May 25, 2001 GSA Release No. 01-17

International Scientists Probe Unsolved Puzzles of the Earth and Beyond at "Earth System Processes"

I. Introduction II. Session Highlights III. Support for Journalists

(I) Introduction

Scientists from various disciplines and different parts of the world will come together June 24-28, 2001, in Edinburgh, Scotland, to take a new look at how the Earth (and other planets) work.

Two of the world's oldest earth science organizations, the Geological Society of America (GSA) and the Geological Society of London (GSL), will co-convene the Earth System Processes meeting which takes place at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre.

"This will be a new adventure for us as we are going out of our way to break down discipline barriers and have everyone from the hammer-wielding geologist to the astrobiologist talk to each other," explained technical program co-chairs, Ian Dalziel (University of Texas, Austin) and Ian Fairchild (Keele University).

We invite you to peruse the abstracts (which include scientists' contact information) via the internet links in Section II for the following highlighted sessions: "Feedbacks and Coupling between Geosphere, Biosphere, Hydrosphere, and Atmosphere," "Critical Transitions in Earth History and Their Causes," and " The Snowball Earth Hypothesis: Theory and Observations." We will highlight other sessions in a subsequent media advisory in June. To view the technical program in its entirety, click on the link at the bottom of each session page, accessed via the links below.

Due to the complexities of international travel, we do encourage journalists to contact scientists before they leave their home countries. (However, release dates for articles must coincide with the presentation date.) A limited number of complimentary registrations are available for journalists who have not yet pre-registered. For more information on registration and pre-meeting and onsite support, see Section III of this advisory.