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IAG - Bologna Congress Publications
All of the papers submitted following the IV International Geomorphology Congress, Bologna were initially collected at Durham University, UK, where Dr Bob Allison has been acting as general editor on behalf of the International Association Executive Committee. On receipt of all manuscripts an inventory of submitted material was drawn up and individual papers distributed to publishers as discussed by the IAG Executive Committee and agreed at the Bologna IAG Council Meeting. Details of the manuscripts submitted arising from each session are listed below.Antarctic Geomorphology - Two papers were submitted. Both were forwarded to Professor W.B. Whalley, editor of the journal Glacial Geology and Geomorphology. Both papers are presently under review.
Applied Geomorphology - There were twenty-four submitted manuscripts. All are being reviewed with the aim of publishing a book through John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Many of the reviews are now complete and, where appropriate, manuscripts have been returned to authors for modification.
Arid and Sub-arid Geomorphology - Nine manuscripts were submitted. Papers were forwarded to Professor N. Lancaster, who is managing the editorial process on behalf of the journal Geomorphology. Publication is proceeding with those manuscripts which have received appropriate review comments.
Fluvial Geomorphology - This was one of the strongest sessions with twenty-five submitted manuscripts. All were forwarded to Professor C. Thorne, who is managing the editorial process on behalf of the journal Earth Surface Processes and Landforms.
Geomorphology and Environmental - Impact Assessment There were eight submitted manuscripts. All are being reviewed with the aim of publishing a book through John Wiley & Sons Ltd, by combining favourably refereed material with the Applied Geomorphology papers. Many of the reviews are now complete and, where appropriate, manuscripts have been returned to authors for modification.
Geomorphology and Global Environmental Change - The seventeen submitted manuscripts were forwarded to Professor 0. Slaymaker, who will be editing a refereed book in association with the publisher John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Eight of the reviews are complete and, where appropriate, manuscripts have been returned to authors for modification.
Geomorphology and Global Tectonics - After some discussion, the seventeen papers from this session are being edited by Dr E. Naegele on behalf of Zeitschrift fuer Geomorphologie. Review is now in progress.
Glacial Geomorphology - Ten papers were submitted. All were forwarded to Professor W.B. Whalley, editor of the journal Glacial Geology and Geomorphology, and are presently under review.
Karst Geomorphology - The eleven papers submitted during this session were, at the request of those at the meeting, forwarded to Professor Federici, who is editing a special volume of Geografia Fisica e Dinamica Quaternaria on behalf of the authors.
Littoral and Submarine Geomorphology - Following a meeting in Bologna between Professor 0. Slaymaker, Dr R. Allison, and Professor H. Ohmori, the nine papers in this session were submitted to Transactions of the Japanese Geomorphological Union.
Magnitude and Frequency in Geomorphology - Six submitted papers were added to those forwarded directly to Professor M. Crozier, who is editing a book as a result of this special conference session.
Periglacial Geomorphology - The nine papers have been forwarded to Professor H. French, editor in chief of Permafrost and Periglacial Processes. The review process is currently in progress.
Tectonic Geomorphology - Fifteen papers were submitted
Theoretical Geomorphology - Four papers were submitted
Tropical Geomorphology - Five papers were submitted
Volcanic Geomorphology - Eleven papers were submitted
Weathering and Soils - Twelve papers were submitted
The manuscripts from these five sessions have been forwarded to Dr E. Naegele, who is managing the editorial process on behalf of Zeitschrift fuer Geomorphologie.
In agreeing the above distribution the IAG Executive Committee has done its best to circulate material widely. All material will be refereed by two independent reviewers to ensure that the quality of papers appearing under the IAG banner remains high. Individual authors who wish to enter into correspondence about their own paper have been provided with the names and addresses of the colleagues listed above who are handling the editorial process. Authors have also been given the opportunity to withdraw material and proceed with independent publication if they are unhappy with the Committee s publication decisions. The important principles underlying the paper distribution given above have been (i) to publish papers in good quality outlets, (ii) to maintain a high standard by independent peer review, (iii) to be as flexible as possible in meeting the authors s wishes and desires and (iv) to forge positive links with organisations, journals and publishers who have a good association with the International Association.
Further information can be obtained from, and questions will be answered by, Dr Robert Allison, Department of Geography, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE, UK; e-mail: R.J.Allison@durham.ac.uk
ROBERT J. ALLISON
DOMODIS meeting in Switzerland
The first DOMODIS workshop, organised by Hans Kienholz, took place at the Department of Geography, University of Bern on March 1-2, 1998. DOMODIS stands for Documentation of Mountain Disasters, is a joint ICSU SC/ IDNDR/ IAG Project on Mountain Disasters and responds to the perceived needs for standardised documentation by expert geoscientists and a responsive organisational structure.Forty-four scientists participated; they represented 11 research groups and came from 11 different countries, namely Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Romania, Spain, Switzerland and the USA. Bruno Messerli, President of IGU, hosted the workshop and Hermann Verstappen, Past-President of IGU, provided introductory comments on the context of the IDNDR programme and possible future directions. Olav Slaymaker, President of IAG, welcomed the participants.
During Day 1 there were summary research presentations from Austria, New Zealand, Spain, Italy, Bavaria, British Columbia, Romania, South Tyrol, Rhineland, France, the Himalaya/Karakoram region and Switzerland followed by an open discussion on the scientific and implementation task of the DOMODIS programme. Widely varying experiences were reported and it became clear that the real time and immediately after the event documentation approach was impractical outside the densely populated mountain regions. Nevertheless, all were agreed on the importance of improving organisational structures for management of disasters and on the necessity of developing better geoscientific data bases.
During Day 2, a field case study was examined at the site of the 1997 Sachseln disaster. This was a brilliant example of the way in which agencies, institutions and private companies had combined to provide real time and immediately after the event data which will provide a model for further work. Geomorphologists, engineers and foresters combined their expertise to suggest effective ways of organising data collection at and around disaster sites. On the Sunday evening, a fine meal was provided at a country restaurant, and participants dispersed after the Sachseln visit.
By the time of writing, an invitation to hold a second DOMODIS workshop in November, 1998 has been received from Jordi Corominas of the Technical University of Catalunya, Spain. For further information, please contact Hans Kienholz at Kienholz@giub.unibe.ch or at the Geographical Institute, Hallerstrasse 12, BERN CH-3012, Switzerland. The IAG is pleased to be involved in an implementation project of this kind and congratulates Hans Kienholz on his initiative.
OLAV SLAYMAKER
News from Members
One aspect of the various activities of the IAG Adhering National Organisations is the planning and organisation of conferences. The following compilation gives a general idea of the number of main National Geomorphology Conferences that will be held in 1998 in different parts of the world. An invitation to submit conference information was distributed to the National Delegates with Newsletter 14 (3/4-1997). The list below is by no means complete, but includes all conferences that were reported to the Publications Officer before 10 May, 1998.Argentina - 1st Argentine Congress of Quaternary and Geomorphology, May 27-29, 1998, Santa Rosa (La Pampa), Argentina.
Australia and New Zealand - 8th Australian and New Zealand Geomorphology Conference, Nov. 15-20, 1998, Goolwa, South Australia. Contact: Bob Bourman, Fax: +61 8 8302 5082; r.bourman@unisa.edu.au
Belarus - 4th Byelorussian Conference on Recent Geomorphological Processes, Oct. 26-29, 1998, Minsk, Belarus. Contact: Lilia Nechiporenko, Fax: +375 (0172) 63 63 98; geology@ns.igs.ac.by
Canada - A special session was sponsored by the Canadian Geomorphological Research Group at the 1998 Canadian Association of Geographers Annual Meeting, June 4, 1998, Ottawa, Canada.
Germany - 24th Annual Conference of the "Deutscher Arbeitskreis fuer Geomorphologie", Oct. 8-11, 1998, Jena, Germany. Contact: Gerhard Daut, Fax: +49-3641-948812; g.daut@geogr.uni-jena.de
Poland - 4th Congress of Polish Geomorphologists, June 3-6, 1998, Lublin, Poland.
Romania - Carpatho-Balcanic Conference of Geomorphology, Oct. 11-17, 1998, Baile Herculane - Orsova, Romania. Contact: Sorin Cheval, Fax: +40-1-3111242; sorin@vvi.ro
South Africa - 5th Conference of the Southern African Association of Geomorphologists, June 28-July 1, 1998, Grahamstown, South Africa.
United Kingdom - British Geomorphological Research Group Annual Conference, Sept. 18-20, 1998, Coventry, UK. Contact: Ian Foster, Fax: +44 1203 838447; gex002@coventry.ac.uk
USA - 1998 Binghamton Geomorphology Symposium, Coastal Geomorphology, Nov. 12-15, 1998, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA. Contact: Paul Gares, Fax: 919 328 6084; garesp@mail.ecu.edu. Numerous geomorphology special sessions have been organised at the Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting (March 15-29, Boston, USA) and will be organised at the Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Oct. 26-29, 1998, Toronto, Canada. Contact: Geological Society of America, Fax: +1 303 447 2020; web@geosociety.org
Editor's Note
The success of the IAG-Newsletter depends upon the contributions that we receive. IAG welcomes contributions to future newsletters from any of its members, especially on the topic of publication policy, as reported in Newsletter 15 (1/1998). Other contributions may include discussions, commentaries, reviews of regional or national meetings and field trips, summaries of issues pertinent to geomorphology, and announcements of future meetings and workshops.Please forward your contributions to C. EMBLETON-HAMANN, Institut fuer Geographie der Universitaet Wien, Universitaetsstrasse 7, A - 1010 Wien, Austria. Fax: (+431) 4277 9486; E-mail: christine.embleton-hamann@univie.ac.at.
© 1998 International Association of Geomorphologists
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