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PROJECT
IGCP 406 CIRCUM-ARCTIC PALAEOZOIC VERTEBRATES: BIOLOGICAL
and GEOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE. JULY 5th to 6th 1997 at
BUCKOW, near BERLIN, GERMANY.
"Contributions
deal with biostratigraphic palaeobiological themes and
emphasise the importance of different
taxa of early vertebrates
and associated plant and invertebrate fossils".
Participants of the
meeting reported the results of their research on fossils
from the Canadian, Danish,
Norwegian and Russian
Arctic." Mark V.H. Wilson & Tiiu Marss 1997 - see
Ichthyolith
IssuesSpecial
Publication no.
2.
Twenty
participants attended the scientific meeting from 12
countries (Russia, Germany, France, Sweden,
China, Canada, Lithuania,
Latvia, Estonia, Netherlands, Scotland, England).
Fifteen scientific papers
were presented, all of direct relevance to project IGCP
406.
(A further 11 authors, not
attending the meeting contributed to presentations,
including reports of progress of
research).
BUSINESS
MEETING of PROJECT IGCP 406 - 6th JULY 1997:
The
business meeting was well attended. The 19 participants
originated from 12 countries including Russia,
Germany, France, Sweden,
Canada, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Netherlands, England,
China, Scotland. Project
leader Dr. Mark Wilson
thanked the organisers of the meeting Drs Arratia and
Schultze.
Subjects
discussed included possible locations for future national
or regional meetings, preliminary ideas for
future financial needs of
the project and scientific plans, and preparation of
national reports.
V.T.
Young (U.K. national correspondent) presented a
preliminary report of activities of U.K. participants
of
project IGCP 406. She
initially contacted 47 individuals inviting participation
in project IGCP 406. Twenty two
people have shown interest
in participating; two have offered help and or advice,
but will not participate directly.
A further four people may
be interested in participating in the project.
Main scientific interests
in relation to the project include:
a taxonomic
andbiostratigraphic
comparison of Middle and Late Devonian faunas of Scotland
and the Baltic
areas; sequence
stratigraphy, sedimentology, palaeoecology and
interpretation of environments of Devonian
fish, particularly the
Silurian and Devonian of Scotland; Devonian agnathans -
their morphology, biostratigraphy,
distribution,
palaeoenvironments and
biogeography;
Palaeozoic
sharks,
their
morphology,
biogeography,
biostratigraphy and
palaeoenvironment; palaeontology, stratigraphy and
sedimentology of a
Famennianfish bed,
Somerset; Middle
Palaeozoic biostratigraphy, particularly of the Devonian,
elucidation of signatures of eustatic
sea level fluctuations;
sedimentology and palaeontology of Welsh Borderlands;
palynology and biostratigraphy
of Devonian and of
Silurian sediments in Greenland and in Arctic Canada and
Scotland; conodont biostratigraphy
of the Devonian including
Arctic Canada; early Palaeozoic fishes of U.K., their
morphology, biostratigraphy,
palaeoenvironments and
biogeography.
Some of the work is done
with participation from colleagues in Baltic countries,
Russia, Canada and
Australia. Much of the
work involving material from regions outside the Arctic
will be valuable in correlating and
comparing various data
with that from material from Arctic areas. Such data
could include biostratigraphic,
morphologic, taxonomic,
palaeogeographic, and palaeoenvironmental results.
Workshop meetings also
took place and involved informal discussions, viewing of
specimens and field
work pictures, sharing of
preliminary results, and discussions of taxa new to
science. Discussions included
comparisons of taxa, their
taxonomic provenance, biostratigraphic correlation,
environments of deposition,
preparation of specimens,
and discussion of future meetings and funding needs.
Informal discussions also
involved an imminent field trip and collecting visit to
some of the classic Silurian and
Early Devonian fossil
vertebrate localities of Scotland on which V.T. Young was
earlier invited to participate, and
which she was very pleased
to accept.
I found the meeting to be
beneficial in many ways. I was able to meet many
participants of project IGCP
406, including people from
countries which may not be easy to visit. We were able
discuss research topics such
as aspects of
biostratigraphic correlation and the various kinds of
palaeoenvironments
associated
with
particular fossil
assemblages.
The meeting was
beneficial to U.K. science and I believe it has helped to
identify particular areas which
require further research
or clarification, such as further investigation of the
microscopic / histologic characters
of scales in relation to
particular taxa. It is always beneficial to discuss the
progress of a research project with
other people who have
scientific experience in such work and I believe it helps
to produce new ideas. It was
useful also to discuss
some of the logistics of organising future
meetings.
I
wish to thank The Royal Society for awarding me a grant
towards the costs of attending this meeting.
The
Scottish Workshop 1997
Field work to collect
vertebrate and invertebrate fossils from Palaeozoic
localities in Scotland took place from
16th to 24th July 1997.
The meeting was arranged by project leaders Dr. M. Wilson
and Dr. T. Märss and by Dr. R.
(Bobbie) Paton of the
Royal Museums of Scotland, and I wish to thank them for
organising the visit. Participation
involved 14 people from 5
countries including: M. Wilson (project leader) and C.
Wilson (Canada); T. Märss
(project leader, Estonia);
H. Blom (national correspondent, Sweden); G. Hanke
(Canada);
S.V.T.
Young
(England); R. Paton, E.
Hide, S. Miller (Royal Museums of Scotland, Edinburgh);
E. Clarkson (Edinburgh
University), and Mrs. C.
M. Taylor (Scotland); N. Trewin (Aberdeen University), R.
Davidson, M. Newman
(Scotland). Localities
were of Silurian and Early Devonian sediments in the
Hagshaw Hills, Lesmahagow,
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