The International Commission on the History of Geological Sciences （INHIGEO） Symposium on the historical relationship between geology and religion

The 32nd INHIGEO Symposium was held between 28 July and 5 August 2007 in Eichstatt, northeast Bavaria. This part of Bavaria is celebrated for many things, not least its diverse Jurassic fossils. Amongst the latter, the most famous is one of the great ＂missing links＂ in paleontology, the feathered Archaeopteryx with its reptilian teeth. Equally renowned is the lithographic limestone from Solnhofen that was used to produce the early illustrations of Archaeopteryx along with other countless maps and figures in publications well known to historians of geology. It was fitting that the symposium theme was ＂The Historical Relationship of Geology and Religion＂.     

Paleogeographic implications of the Shanita-Hemigordius fauna （Permian foraminifer） in the reconstruction of Permian Tethys

The Permian foraminifer Shanita is a genus of special paleobiogeographic importance. Current data indicate that this genus occurs in peninsular Thailand, Shan States of Burma, western Yunnan and northwestern Tibet of China, south Pamir of Tajikistan, South Afghanistan, Kuh-e Gahkum area of lran, Transcaucasus, Pinarbasi area of Turkey, and the Saiq Plateau of Oman. Studies also show that several species of Hemigordius usually coexist with Shanita, and form a peculiar Shanita-Hemigordius fauna. Localities of the Shanita-Hemigordius fauna that have been found hitherto are confined on Gondwanaderived blocks, which constitute a strip starting from peninsular Thailand and extending northwestwards and westwards to Turkey. This fauna is considered as another Permian palaeontological marker of marginal Gondwana environment.     

Three sessions of the International Geological Congress held in Russia and the USSR （1897,1937, 1984）

Editorial note--The International Commission on the History of Geological Sciences has undertaken to organize a series of short articles for Episodes on the history of the different Sessions of the International Geological Congress. These were held as follows:France (1878), Italy (1881), Germany (1885), UK (1888), USA(1891), Switzerland (1894), Russia (1897), France (1900), Austria(1903), Mexico (1906), Sweden (1910), Canada (1913), Belgium(1922), Spain (1926), South Africa (1929), USA (1933), USSR(1937), UK (1948), Algeria (1952), Mexico (1956), Denmark/Finland/Norway/Sweden/Iceland (1960), India (1964), Czechoslovakia(1968), Canada (1972), Australia (1976), France (1980), USSR(1984), USA (1989), Japan (1992), China (1996), Brazil (2000). Any authors wishing to offer contributions on the meetings in Mexico(1906), Canada (1913), Belgium, Denmark, India, Canada (1972),and Brazil are invited to contact the INHIGEO Secretary-General at: doldroyd@optushome.com.au. The papers will not appear inchronological order.     

Geology and Genesis of the Mafic—Ultramafic Complexes in the Huangshan—Jingerquan（HJ） Belt,East Xinjiang

More than twenty mafic-ultramafic complexes, which host several mediumor large-sized Cu−Ni deposits, occur along the Huangshan-Jingerquan (HJ) belt in East Xinjiang. Rock types in these complexes are predominated by peridotite, pyroxene peridotite, olivine pyroxenite, gabbronorite, orthopyroxene gabbro, troctolite, gabbro and diorite. The ultramafic rocks are relatively Fe-enriched and are characterized by an assemblage of olivine+orthopyroxene+clinopyroxene+hornblende±plagioclase without obvious metamorphic textures. Chemically, these complexes are relatively Fe-enriched and show a tholeiitic trend of evolution. The complexes in this belt are intruded under the extensional environment in a Mid-Carboniferous back-arc basin. They can be considered as a new type of mafic-ultramafic complexes in orogenic belts, as designated by the name of the East-Xinjiang-type complexes. This project was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China.     

Geological and geochemical characteristics of the Baimazhai Ni-Cu-（PGE） sulphide deposit in Yunnan, China

The sulphide ores of the Baimazhai deposit, although typically orthomagmatic, locally exhibit peculiar textural features and are intimately associated with hydrothermal minerals, such as biotite, amphibole and chlorite. This association suggests that the magmatic sulphide ores were subjected to hydrothermal alteration and subsequent redistribution, resulting in the observed textural features. Geochemically, the Baimazhai sulphide ores are enriched in Cu, Pd and Au, which,according to previous studies, reflects the action of hydrothermal fluids. Interestingly, Ar-Ar dating yielded the plateau ages of about 160–170 Ma, which are at odds with the established Permian age of the Emeishan large igneous province. We interpreted these younger ages as due to thermal resetting during post-Permian tectonothermal events. We have proposed a model in which tectonic movements and hydrothermal fluids related to these events modified the pre-existing magmatic sulphides. Given the degree of overprint, we suggested two possible scenarios: 1) the sulphide disseminations that surround the massive magmatic ores are the result of deformation and hydrothermal alteration; and 2) there were both magmatic massive and disseminated sulphides, in which case the scale and relocation of remobilization would have been smaller, but still detectable.     

The GSSP of the Second （Upper） Stage of the Lower Ordovician Series： Diabasbrottet at Hunneberg, Province of Vaeistergoetland, Southwestern Sweden

Diabasbrottet, selected by the International Subcommisson on Ordovician Stratigraphy and in 2002 ratified by the International Commission on Stratigraphy as the GSSP of the Second (Upper) Stage of the Lower Ordovician, is located on the Hunneberg Mountain in southwestern Sweden. The stratigraphic succession represents an outer shelf environment near the Baltic Shield margin. The shale-dominated, biostratigraphically complete, richly fossiliferous boundary interval is completely exposed in a disused quarry. The GSSP is in the lower TФyen Shale 2.1 m above the top of the Cambrian and is marked by the first appearance of the graptolite Tetragraptus approximatus Nicholson. The boundary interval contains a diverse graptolite fauna and biostratigraphically diagnostic conodonts and trilobites that make it possible to define the boundary in terms of zone schemes based on these groups. In this respect, the Diabasbrottet and nearby sections are unique in the world among described localities having this boundary interval. Based on the appearance of T. approximatus, the base of the Second Stage can be identified in many graptolitiferous successions round the world but this level is currently more difficult to recognize precisely in some carbonate sequences outside Baltoscandia. We propose the Second Stage be called the Floan Stage. It is named for the Village of Flo, which is situated about 5 km southeast of the GSSP.