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Announcement


Aspects of Triassic-Jurassic Rift Basin Geoscience


A conference to be held at Dinosaur State Park
400 West Street (Exit 23, I-91)
Rocky Hill, Connecticut

Saturday and Sunday November 9 and 10, 1996

Sponsored by:

Dept. of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Columbia University
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University
Office of the Vice Provost, Columbia University
TILCON Connecticut, Inc.
Graduate Liberal Studies Program, Wesleyan University
Murtha, Cullina, Richter and Pinney
Connecticut Natural Gas Corporation
Iroquois Gas Transmission Company

Organizers and Key Contacts:

Peter M. LeTourneau and Paul E. Olsen

letour@ldeo.columbia.edu and polsen@ldeo.columbia.edu

Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University
P.O. Box 1000
Rt. 9W
Palisades, NY 10964-8000
914.359.2900


Statement of Purpose

Rift basins of Triassic-Jurassic age associated with the breakup of the Pangean supercontinent contain an extraordinary record of the physical and biological conditions at a critical period of earth history. Rather than considering the rift basins as local features of regional interest, new work reveals that the Tr-J rifts should be considered in a broader context that spans the northern proto-Atlantic realm, including Greenland, eastern North America, the U.K., and North Africa. The Tr-J basins are of broad appeal to researchers interested in topics as diverse as extensional tectonics, the global magnetostratigraphic time scale, the evolution of early mammals, the appearance and diversification of dinosaurs, rift to drift crustal dynamics, astronomical forcing of climate, and models for the formation and occurrence of economic mineral and fossil fuel deposits. The rift basins span more than 45 degrees of paleolatitude and record over 35 million years of earth history.

The purpose of this conference is to bring together in a pleasant setting a diverse group of researchers working on all aspects of Triassic-Jurassic geoscience. By combining papers on a wide variety of topics the conference will allow participants to contribute to the understanding of specific research issues within a global context.

The conference will consist of two days of morning and afternoon oral papers and smaller poster sessions (attended by the authors during extended mid-session and lunch breaks). Papers are requested in all aspects of Tr-J geoscience including, but not limited to:

paleontology paleobotany
geochemistry subsurface studies
sedimentology stratigraphy
igneous petrology tectonics
structure geophysics
hydrogeology mineral resources
history of geology educational resources

*The abstracts are published in: Aspects of Triassic-Jurassic Rift Basin Geoscience: Abstracts, State Geological and Natural History Survey of Connecticut, Natural Resources Ceneter, DEP Bulletin 26, 57 p.
These will be given to all registered participants. They can also be purchaced by contacting Peter LeTourneau at letour@ldeo.columbia.edu

*The oral and poster papers are published as full-length papers in a special volume: Aspects of Triassic-Jurassic Geoscience by Columbia University Press.

This conference is specifically organized outside of the regular meetings of the various geoscience societies to provide more focus for researchers specifically interested in Tr-J geoscience and to avoid scheduling conflicts with concurrent symposia or technical sessions which often occur at larger meetings.


The setting at Dinosaur State Park, consisting of an earth history museum, spectacular indoor therapod dinosaur trackways, outdoor nature trails, and wetland viewing deck, provides an excellent background for the conference. The Park is conveniently located near major highways, and can be reached by train or air with additional ground transport. At the time of the conference the Park will be displaying the results of an over 1.8 million dollar renovation. Convenient lodging located adjacent to the Park is found at the Marriot Rocky Hill, where a block of rooms will be reserved at a special conference rate.

Abstracts and Program

Instructions to Presenters

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