ATLANTIC GEOSCIENCE SOCIETY

Spring has finally sprung and it's time for my first President's Forum as the freshly minted President of the Atlantic Geoscience Society. I am very pleased and excited about assuming the presidency of the AGS. I would like to congratulate our outgoing President, Mike MacDonald, on the excellent work he has done over the last year. I have enjoyed working with him and look forward to his guidance in his role of Past-President over the remainder of the year. I only hope I am able to fill those large shoes he's left behind.

I would like to thank all the councillors who have agreed to serve for the 2001-2002 term. A complete list follows in this newsletter. Jennifer Bates has resigned as editor of the AGS Newsletter to take the position of Vice-President (out the frying pan into the fire). Thank you Jennifer for your hard work over the year and welcome to Mike Cherry, the new Newsletter editor. Along the vein of editors, Graham Williams is resigning his position as Co-Editor of Atlantic Geology due to his upcoming retirement from the GSC. Graham has been a stalwart member of the AGS for many years and his contributions as editor, and in many other capacities within the Society are greatly appreciated and will be missed. I would like to welcome Rob Fensome as the new Co-Editor of Atlantic Geology.

The 2001 AGS Colloquium was held for the first time at the Delta Beausejour in Moncton. Many positive comments were made about the Delta staff and facilities, and I'm sure that the AGS executive will consider holding future meetings at that venue. The meeting was a great success this year with a healthy number of participants (157) despite the annual AGS snowstorm. A special thanks goes to the Colloquium organisers. The quality of the presentations seem to be improving year by year, with the most noticeable improvement being the excellent quality of the student talks (in comparison to the days when I was an undergraduate). For more detail on the AGS Colloquium see my report in this Newsletter.

The President's Forum is the place where I get to blather on about the state of the union. Before I do that, I would like to discuss why I accepted this position. It boils down to three reasons. The first is that I have been involved with the AGS for many years, attending the conferences, giving and attending talks, and generally enjoying myself without doing any of the hard work that is needed to run a society. It's time I paid my dues. Secondly, I believe my work experience is suited to the future direction of the Society. My employment record in the Maritimes includes work with the mining industry, one provincial government, two local universities and, presently, the only petroleum exploration company headquartered in the Maritimes. While it seems clear that I lack the ability to hold a job, knowing a little bit about each of these groups may have some value in the coming year. The final reason that I accepted this position was that everyone else had turned it down. So, as with George Bush, you are stuck with me 'til the end of my term.

But enough of me. These are exciting times! The face of earth sciences in the Maritimes is changing. New and important deposits have been discovered in the industrial minerals sector of the mining industry, but the greatest change to earth sciences is the dramatic increase in oil and gas development. The Sable Project, a project of moderate size by world standards, was responsible for a five percent increase in the GDP of Nova Scotia last year. With a minimum of one billion dollars in exploration coming in the next five years and another billion dollar development project announced by Pan Canadian (Deep Panuke), in addition to the Tier 2 of Sable, the industry is still in its infancy. The creation of the M&NE Pipeline to New England has changed the economics of exploration in the rest of the Atlantic Provinces. New Brunswick has seen record drilling and a number of discoveries have been reported by Columbia Natural Resources and Corridor Resources. It will grow to be big and strong whether we grow with it or not.

The burgeoning petroleum industry will affect governments, requiring increased regulation, resource evaluation, and data storage and dispersal. Universities will have the opportunities for collaboration with industry that can add much needed infusions of cash and new data. Students will have the opportunity to work with the industry and develop expertise valuable to local exploration companies and also provide companies with an opportunity to evaluate potential future employees over an extended time period.

These challenges and opportunities are coming. The petroleum industry could soon become the biggest industry the Atlantic Provinces have ever had and could carry us from “have not” to “have” provinces. I don't have to tell you that the petroleum industry is driven by earth scientists. In the years ahead, you will not be met with a blank stare when you tell someone you are a geologist. Premiers and university presidents will take a keen interest in the earth science departments, and will listen to arguments of expansion as opposed to the current trend of reduction or even annihilation. Even so, it is up to the earth science community to meet the challenges and capitalize on the opportunities. AGS is comprised of university students and researchers, government and industry earth scientists. As such, it seems to be the ideal venue for creating a unified voice that could explore our roles in the Atlantic Provinces' new major industry.

I would appreciate any thoughts you might have on this or any other topic. You can contact me through the following.

Tel: (902) 429-4511

Fax: (902) 422-6715

Email: tmartel@corridor.ns.ca

In closing, I appreciate the opportunity to work with the other members of the Executive and Council in advancing the interests of the Atlantic Geoscience Society.

The Atlantic Geoscience Society's 19^th annual Colloquium and Annual General Meeting was held at the Delta Beausejour Hotel in Moncton, New Brunswick on February 9-10. It attracted 157 geoscientists from the Atlantic Provinces, Alberta and New England.

The Colloquium featured two special sessions. The first, on Friday evening entitled “Geological Correlations between New Brunswick and Maine” attracted papers from Northeastern U.S. and Eastern Canada. The Saturday special session “Onshore and Offshore Oil and Natural Gas Exploration and Related Research” also attracted talks and posters on the Scotian Shelf, onshore Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The General Session on Current Research in the Atlantic Provinces was, as usual, well subscribed and attended. In all, 60 abstracts were submitted. The high quality and diversity of the papers reflected the broad range and vitality of research in the Atlantic Provinces.

An important aspect of the AGS Colloquium are the student oral and poster presentations. For many students, the AGS is their first formal technical presentation outside of the university and this year 26 student abstracts were presented. The student presentations of the past number of years have been of exceedingly high quality and this year was no exception. It reflects very well on the dedication of the students and the quality of their education at our local universities.

The AGS would like to thank the session Chairs: Sandra Barr, Kirsten McLaughlin, Marcos Zentilli, Joyia Chakungal, Clint St. Peter, Graham Price, Mike Cherry, Martin Ethier, David Lentz, Jeff Carroll, Steve McCutcheon, Janet Lee Bannister, Ralph Stea and Ian MacDonald.

The Colloquium came to a close on Saturday evening with the Annual Banquet and Social. The Banquet Speaker, Dr. Scott Swinden (photo to the left), President of the Geological Association of Canada, gave an excellent talk entitled “Geoscience in a dot.com world - living in a time of change”.

Dr. Swinden spoke of the challenges and opportunities that face our geological surveys in the new age of data computerization and the shrinking budgets of governments. The AGS Banquet is also a time to recognize the various achievements of the AGS members over the past year via the AGS award program (see summary below).

Another great AGS event is the “traditional” music played at the après banquet social. This involves many guitars and assorted instruments such as the banjo, tin whistle, and a mandolin or two ... it is one of the highlights of the AGS season.

Ian Spooner, banjo (foreground), Mike MacDonald, mandolin (middle), and John Waldron, guitar (in back), participating in the “jam” session.

On behalf of the AGS I would like to thank Mike Parkhill for organizing the Abstract Volume and Program, Sue Johnson for the local logistics, Ian Spooner for providing the AV equipment, Les Fyffe for bringing the poster boards, Peter Wallace for co-ordinating the registration desk and selling publications, Ken Howells for looking after the financial end of things, and Howard Donohoe for photography. My appreciation also goes to the judges of the student presentations (Linda Ham and Howard Donohoe of oral presentations, Murray Gingras and Alan Ruffman of posters displays) and to Chris White for publicity and everything else that fell through the cracks. And finally, thanks to our corporate sponsors: Corridor Resources Inc., Northstar Resources and Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan. Their support is greatly appreciated.

Past-President: Mike MacDonald, Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources, Nova Scotia

President: Tom Martel, Corridor Resources, Nova Scotia

Vice-President: Jennifer Bates, Geological Survey of Canada (Atlantic), Nova Scotia

Secretary: Peter Giles, Geological Survey of Canada (Atlantic), Nova Scotia

Treasurer: Ken Howells, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia

On behalf of AGS, I would like to thank Chris White as retiring Past-President for his contributions over the past three years. Chris will continue working with the AGS as Publicist. I would also like to thank Jennifer Bates for her contributions as outgoing Newsletter Editor, having retired that position to enter into the position of the new Vice-President. Mike Cherry has taken over as Newsletter Editor.

Student awards are given annually to the best oral presentation (Rupert MacNeill Award) and the best poster presentation (Graham Williams Award) at the annual Atlantic Geoscience Society Colloquium. Assigned judges rank the student presentations based on scientific content, organization and presentation of data and (for the posters) overall display aesthetics. The awards include an annual plaque with the name and university of the recipient, and $100 for the purchase of geological reference material. In addition, Noranda Mining and Exploration Incorporated (Bathurst Office), has established an award for the student presenting the best paper or poster in economic geology (or related field). This award consists of a field pack containing a silva compass, hammer, magnet, etc. and a contract summer position with Noranda, in Atlantic Canada. The awards are handed out to students that are registered in a B.Sc., M.Sc., or Ph.D. program.

The Rupert MacNeill Award was presented to Michelle DeWolfe of Saint Mary's University for her talk entitled “Petrological evidence for extensive liquid immiscibility in the Jurassic North Mountain Basalt, Nova Scotia”.

Michelle DeWolfe (right) of Saint Mary's University recieves the Rupert MacNeill Award for the best oral presentation from Linda Ham.

The Graham Williams Award was presented to Martin Ethier of Acadia University for his poster entitled “Re-interpretation of the geology of the Cape Breton Highlands using remote sensing and geological databases”.

Martin Ethier (right) of Acadia University receives the Graham Williams Award for best student poster from Alan Ruffman.

The Noranda Award was presented to Lawrence Mireku of Acadia University for his talk entitled “Geology, geochemistry and hydrothermal alteration of the Lower AB Zone, Halfmile Lake North volcanic hosted massive sulphide deposit, Bathurst, New Brunswick”.

Lawrence Mireku (right) of Acadia University recieves the Noranda Award for best economic paper from Greg Woods.

The AGS also presents two prestigious awards (Distinguished Scientist Award - Gesner Medal and Distinguished Service Award) to more “established” geoscientists in the geological community.

The AGS awards the Distinguished Scientist Award (Gesner Medal) to a person who through his or her own efforts (maps, publications, memoirs, etc.) has developed and promoted the advancement of an aspect of geoscience in the Atlantic Region. This year's award has been presented to Dr. Brendan Murphy of St. Francis Xavier University.

Alan Anderson (right) accepts the AGS Distinguished Scientist (Gesner) Award for Brendan Murphy from Howard Donohoe.

Brendan was awarded the Gesner Medal based on his strong contributions to the advancement of geoscience in the Atlantic region, his achievements as a researcher in geoscience, his work in developing the “infrastructure of geoscience” and his abilities to communicate geoscience information.

He joined the faculty of St. Francis Xavier University in 1982 and has progressed to full professor and has served as chair of the department. All through his time at St. Francis Xavier, he has provided considered opinions, support for programs, innovations in teaching and research and the excite-ment of discovery for students and colleagues.

Brendan Murphy exemplifies many of the best attributes in a scientist. He has worked hard to communicate the importance and excitement of geo-science to students, the public, university administrators and government. He has continued a lengthy field-based geological research program in Nova Scotia and elsewhere that explores the basics of orogenesis and plate boundaries and movements. Yet his scientific curiosity is such that he will also question and examine other topics and areas. At the same time Brendan has always involved himself with students: teaching, supervising and advising. Brendan has contributed time, energy and leadership to geoscience societies both in Atlantic Canada and Canada as a whole. He has continued to communicate the results of his research through published papers, maps, abstracts and memoirs.

Brendan has worked hard for the geoscience community, for the connection between science and society, for scientific excellence and for the students who will become the science's future leaders.

This year, the Distinguished Service Award of the Atlantic Geoscience Society was presented to Mike Parkhill of New Brunswick Department of Natural Resources. This award is given in recognition of exceptional and altruistic contributions to the Society over a long period of time.

Reg Wilson (left) accepts the AGS Distinguished Service Award for Mike Parkhill from AGS President Mike MacDonald.

Mike has served as a councillor from New Brunswick, Vice President and President of the Society. He organized the Bathurst, New Brunswick annual meeting which was one of the few meetings outside the normal orbit of annual meeting locations in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. For many years he has taken on the task of accepting abstracts for annual meetings and organizing them into a publication. One can always count on Mike for organizing some part of the annual meeting.

During his tenure as President, Mike introduced new measures to more formally review proposals for financial assistance from the Society. Through this and other means he has been a good steward of the Society's funds and its financial well being.

As a member of the Executive Council of the Society he has been involved in guiding the affairs of the Society. He has encouraged the work of the Video and the Education Committees as a means of fulfilling one of the Society's mandates to communicate geoscience to the public.

Mike has long been an advocate of strengthening communications with teachers, students and the public. He has presented many talks and workshops to teachers, students and the public. As a frequent contributor to the Newsletter, he communicates with members of the Society about events and features of interest.

Mike Parkhill received the Distinguished Service Award for his outstanding and altruistic contri-butions to the Society for many years.

Dr. Ian Knight, a geoscientist with the Newfoundland and Labrador provincial Department of Mines and Energy, Geological Survey, has been awarded the R.J.W. Douglas Medal by the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists. The announcement was made by the Minister of Mines and Energy, the Honourable Lloyd Matthews.

The Douglas Medal is awarded annually for outstanding scientific contributions to the understanding of sedimentary geology in Canada.

Previous winners include some of the top academic researchers in Canada; this marks the first time it has been presented to a field geologist at a provincial geological survey. Dr. Knight received the medal in Calgary on February 27 at a special awards luncheon of the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists.

Dr. Knight has been a geoscientist with the Geological Survey of Newfoundland and Labrador (a division within the Mines Branch) for 27 years. During that time he has conducted extensive field work in western Newfoundland, which has resulted in some 20 geological maps and more than 50 published reports. His expertise covers the sedimentary rocks (e.g., limestone and sandstone) in that part of the province that formed in a unique geological environment and have important potential for petroleum and mineral deposits.

Mr. Matthews said that Dr. Knight's nominators for the medal consider him instrumental in promoting the economic development of western Newfoundland through his encyclopedic knowledge of the region's geology.

His published work and consultations have been an important resource for the petroleum industry exploring in west Newfoundland. He has also contributed to lead-zinc exploration in the area, and more recently to the identification of marble deposits. His work has earned the acclaim of industry, university and government geoscientists far and wide.

Ian Knight was born in Wales and graduated from Bristol University in Britain with a B.Sc. He received his M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from Memorial University of Newfoundland and joined the Geological Survey in 1974. Over the years he has collaborated with several internal and external geoscientists on the geological evolution of west Newfoundland, from Cape Anguille to Cape Norman. His work has made him one of the foremost authorities on the ancient continental-margin rocks of the Appalachian mountain belt.

Plans are currently underway for the 2001 Mining Matters conference to be held at the Westin Hotel, Hollis Street, Halifax on Thursday and Friday, November 8 and 9. The organizers of the conference are excited about hosting the event in this grand and historic venue which was originally built as part of the CNR chain of hotels. Displays and presentations will be in the Commonwealth Rooms A and B respectively.

The conference will continue to focus on the economic development opportunities related to minerals, with the overall goal of raising the awareness and understanding of the mining industry in Nova Scotia. The Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources co-organizes the Mining Matters conference with its partners, including The Department of Economic Development, The Chamber of Mineral Resources of Nova Scotia, The Mining Society of Nova Scotia and the Nova Scotia Prospectors Association. More details of the conference will be included in the following issues of “Minerals Update”. Mark the dates on your calendar!

Robert Grantham retired in November of last year. Deborah Skilliter has assumed some curatorial duties on a part-time basis. The Curator of Geology position is expected to be filled by early spring.

The museum has secured a grant worth over $37,000 from the Virtual Museum of Canada of the Canadian Heritage Information Network to create a web site that will coincide with a travelling exhibit on the trace fossils of Eastern Canada, currently under construction. No such web sites currently exist in Canada. The web site project will begin in April and will last approximately five months. The launch of the web site will be simultaneous with the exhibit launch.

We just concluded a very successful March Break at the Museum of Natural History. The total number of visitors for the period of March 9-18th was 17,283. On Monday March 5th, the Museum of Natural History was the recipient of the first “Parents and Kids Magazine” Parent's Choice Awards for Best Museum for Kids.

Saint Mary's geology student Michelle DeWolfe won the Rupert H. MacNeil Award for best overall student presentation at the Atlantic Geoscience Society Annual Colloquium and General Meeting held in Moncton, February 9. She was cheered on by 20 other undergraduates who had made the trip. Two other students, Chris Baldwin and Peter Cooper, are on a five month exchange program (sponsored by the NAFTA Student Mobility Program) studying and doing research at the Institute de Geologia, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico in Mexico City.

Whereas most of the faculty are busy with teaching and ongoing research, Victor Owen is on sabbatical, visiting the state universities in Volgograd, Samara and St. Petersburg, where he is continuing his research on the petrology of archaeological ceramics. He has also been collaborating with colleagues in the U.S. on the geochemistry of early American glass, in Britain on the geochemistry of 18th century Liverpool porcelain, and in Canada on a number of traditional petrology and structural geology projects.

The Geology program at UNB continues to grow! We currently have 79 undergraduate students enrolled in Geology, Environmental Geology, and Geological Engineering. There are 30 graduate students in the department, and we have recently awarded four graduate degrees in Geology or a related discipline.

The Department of Geology at the University of New Brunswick has had the opportunity to appoint three new scientists to the faculty. These are Karl Butler (Geophysics), David Lentz (Economic Geology) and Murray Gingras (Sedimentology and Stratigraphy). Drs. Butler and Lentz were both appointed in 1999 and Dr. Gingras in 2000. These appointments help to diversify the educational and research opportunities available at UNB Geology. Karen Shea has been added to our administration staff, bringing with her several years of private-sector experience.

Professor Joe White, the Chair of the department, has been recently appointed to Acting Vice President of Research, and has continued to provide consultation and support to the Department of Geology. Professor John Spray has assumed the duties of Chair of Geology.

Several new initiatives have recently received approval for funding. These demonstrate the breadth of research conducted at UNB and reflect topical and innovative efforts. Two notable programs that are co-lead by Dr. Tom Al have been announced. The first, “Dispersion of Mine-Tailings Derived Hg Through a Groundwater - Surface Water Flow System” is lead by project leaders Tom A. Al (Department of Geology, UNB) and Kerry T. MacQuarrie (Department of Civil Engineering, UNB). Additional researchers include Matthew Leybourne (Department of Geosciences, University of Texas at Dallas), Phillip Yeats and John Dalziel (Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Dartmouth, NS). This project is part of a newly established NSERC Research Network. The research network is called COMERN which stands for Collaborative Mercury Research Network, and it is based at the University of Quebec at Montreal.

Another of Dr. Al's endeavors shall be “A four-year research project within the Canadian Water Network NSERC NCE focusing on the Fredericton Aquifer”, lead by project leaders Tom A. Al (Department of Geology, UNB) and Kerry T. MacQuarrie (Depart-ment of Civil Engineering, UNB). Additional researchers shall include Dr. Karl Butler (Department of Geology, UNB), among several others.

The Quaternary and Environmental Studies program, led by Bruce Broster, has recently graduated Masters and a Doctoral students. Both (ex)students are working at geological surveys in the United States.

Professor Broster currently serves as the Director, Medical Laboratory Science Program and spent part of his sabbatical as the Alternate New Brunswick Representative, Atlantic Investments Partnership R&D Coordinating Committee. Bruce continues to direct his research towards applications in Quaternary Geology, field geology in New Brunswick and British Columbia, Quaternary aquifers, and Medical Geology.

As usual, Ron Pickerill is an editor or an active reviewer for many journals. This has not inhibited Ron's field time: current research focuses on trace fossils and bioerosion structures in Korea, New Brunswick, Jamaica, and Carriaco. Ron and Stephen Donovan (Head of Palaeontology, Natural History Museum, London; adjunct, UNB) continue to collaborate on various paleontological and sedimentological projects.

A new project, “Development of an integrated, high resolution, four-dimensional flow model for reservoirs characterized by inclined heterolithic stratification in the McMurray Formation, Northeastern Alberta” will be lead by Murray Gingras. A local initiative assessing the “Quality and Distribution of Reservoir Sandstones in the Horton Group of the Moncton Basin, southern New Brunswick”, is also being planned by David Keighly (SMU), Ron Pickerill, and Murray Gingras.

UNB Geology's ore research group, led by Dave Lentz, is currently focusing on hydrothermal alteration processes associated with various ore-forming systems. This research is designed to achieve a better understanding of the location and controls on mineralization, as well as the petrochemical vectoring techniques used in exploration for mineral resources. Nick Susak works in the fields of experimental aqueous geochemistry, the geochemistry of ore deposits, and the geochemistry of natural waters. Nick and Dave have been busy preparing our research facility to accommodate a new ICP-OES and x-ray diffractometer.

Karl Butler's research program is designed around the development of geophysical methods and their relationship to rock properties. He is developing instrumentation and methods for collecting, processing and modelling seismoelectric effects with applications in groundwater and resource exploration, and also works with more conventional methods on problems of aquifer imaging/ characterization. He is currently planning, with colleagues at GSC Atlantic, high resolution geophysical surveys to be carried out on the Saint John River this summer for investigation of the underlying Fredericton aquifer.

UNB Geology continues to support a strong structural geology (and crustal processes) program. Recently Paul Williams and Bruce Hobbs delivered a joint paper on experimental folding at the TSG meeting in Tasmania. Dr. Williams will be delivering a different paper on the same topic at the DRT2001 meeting in The Netherlands. His students continue to excel in structural geology. Apart from his administration duties, Joe White (and his students) is continuing to develop specific expertise in processes of rock deformation and their relationship to porosity/permeability. Additional research includes the numerical modeling of deformation, including hydromechanical responses. John Spray's group (five graduate students, one PDF and a research assistant) is actively furthering our knowledge of impact cratering processes on Earth and other planets. Terrestrial work has focused on Sudbury for the last 10 years. The Haughton crater, in the Canadian high arctic, is also being investigated in collaboration with NASA. Lunar samples, asteroids and Martian meteorites are also providing new research opportunities.

Some of our staff, students and faculty have been recognized for excellence and dedication over the past year. These include:

David Pirie, Lead Technologist, Department of Geology, UNB. University of New Brunswick employee of the year.

Johnston, D.H., Williams, P.F., and Brown, R.L., 2000, Northeastward extrusion and extensional exhumation of crystalline rocks of the Monashee complex, southeastern Canadian Cordillera. Journal of Structural Geology,v.22, p.603-625. Winner of Structural Geology and Tectonics Division of the GAC Best Paper Award.

Gordon Osinski (PhD candidate, John Spray) won the E.M. Shoemaker Award of the Geological Society of America for the year 2000 (awarded last Fall at the GSA annual convention, Reno). This annual award is to recognize outstanding students working in the field of impact geology and planetary geology.

Harris, C.R., Gingras, M.K., Ranger, M.J. and Pemberton, S.G., 2000, Detailed mapping and analysis of a frozen paleo oil-water contact, Athabasca oil sands: Implications regarding reserve calculation and reservoir management. EMD-AAPG President's Certificate for Excellence in Presentation. American Society of Petroleum Geologists Annual Convention, New Orleans.

Andrew Stumpf (recent Ph.D. graduate, Bruce Broster) received the Roy J. Shlemon Award from the Engineering Geology Division of the Geological Society of America (Vancouver, 2000).

“Opportunities for Students” or “Graduate Research Opportunities”

Several new MSc and PhD research opportunities are available at UNB Fredericton for students interested in near-surface geophysics, hydrogeo-logy, or hydrogeochemistry. Available topics include components of two recently approved multi-disciplinary hydrogeology projects - one studying interactions between the Saint John River and alluvial and fractured bedrock aquifers, and a second examining the dispersion of mine-tailings derived mercury through a groundwater - surface water flow system.

Examples of projects include (i) geophysical imaging of the Fredericton aquifer through high resolution 'marine' seismic and GPR surveys, (ii) investigations of the geochemical reactions and hydraulic connection between the Saint John River and the Fredericton aquifer, and (iii) speciation, transport and mass balance for mercury in a river system impacted by tailing-contaminated groundwater. For more information, please see www.unb.ca/geology, www.unb.ca/civil/hydro/water.htm, or contact Dr. Karl Butler (geophysics, kbutler@unb.ca), Dr. Tom Al (hydrogeochemistry, tal@unb.ca) or Dr. Kerry MacQuarrie (hydrogeology, ktm@unb.ca).

Atlantic Geology, the Journal of the AGS, publishes papers of regional, national and international interest, including thematic issues. Persons or organizations interested in having their research or proceeding published in an issue of Atlantic Geology should contact:

Plans are underway to make the AGS Newsletter available on the Society's website. To date, there have been initial discussions between the out-going editor Jennifer Bates, in-coming editor Mike Cherry, and the Society webmaster Peter Wallace to investigate options for digital delivery of the Newsletter. Other geoscience groups, such as the Mineral Deposit Section of GAC, have already gone down this road and the response has reportedly been positive.

The current plan is to have the next edition of the AGS newsletter posted on the AGS website. A notice will be sent to all Society members via e-mail as soon as the Newsletter is available for viewing and downloading. The email notification will feature short summaries of articles contained in the Newsletter. Hard copies will be sent via “snail mail” to those members of the Society who are not yet digital surfer-dudes (no names mentioned). In addition to the digital access to the publication, members of the AGS Council will be encouraged to print hard copies of the Newsletter and post them in prominent locations in their respective workplaces.

The impetus for this change to delivery of the Newsletter is principally the cost and work associated with mailing the publication. If you have concerns or suggestions on how to implement this change to digital delivery, please contact in-coming editor Dr. Mike Cherry by phone at 902-424-8135 or by e-mail at cherryme@gov.ns.ca.

The Northeast Section of the Geological Society of America (NEGSA) has selected Halifax for its 2003 meeting site. This will represent the first time that the NEGSA will hold its annual meeting in Canada. A Local Organizing Committee (LOC), co-chaired by Dr. Marcus Zentilli and Dr. David Scott, has been struck and an inaugural meeting was held on April 18, 2001.

The NEGSA has formally approached the AGS to jointly host the meeting, scheduled for March 26 to 30, 2003 at the Westin Nova Scotian hotel in Halifax. This could provide an excellent opportunity to explore topics of mutual interest between the AGS and the NEGSA and will provide a forum to showcase the wide range of geoscience research in Atlantic Canada to a broad audience.

The possibility of holding the annual AGS Colloquium in conjunction with the NEGSA meeting will be discussed at the next meeting of the AGS Executive Council, slated for May 16, 2001 at Bedford Institute of Oceanography. If you have any comments, concerns or suggestions, please forward to Dr. Tom Martel, President, AGS, c/o Corridor Resources, 5475 Spring Garden Road, #301, Halifax, NS B3J 3T2, Tel. (902) 429-4511, e-mail: tmartel@corridor.ns.ca

AGS Executive Listing for 2001-2002