International Conference

Soil Geography: New Horizons

Huatulco Santa Cruz, Oaxaca, Mexico

16-20 of November 2009

 

Second 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 Sciences (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 into the attention the 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 the 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 (Turkey)
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)
Brenda Buck (USA)

Local Organizing Committee:

Pavel Krasilnikov (chairman)
Teresa Reyna Trujillo (vice-chair)
Norma E. García Calderón (treasurer)
Mikhail Zeits (web design)
Laura Bertha Reyes Sánchez
Eliseo G. Guerrero Eufracio (field tours
Christina Siebe (field tours)
Carlos O. Cruz Gaistardo (field tours)
Abel Ibañez Huerta (secretary)
Elizabeth Fuentes Romero (logistics)
Silke Cram
Carmen Gutiérrez Castorena

 

 Scientific Program

The scientific program of the conference will include Opening ceremony, 7 symposia, Mid-Conference field tour, IUSS Commissions and Working Groups business meetings, and Closing ceremony. The symposia will 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.

Symposia:

  1. The theory and methods of soil geography (Plenary session. Conveners: Ahmet Mermut and Adalberto Benavides Mendoza)
  2. Landscape dynamics, soil geomorphology, and hydropedology (Conveners: Reinhold Jahn and José-Ramón Hernández)
  3. Pedodiversity and soil geography (Conveners: Juan-José Ibáñez and Pavel Krasilnikov)
  4. Soil classification and soil mapping units: theory and application (Conveners: Robert Ahrens and Carmen Gutiérrez Castorena)
  5. Paleosols in the present and past soilscapes (Conveners: Edoardo Costantini and Sergey Sedov)
  6. Pedometrics, digital soil mapping, and soil geography (Conveners: Alex McBratney and Christina Siebe)
  7. Driving forces of soil diversity: lithogenic versus climatic factors (Conveners: Viktor Targulian and Teresa Reyna Trujillo)
  8. 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 may be done on-line at this site, or, alternatively, you can send a filled Registration form (below) by e-mail: soilgeography09@gmail.com

Pre-Registration form

Name

  

Country

  

Affiliation

  

Postal address

  

E-mail

  

Symposia selection (not more than two)

1□    2□    3□    4□    5□    6□    7□    8□

The title of the contribution

  

Preferred form of presentation

 Oral □     Poster □

I shall be accompanied by ……. persons

I would like to participate in the Pre-Conference Tour                Yes           No

I would like to participate in the Post-Conference Tour               Yes           No

The registration fee should be paid together with registration, in US dollars. We ask to send a fax or a scanned copy of the bank transfer receipt.

Our fax is +52-55-56224828

E-mail: soilgeography09@gmail.com

We are sorry, but no credit card payment would be possible.

Paying in cash at registration desk would be possible; however, since a lot of costs should be paid before the beginning of the conference, we encourage the participants make bank transfer as soon as possible.

 

Before September 1st

After September 1st

Participants fee

300 USD

350 USD

Students fee

150 USD

180 USD

Retired scientists fee

150 USD

180 USD

Accompanying persons fee

120 USD

150 USD

Bank details
Bank: HSBC
Branch: 3693
Account no.: 40-4375020-7.
Beneficiary name: Norma Eugenia García Calderón
Bank Address: AV. DEL MESON 3100 Locales 16, 17 y 18; Querétaro. México. CP 76230
Tel: (442)2342003
Fax: (442)2341697
CLABE: 021680040437502077
SWIFT: BIMEMXMM

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. The program for accompanying persons includes a visit to the natural reserve “Lagunas de Chacahua” (sightseeing, coastal ecosystems, crocodile and turtle nurseries) and water sports activities in Huatulco.

 Publications

Please send your abstracts to the e-mail address soilgeography09@gmail.com with an indication of two preferred symposia.

All the abstracts will be sent to the symposia conveners, who should make a decision on the acceptance and the form (oral/poster presentation) of the contribution. All accepted abstracts will be published as a printed volume and will be available on-line. The deadline for abstracts submission is 15 of July, 2009.

Please follow the norms of publication; the abstracts will not be edited or corrected.

An example of abstracts is available HERE (doc, odt, pdf)

The text should be fitted to one page Letter format (21.59x27.94 cm), with margins 2.5 cm at each side. Please use Times New Roman font, 12 ppt throughout, including tables. The title should be in bold capitals, followed by authors’ names with initials in normal letters, and then by authors’ affiliation in italics. The address of corresponding author (only) should be included in the line with his/her affiliation. The main text should fill the entire page, one table per abstract is permitted. Only line figures are acceptable: in black and white, no grayscale. References are not to be included into the abstracts.

We plan publishing selected full-text papers as special volume(s) of international scientific journals. The place of publication is still under discussion, and we hope to provide more details in the near future.

 Field tours

The program includes Pre-Conference, Mid-Conference, and Post-Conference field tours.

Pre-Conference Meridian Field Tour

The tour will cross Mexico from North to South, starting in Torreón, Coahuila, and finishing in Huatulco Santa Cruz, Oaxaca, giving a short overview of Mexican soilscapes from arid to humid tropical environments (9-15 of November 2009). 

Torreón is connected with Mexico City with 10 daily flights; also there is a number of flights from Houston and Dallas, USA. For further detail please see the (TRC) Torreon Airport Departures & Arrivals.

The route:

9 of November – arid soilscapes near the city of Torreón, Coahuila

Overnight in Torreón. Local music tonight. 

10 of November – Torreón-Zacatecas, semiarid soilscapes

Overnight in Zacatecas. Bus city tour. 

11 of November – Zacatecas-Tamasopo.

Overnight in Tamasopo. 

12 of November – Tamasopo-Tuxpan
Breakfast at Tamasopo waterfalls.

Overnight in Tampico. 

13 of November – Tampico-Misantla

El Tajín: a cultural heritage and the major Epiclassic (c. A.D. 650-900/1000) site along the Veracruz Gulf Coast, Pre-Hispanic cultures of Mesoamerica
Overnight in Misantla 

14 of November – Misantla-Acayucan

Overnight in Acayucan 

15 of November – Acayucan – Huatulco Santa Cruz

Fourshet in Huatulco Santa Cruz. 

The cost of the tour is 920 USD. The number of participants would be limited to 30 persons, with some places already reserved.

Provisional routes of the Pre-Conference and Post-Conference tours

Provisional routes of the Pre-Conference (red line) and Post-Conference (green line) tours

The tour should be paid by bank transfer before 15 of July, because most hotels and transport companies require advanced paying. 

Bank details
Bank: Banamex
Account holder is Abel Ibáñez Huerta. 

1. For deposits in any Banamex office just indicate the branch number and the account number: 4086-84955 

2. For deposits in any other bank within Mexico please use, the following account number: (CLABE): 002180408600849550 

3. For international deposit please include all the following information:
Account number (CLABE): 002180408600849550
Swift code: BNMXMXMM
Bank address: Av. Universidad 2013, Mexico, D.F., MEXICO.
Tel. +52-55-56165164
Account holder address: Av. Piraña 130. Secc. 2 Mnz. 10 Lt. 13. U. Hab. Cananea. Iztapalapa. Distrito Federal, MEXICO. C.P. 09960 

Please send a copy of the receipt of bank transfer by e-mail soilgeography09@gmail.com or by fax: +52-55-56224828, for the attention of Dr. Abel Ibáñez Huerta.

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, Mexico
P.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

The tour would mainly present mountainous tropical soilscapes of Sierra Madre del Sur, from semiarid to extrahumid environments (21-24 of November 2009). Also the tour includes a soil catena at the southern escarpment of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt (Sierra Chichinautzin). The tour starts in Huatulco (Pacific coast of Mexico), crosses the mountainous system Sierra Madre del Sur from west to east, then turns to the north, and finishes in Mexico City. 

Tour schedule 

21 of November – Huatulco Santa Cruz - Ejutla

Overnight in Ejutla. 

22 of November – Ejutla - Oaxaca de Juárez

Overnight in Oaxaca: special cultural program 

23 of November – Oaxaca de Juárez - Tehuacán
Monte Alban – “a secret city”, an impressive monument of Zapotec classical culture

Overnight in the Tehuacán – Cuicatlán Biosphere Reserve 

24 of November – Tehuacán - Mexico City

Arrival to Mexico City. 

The cost of the tour is 460 USD. 

The bank transfer should be before 15 of July to the same account as the Pre-Conference tour (see above). Please send a copy of the receipt of bank transfer by e-mail soilgeography09@gmail.com or by fax: +52-55-56224828, for the attention of Dr. Abel Ibáñez Huerta.

 Other activities

The Paleopedology Commission is planning complimentary activities apart from the mainstream Conference program. Additional information can be found at the web site.

 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. Also there is a number of buses starting from Mexico City Southern Bus Terminal (Tasqueña) to Huatulco; the duration of the trip is 13 hours.

The tourist information is available at the web sites:

- Mexico Expo - Huatulco

- Oaxaca RV and Camping Guide Map

The conference site will be the hotel Castillo Huatulco (4 stars level). The price of a single room is about 100 USD per day. 

We also recommend several options of different levels of prices:
Villablanca (4 stars level, across the street from the conference site) – about 60 USD
Quinta Real Huatulco (gran turismo level) – 280 USD
Mexicana Huatulco (3 stars level) – 54 USD 

Also we suggest consulting the web page for searching better options for your accommodation: Discovery Mexico. For students we can suggest a number of more economic options. Please contact the Organizing Committee for details. Special conference prices will be available only for Castillo Huatulco and Villablanca hotels (please refer to the Conference when booking your rooms).

 Contacts

Please do not hesitate asking for the details by e-mail: soilgeography09@gmail.com

 Important dates

Abstract submission 15 of July
Pre-Conference Tour payment deadline 15 of July
Post-Conference Tour payment deadline 15 of July
Reduced registration fee payment 1 of September