IUGS elects new officers

At the Ist Ordinary Session of the merged IUGS/IGC Council, held in Florence, Italy, in conjunction with the 32nd International Geological Congress (IGC), the following new officers were elected:     

Theory and Practice in Mathematical Geology—Introduction and Discussion

Mathematical geology has developed into a very diverse system of mathematical models, algorithms and corresponding software. Experience shows that this diversification of approaches and methods was and is accompanied by an increasing gap between the availability of powerful tools and the continuation of many traditional working methods in the geosciences. Besides continuing to develop models, one of the basic functions of mathematical geology should be to introduce all new tools into practice and to aid non-specialized geoscientists to use them successfully and without bias. Some ways to do so will be briefly discussed here. Instructive and intelligible contributions towards attaining this goal were presented at the last (32nd) International Geological Congress held in Florence, Italy, in 2004. The intention of this present compilation is to suggest relevant discussions and conclusions. Mathematical geology should not be the domain of a few experts. It should be made accessible to all geologists and scientists in related fields.     

32nd International Geological Congress field trip （PR01）： A traverse through Himalaya-Karakorum of Pakistan

Several pre- and post-congress field trips were organized in connection with the 32nd International Geological Congress held in Florence, Italy, during August, 2004. One of these, the Prestige Field Trip (PR01--A traverse through Central Asia ranges, from the Indian plate to the Karakorum) lasted for 16 days from 21 June to 6 July. M. Gaetani of the University of Milan (Italy) acted as Leader and overall Organizer, with A. Zanchi(Univ. Milano-Bicocca), M.Q. Jan (Univ. of Peshawar, Pakistan) and M.N. Chaudhry(Punjab University, Pakistan) as Associate Leaders. Local logistics were taken care of by the Adventure Tours, Pakistan.     

世界地质遗迹保护和地质公园建设的现状和展望

在2004年6月在中国北京召开了第一届世界地质公园大会和2004年8月在意大利佛罗伦萨举行第32届国际地质大会,来自五大洲数十个国家的地质学家和地质公园管理者发言,展示了各国地质遗产保护现状,地质公园建设中地质遗产的科学研究,公众教育;保护方法技术;与文化遗产的关系;与城市和区域发展规划的关系;与旅游产业发展的关系,地质公园与国家公园的关系;欧、美及非洲、大洋洲和亚洲各国地质公园发展前景等。他山之石,可以攻玉。对照各国的近况,我国在地质遗产的研究和保护方面要保持世界领先地位,在相关法规建设,地学背景研究,人才培养等方面还有大量工作要做。     

GEM... The new IUGS Commission on Geoscience for Environmental Management

At the International Geological Congress held in Florence, Italy in August 2004 the IUGS Council approved the formation of a new Commission on Geoscience for Environmental Management. This new Commission was formed to continue IUGS activities in the environment following the closure of the IUGS Commission on Geological Sciences for Environmental Planning(COGEOENVIRONMENT) which had completed its term (refer to separate article in this issue).     

从第32届国际地质大会看地球化学的现状与未来

对2004年8月在意大利弗罗伦萨召开的第32届国际地质大会有关生命起源、地质灾害监测、壳幔相互作用、人类采矿与生产活动、水-岩相互作用、地表过程、古气候与古环境等方面的地球化学研究及稳定同位素、地球化学动力学、有机地球化学、地球化学分析技术等方面的内容进行了较为系统的总结,并对地球化学的未来发展进行了展望。     

The IUGS Commission on Geological Sciences for Environmental Planning （COGEOENVIRONMENT） completes its term

During the last 2 years the IUGS has reviewed its Organisation and Operations to allow more efficient and effective administration into the future. Among the items reviewed was the life of Commissions which have now been defined at a maximum of 8 years. As a consequence COGEOENVIRONMENT, which has been in existence since early 1990, was formally closed down at the IGC in Florence in August 2004. The decision by the IUGS Council to close COGEOENVIRONMENT did not in any way imply that the role of the IUGS in promoting geoscience in environment matters was completed.     

The XIV International Geological Congress of 1926 in Spain

The XIV IGC was held in Spain in 1926, marking a recovery trend in the Congress after the First Worm War in terms of the number of participants and the number of represented countries. It was Spain that benefited most from the XIV IGC and probably never again there has geology received so much public and official attention.This paper is one of a series of articles on the history of the International Congress.     

An integrated system for forecasting Arno River flash floods

A system for effectively forecasting flash floods of the Arno River (Tuscany, Italy) should provide a flood warning with 10–12 h of lead time, primarily in order to evacuate the city of Florence. This goal may be achieved by acquiring and processing meteorological and hydrological data in real-time and, accordingly, by releasing alarms at different levels of reliability and concern. Through the application of both procedural language and expert system techniques, a prototype was developed which can readily handle a variety of relevant information and make predictions on flood hazard in Florence. The system was fairly successfully tested by processing simple meteorological data which enable a 24 hour forewarning to be released.     

国内地质灾害机理与防治技术研究现状

根据2013年4月10～12日在北京召开的第六届全国地质灾害与防治学术会议的特邀报告、主题报告以及论文集所报道的目前国内地质灾害机理与防治技术现状,分别从地质灾害成灾机理与减灾对策、地质灾害监测预警、地质灾害防治技术与应急处置、区域地质灾害风险管理与评价等4个方面进行简要介绍和分析。这些方面的研究成果代表了目前国内地质灾害机理与防治技术研究的现状和发展方向,对促进我国今后的地质灾害机理与防治技术研究有一定的积极作用。     

从第32届国际地质大会看测试技术在地学中应用的现状和热点

讨论了第32届国际地质大会学科和专题命题的情况,统计分析了大会收到的有关测试技术的摘要,介绍了大会有关测试技术学术讨论的主要内容,并以在地质领域被广泛应用的拉曼光谱分析法和电子探针分析方法为例,具体介绍了测试技术在地学应用中的热点和趋势。通过分析和了解,就测试技术的应用与发展阐述了笔者的认识。     

Slope instability of San Miniato hill (Florence, Italy): possible deformation patterns

The hill of San Miniato (Florence, Italy) has been repeatedly identified in the past as the site of a slow moving, intermittent landslide. Possible hypotheses regarding the mechanisms responsible for past movements and for cracks and fissures present today are formulated based on the comparison of historical information and processed monitoring data. Although it is not possible to completely exclude a large inactive landslide that involves the entire northern slope, it seems more probable that the slide, if it does exist, is no longer active and that present-day damage is due to separate shallow movements concentrated in man-made deposits. This hypothesis can only be verified with a temporal extension of the monitoring activities, necessary in any case for planning possible safeguarding measures for the cultural heritage in the area.     

沉积地质学研究现状和进展在第30届国际地质大会上的反响

根据第３０届国际地质大会上专家发言及提供大会交流的部分论文摘要，从沉积环境，海相沉积，旋回地层和层序地层，古地理和盆地分析四个方面，窥视自第２９届国际地质大会以后沉积地质学的进展概况。     

世纪之交的地球科学空前盛会———北京第30届国际地质大会综述

北京第３０届国际地质大会盛况空前。本文围绕大会主题进行的学术交流，综述了地质工作者们在矿产资源的可供性、地球环境的保护和减灾等方面取得的巨大成就及今后艰巨的任务，表明地质科学正处于一个崭新纪元的开端。面向未来，地质工作者们还有很多工作要做     

LARAM School 2018: the doctoral school on “LAndslide Risk Assessment and Mitigation”

The international school for PhD students and young doctors on “LAndslide Risk Assessment and Mitigation” (LARAM) is presented and, specifically, information is provided about the next edition of the doctoral school that will held in Italy, at the University of Salerno, on September 3–14, 2018. The LARAM School is managed by the Geotechnical Engineering Group (GEG) of the University of Salerno, which recently became an Associate member of the International Consortium on Landslides (ICL). The 2018 edition of the LARAM School is organised as an ICL/IPL activity.     

Freshwater inflow: Science, policy, management

The papers in this special issue were presented in a special session during the 2001 biennial conference of the Estuarine Research Federation held in St. Pete Beach, Florida. The session, “Freshwater inflow: Science, policy and management,” was focused on issues related to reduced freshwater inflow to estuaries. The session brought together scientists, managers, and regulators, and included presentations on the estimation of freshwater input to estuaries, development of ecological indicators to assess changes in inflow, management strategies used to set freshwater requirements, and experiences with the reintroduction of freshwater to restore inflow.     

Impact of air pollution in deterioration of carbonate building materials in Italian urban environments

This work presents results from a petrographic, morphological and chemical study of the black crusts developing on monuments in three Italian cities, the Cathedral of Milan, the Cathedral of St. Maria del Fiore in Florence, and the Vittoriano Monument in Rome.Black crusts (BCs) were studied with traditional techniques such as optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry (SEM-EDS) and infrared spectroscopic techniques (FT-IR), in combination with laser ablation inductively coupled mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), which has shown itself to be particularly useful in determining concentrations of heavy metals in BCs.Although the BCs of the three monuments show general enrichment in heavy metals with respect to the substrate (S), interesting differences were observed among them. The BCs from Milan are the richest in heavy metals, particularly Pb and Zn, reflecting the severe air pollution of this very large city, which, in addition to its intense traffic, is located in the most highly industrialized area of Northern Italy. The BCs from the south-eastern side of the Cathedral of St. Maria del Fiore in Florence, facing a pedestrian area, show little enrichment in heavy metals, and those from the Vittoriano Monument in Rome, which is exposed to intense road traffic, display variable enrichment, attributable to mobile emission sources.Results show that the various enrichment trends in heavy metals observed in the BCs of these three monuments are due to many factors: various sources of anthropogenic pollution, sampling height, exposure, orientation, and the shape of the deposition surface.     

第十六届国际化探大会

国际化探大会每两年召开一次。一般是在北美与西欧轮流召开。本届会议是第一次在中国,也是第一次在亚洲召开。为了使更多国外学者了解中国化探的成就,本届会议决定与第5届全国勘查地球化学学术讨论会在同一时期同一地点先后举行。本文概述了大会前的5个专题讨论会、大会开幕式、全体会议上的3个学术报告、分组进行的9个专题学术报告会及成果展示。从本文可看到当前国际化探的动向,中国化探在国际上的地位,并可看到这次会议对中国化探今后发展的深远影响。     

环境生态系统散落核素示踪研究新进展

环境生态系统中的放射性核素既具有生态毒性,对生物和人体健康产生重要影响,又具有稳定的衰变函数和输入通量,对环境生态系统具有重要示踪价值。人类可利用放射性核素来认识环境生态系统:①环境生态系统中放射性核素的基准:放射性强度与环境生态系统之间的平衡关系;②环境生态系统中放射性核素的行为:在环境生态系统不同宿体和组分间的运移关系。考察放射性核素在生态系统不同环节中比活度的变化有助于认识环境生态过程生物地球化学作用的影响。