ISGAM
Second International Symposium on Granites and Associated Mineralizations
-- ISGAM II
Granite sensu lato is the scum of the earth, the light material
that came to the surface to form the crust; it composes the continents
on which we live and from which we extract important mineral wealth. A
Second International Symposium on Granites and Associated Mineralizations
was convened in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, in August, 1997, to evaluate progress
in our understanding of the evolution of the earth's crust, an evolution
that involves processes of growth and differentiation through which important
metallic elements, such as tin, copper and gold are concentrated into economic
mineral deposits. In the ten years since the first ISGAM, we have realized
significant developments in the analytical tools available to us in our
studies of granites. At the grain scale, these developments have permitted
us to collect chemical data with smaller and smaller spatial resolution
at lower and lower levels of concentration. At the global scale, we have
seen an explosive growth in data collected remotely by satellite-borne
instruments. Indeed, the huge growth in data available at all scales has
allowed us to advance significantly our understanding of the processes
involved in crustal evolution. This Symposium was important, therefore,
to evaluate our progress during the past decade and to identify important
new research directions.
One hundred fifty participants from twenty-two countries attended the
Symposium, including three faculty from the Department of Geology at the
University of Maryland. Two of ten invited keynote talks were presented
by Profs. Michael
Brown (Laboratory
for Crustal Petrology) and Philip
A. Candela (Laboratory
for Mineral Deposits Research), and Dr. Philip
M. Piccoli (Laboratory
for Mineral Deposits Research) presented one of twenty-five invited
lectures. Furthermore, Prof. Brown presented an evaluation of the scientific
importance of the Symposium in geology as part of the opening ceremonies.
Studies of granites and associated mineralizations represent one
of several areas of research excellence in the Department of Geology at
the University of Maryland, and readers may recall it was only two years
ago that the Third
Hutton Symposium on the Origin of Granites and Related Rocks, sponsored
by the Department of Geology, was held at the University. Further information
on research by Brown, Candela and Piccoli is available at facilities.
Shopping district in historic Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
Beach in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.