on certain issues. Please submit an abstract by May 30th, 2005, to the workshop organizers (see Second Circular). In the next few weeks, we will fill out a roster of keynote speakers.



Program Outline

Sunday, September 25, AM
08:30-09:00 Setting up, opening remarks, a quick coffee
Chair persons: Wouter Bleeker & Martin Van Kranendonk
09:00-09:30 Wouter Bleeker, Geological Survey of Canada - Issues with the Precambrian Time Scale: The Status Quo and Beyond
09:30-10:00 Discussion: Completion of time scale, to GSSP or not, type of boundaries, etc.
10:00-10:15 Coffee break
10:15-10:45 Simon Wilde, Curtin University - Using Oxygen Isotope ‘Stratigraphy’ to Define the Onset of the Archaean in the Absence of a Rock Record
10:45-11:00 Discussion: the Hadean, internal division, lunar record, etc.
11:00-11:30 Allen Nutman, Australian National University - Isua, ‘Golden Spikes’ and the Lack of Zircons: Constraining the Earliest Volcano-Sedimentary Record
11:30-12:00 Discussion: Isua or Canada, is our age dating good enough, “floating GSSP”
12:00-13:00 Buffet Lunch, at Esplanade Hotel (included in registration)

Sunday, September 25, PM
Chair persons: Wouter Bleeker & Rob Rainbird
13:00-13:30 Martin Van Kranendonk, Geological Survey of Western Australia - Issues with the Precambrian Time Scale: Western Australia Geology and GSSPs
13:30-13:45 Discussion
13:45-14:15 David Evans, Yale University - Some potential Proterozoic GSSPs
14:15-14:45 Discussion: Proterozoic GSSPs, conserving terminology, key events, etc.
14:45-15:00 Coffee/tea break
15:00-15:30 Graham Shields, James Cook University - Progress towards the further subdivision of Neoproterozoic time
15:30-16:00 Discussion: Neoproterozoic issues, isotope spikes
16:00-16:30 Kath Grey, Geological Survey of Western Australia - Correlating and Subdividing the Ediacaran in Australia
16:30-16:45 Discussion: biostratigraphy, Ediacaran, etc.
16:45-17:00 Short beer & refreshment break
17:00-17:30 Final discussion, plans for the future, next meeting, GTS2008

Keynote Speakers

Wouter Bleeker, Geological Survey of Canada
“Issues with the Precambrian Time Scale: The Status Quo and Beyond” (pdf) Overall vision of completing/improving the Precambrian time scale; the Subcommission on Precambrian Stratigraphy, ICS, IUGS, the merit of GSSPs; early Earth and planetary events.

Simon Wilde, Curtin University of Technology
“Using Oxygen Isotope ‘Stratigraphy’ to Define the Onset of the Archaean in the Absence of a Rock Record” (pdf)
Data from early zircons...can they be used to define the onset of the Archean at ca. 4200 Ma?

Allen Nutman, Australian National University
“Isua, ‘Golden Spikes’ and the Lack of Zircons: Constraining the Earliest Volcano-Sedimentary Record” (pdf)
Earliest supracrustal record...how good, how bad? Can we pick a GSSP site for a formal onset of the Archean? Is Isua the place?

Martin Van Kranendonk, Geological Survey of Western Australia
“Issues with the Precambrian Time Scale: Western Australia Geology and GSSPs” (pdf)
The view from the Pilbara....Martin will take an opposite view (no GSSPs!).

David Evans, Yale University
“Some potential Proterozoic” GSSPs (pdf)
Major events in the Proterozoic that may be suitable for GSSP definitions?

Graham Shields, James Cook University
“Progress towards the further subdivision of Neoproterozoic time” (pdf)
Global correlation in the Cryogenian, methodology, etc.

Kath Grey, Geological Survey of Western Australia
“Correlating and subdividing the Ediacaran in Australia” (pdf)
The prospect of more detailed biostratigraphy in the Ediacaran, Australia and global, methodology, etc.

Volunteered Abstracts

Alan G. Smith, University of Cambridge
“Wholly numerical definitions of major stratigraphic boundaries?” (pdf)

Lu Songnian et al., Tianjin Institute of Geology and Mineral Resources, CGS “An updated Precambrian time scale of China” (pdf)

Harrison H. Schmitt, University of Wisconsin-Madison
“The Hadean Eon on the Moon” (pdf)
A contribution by one of the few geologists who has actually been there!