International Conference
Soil Geography: New Horizons
Huatulco Santa Cruz, Oaxaca, Mexico
16-20 of November 2009
First Announcement
Background
Soil Geography is a branch of Soil Science that deals with the areal distribution of soils. We may talk about soil geomorphology, which is a field science that studies soils on dynamic landscapes. Numerous studies were carried out in the past. Soil hydrology was a major advancement in the last two decades, which has provided insight into how water moves through landscapes. Where the water percolates so goes soil development. Water is the dominant catalyst, mediator, and transport agent in most natural systems on Earth, including soils. A lot of attention was given to geomorphic description of landscapes. Decrease interest in soil science in general and in particular in Soil Geography in nineties created a great concern and eventually International Society of Soil Science (ISSS) has become IUSS to cope with emerging global problems associated with soils. Because of its importance Soil Geography is now a Commission of the International Union of Soil Science (IUSS, Com. 1.2) since 2002.
It should be recognized that the laws regulating the distribution of soils appear to be more complex than we imagined. In most landscapes the spatial pattern of soils cannot be explained just by spatial application of actual soil-forming factors. The development of soil geomorphology and paleopedology showed that to a great extend, soil distribution in space depends on ancient processes of erosion, sedimentation, and soil formation, which only partially may be reconstructive. The development of pedometrics brought in to the attention of natural and anthropogenic variability of soil properties. The understanding of these new data needs an improvement in paradigm in the soil geography. That is why we are calling for contribution to all the specialists in soil geography and related areas with an aim to integrate actual knowledge to the development of soil geography.
Auspices and
Organisers
| Auspices International Union of Soil Science (IUSS) Latin American Society of Soil Science (SLCS) Mexican Soil Science Society (SMCS) European Confederation of Soil Science Societies (ECSSS) European Soil Bureau, Joint Research Centre of the European Union (JRC) |
Organizing Institutions National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) National Council for Research and Technology of Mexico (CONACyT) National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Informatics (INEGI) |
| Scientific Committee: Ahmet Mermut (Canada) Alex McBratney (Australia) Adalberto Benavides Mendoza (Mexico) Winfried Blum (Austria) Douglas A. Miller (USA) Victor Targulian (Russia) Reynold Jahn (Germany) Luca Montanarella (Italy) Robert Ahrens (USA) Carlos E. Schaefer (Brazil) Edoardo Costantini (Italy) Richard Arnold (USA) Elizabeth Solleiro Rebolledo (Mexico) Sergey Goryachkin (Russia) Alberto Hernández Jiménez (Cuba) Otto Spaargaren (The Netherlands) Carmen Gutiérrez Castorena (Mexico) |
Local Organizing Committee: Teresa Reyna Trujillo (vice-chair)Norma E. García Calderón (treasurer) Mikhail Zeits (web design) Pavel Krasilnikov Laura Bertha Reyes Sánchez Eliseo G. Gerrero Eufraceo Christina Siebe Carlos O. Cruz Gaistardo Abel Ibáñez Huerta Elizabeth Fuentes Romero Carmen Gutiérrez Castorena |
Scientific Program
The scientific program of the conference would include Opening ceremony, 7 symposia, Mid-Conference field tour, IUSS Commissions and Working Groups business meetings, and Closing ceremony. The symposia would include invited keynote lectures, and oral and poster session of voluntary contributions. The conveners of the symposia are responsible for the invitation of keynote speakers, acceptance of abstracts corresponding to their symposium, and for selection of contributions for oral or poster presentation. The plenary session would include only invited lectures; however, voluntary poster presentations on the topic will be accepted.
Symposia:
- The theory and methods of soil geography (Plenary session. Conveners: Ahmet Mermut and Adalberto Benavides Mendoza)
- Landscape dynamics, soil geomorphology, and hydropedology (Conveners: Reynold Jahn and José-Ramón Hernández)
- Pedodiversity and soil geography (Conveners: Juán-José Ibáñez and Pavel Krasilnikov)
- Soil classification and soil mapping units: theory and application (Conveners: Robert Ahrens and María del Carmen Gutiérrez Castorena)
- Paleosols in the present and past soilscapes (Conveners: Edoardo Costantini and Serghey Sedov)
- Pedometrics, digital soil mapping, and soil geography (Conveners: Alex McBratney and Christina Siebe)
- Driving forces of soil diversity: lithogenic versus climatic factors (Conveners: Victor Targulian and Teresa Reyna Trujillo)
- Mountainous tropical soilscapes (Conveners: Norma E. García Calderón and Carlos E. Schaefer)
Language
The official language of the meeting will be English. Unfortunately, no simultaneous translation would be possible.
Registration
The registration on-line would be opened after the Second Announcement publication (in November 2008). However, we encourage everybody to pre-register by sending a filled Pre-Registration form (below) by e-mail: soilgeography09@gmail.com
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Symposia selection (not more than two) |
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I would like to participate in the Pre-Conference Tour Yes No |
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I would like to participate in the Post-Conference Tour Yes No |
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The registration fee should be paid together with registration (starting from November 2008).
The participant registration fee includes the access to the Conference installations, all coffee-breaks, a participants package (abstracts volume, a bag, a notebook etc.), Mid-Conference Tour (including lunch), a welcoming party, and a gala-dinner.
The accompanying person registration fee includes a welcoming party, gala-dinner, and a special accompanying persons program (to be defined more precisely in the Second Announcement).
The registration fee would be in US dollars. Due to certain instability of this currency, the prices might be changed; for the current situation the registration fees are estimated as the following:
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Participants fee |
$300 USD |
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Students fee |
$150 USD |
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Retired scientists fee |
$150 USD |
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Accompanying persons fee |
$120 USD |
Publications
The conference abstracts will be published as a printed volume and will be available on-line. We plan publishing selected full-text papers as special volume(s) of international scientific journals. The place of publication is already negotiated, and we hope to provide more details in the Second Announcement.
Field tours
The program includes Pre-Conference, Mid-Conference, and Post-Conference field tours.
Pre-Conference Meridian Field Tour
The route would pass San Luís Potosí, Veracruz, Natural Reserve “Los Tuxtlas”, then cross the Istmo de Tehuantepec, and finish at the Pacific coast of Mexico.
Monterrey is the biggest city in Northern Mexico, and is easily accessible by connection flights from Mexico City and most major airport of the USA and Canada.
A detailed route and calendar of the tour would be available in the Second Announcement.
The approximate cost of the tour would be about 850 USD. The number of participants would be limited to 30 persons (with some places already reserved), thus we recommend reserving your place, indicating the corresponding box in Pre-Registration form.
Provisional routes of the Pre-Conference (red line) and Post-Conference (green line) tours
Mid-Conference Tour
The tour would present complex soil catenas of tectonically active region Sierra Sur de Oaxaca (about 100 km from the Conference site). These catenas are described in detail in several publications:
· The relationship between pedogenic and geomorphic processes in mountainous tropical forested area in Sierra Madre del Sur, MexicoP.V. Krasilnikov, N.E. García Calderón, S.N. Sedov, E. Vallejo Gómez and R. Ramos Bello
· Pedogenesis and slope processes in subtropical mountain areas, Sierra Sur de Oaxaca, Mexico
Pavel Krasilnikov, Norma Eugenia García Calderón, and Elizabeth Fuentes-Romero
One can also read more about the soils and soil cover of the region in the following papers:
· Soil diversity and properties in mountainous subtropical areas, in Sierra Sur de Oaxaca, Mexico· The Soil Cover and Geomorphic Processes in the Subtropical Altitudinal Belt of Sierra Madre del Sur, Mexico
The tour is planned for Wednesday, 18 of November, and its price is included into the registration fee. However, if accompanying persons would like to participate, an additional cost of 40 USD should be paid.
Post-Conference Field Tour
A detailed route and calendar of the tour would be available in the Second Announcement.
The approximate cost of the tour would be about 450 USD. We also recommend reserving the places in the pre-registration form.
One can also read more about the soils and soil cover of the region in the following paper:
· Soil altitudinal sequence on base-poor parent material in a montane cloud forest in Sierra Juárez, Southern Mexico
G. Álvarez Arteaga, N.E. García Calderón, P.V. Krasilnikov, S.N. Sedov, V.O. Targulian and N. Velázquez Rosas
Other activities
The Paleopedology Commission is planning complimentary activities apart from the mainstream Conference program. Pacsof activities in Mexico foresee a post-conference field excursion/course on paleosols of 4-5 days (21-25 November 2009), which will include:
· buried Pleistocene paleosols in the tephra sequences of Transmexican Volcanic Belt (Toluca, Tlaxcala);· relict elements in the contemporary soil cover and their impact in the actual landscape dynamics - tepetate (indurated subsurface horizons) and Luvisols of Buenavista;
· Paleosols and pedosediments of the archaeological contexts as evidences of ancient human-landscape interactions - case of Teotihuacan;
· Buried paleosols and relict surface soils of the alluvial geosystems (Tlaxacala, Coastal plains of Veracruz)
The field trip will be followed by a workshop on microscopical methods in paleopedology - 2 days (26-27 November 2009). Main topics are:
· methodic aspects: from sampling to interpretation - links between different procedures and methods.· micromorphological analysis of tropical soils: actual soil formation, paleopedogenesis, redeposition in the context of landscape dynamics.
· micromorfology of volcanic paleosols and its paleoenvironmental interpretation.
· micromorphology in the archaeological contexts: ancient human impact in soils and pedosediments; soil-derived materials in construction and industries - case of pre-Hispanic civilizations of Mesoamerica.
As soon as more detailed information would be available, we shall put a link to the paleopedology web site. Actually, for additional information please contact Dr. Serghei Sedov sergey@geologia.unam.mx
Visa requirements
The citizens of the European Union, USA, Canada, and most Latin American countries do not need visas to enter Mexico for a short period. However, for the citizens of the new European Union states we recommend checking current situation in the nearest Mexican consulate.
The addresses of Mexican consulates and additional information can be found at the site of the Mexican Secretary of Foreign Affairs.
Conference site
Huatulco Santa Cruz is a well-known recreation place, known for its warm climate and beautiful sea beach. Unlike famous entertainment centers, such as Acapulco or Cancún, it is much more quiet place, ideal for scientific and business meetings, especially in low season. Huatulco International Airport is connected with Mexico City with 4 daily flights; there are also direct flights from some US, UK, and German airports.
The tourist information is available at the web sites:
- Oaxaca RV and Camping Guide Map
The town offers a variety of hotels of all the specter of service level and prices (a single room varies from 30 to 200 USD). Precise accommodation information will be available in the Second Announcement.
Contacts
Please do not hesitate asking for the details by e-mail: soilgeography09@gmail.com