‘Quebec 1998’ meeting set for May

The Quebec 1998 meeting will be held May 18-20 in Quebec City.

The event serves as a joint annual meeting of the Geological Association of Canada, the Mineralogical Association of Canada, and the Association professionelle des gologues et gophysiciens du Quebec. Also participating will be the International Association of Hydrogeologists and the Canadian Geophysical Union.

The plenary session will consist of the following:

* “Dynamics of the Chixulub Impact and implications for extinction mechanisms,” by Susan Kieffer of the firm MacArthur Fellow, Kieffer & Woo; * “Life from a planetary perspective with focus on Precambrian,” by Andrew Knoll of Harvard University; and

* “Why are the Himalayas, in particular Tibet, so much higher than the Alps and what is the role played by metamorphism in the mountains’ roots?” by Xavier Le Pichon of cole normale suprieure in Paris.

There will also be special sessions dealing with subjects in the fields of environmental geology, hydrology, metallogeny, geochemistry, geophysics and remote-sensing. Half-day and full-day short courses dealing with various geoscience subjects are scheduled as well.

Sixteen optional field trips around Quebec and Newfoundland are being offered in connection with Quebec 1998. Rounding out the conference will be a welcoming reception, various sponsored luncheons and a “medieval feast.” For more information, contact Agathe Morin of Laval University’s Geology Department at (418) 656-2193.