Neotectonic field trip and workshop, 
32nd International Geological Congress, Italy 2004

Dear Colleagues,

Professor I. Mariolakos is organizing together with me and Drs. I.
Fountoulis and M. Ivanov a field trip (B26) during the 32nd IGC. The First
Circular is already on line, at http://www.32IGC.org.

The trip will give a unique opportunity to make a full traverse from the
Moesian to the Apulian platform crossing the Fore-Balkan, the Balkan
fold-thrust belt, the Late Cretaceous Srednogorie island arc, the Rhodope
massif, Serbo-Macedonian massif, Vardar zone, and several isopic zones of
the Hellenides. Emphasis is laid on the extensional collapse of the Alpine
orogen in Palaeogene and Neogene times, formation of neotectonic depressions
and the related geodynamic hazards (including the sites of some of the
strongest earthquakes in Europe – Kroupnik, M 7.8, 1904; Grevena; Kozani,
etc.). Archaeological, cultural and natural monuments are included in the
trip, for to mention only the Iskur Gorge and the Pirin National Park, Vicos
Gorge, the old cities of Plovdiv, Hisar, Sofia, Melnik, Thessaloniki and
Ioannina, Rila Monastery, the Meteora rock monasteries, the Royal tombs at
Vergina, the newly-discovered Thracian temple at Starosel, etc.

The neotectonic features include a number of Neogene and Quaternary active
faults. Some of the low-angle normal faults have been described recently as
large-scale detachments exhuming metamorphic core complexes although the
field and laboratory evidence is against such a vision. Some of the most
controversial sites will be visited, and the participants will be given the
opportunity to make their own conclusions. More information about a part of
the field trip in SW Bulgaria may be found at the web site of the
International conference "Rhodope Geodynamic Hazards" (May 2001),
http://www.geology.bas.bg. 

A half-day workshop (BWO 05) on the "Tertiary tectonics of SE Europe:
Extensional collapse and rifting or detachment tectonics?" will be convened
during the congress in Florence. It will give new opportunities to discuss
controversial ideas on magma initiation and evolution, the role of
detachment tectonics, initiation and evolution of continental rifts, etc.

The Scientific Programme Committee of the 32nd IGC requires the Preliminary
Questionnaire to be returned by the end of August 2002 for to plan all the
related scientific, social, and cultural activities. Therefore, interested
colleagues who are likely to participate in one or both the events mentioned
are kindly asked to answer the Questionnaire, for to enable further
preparation of the field trip and workshop.

Ivan Zagorchev 
Ivan Zagorchev, Res. Prof., D. Sc., Ph. D.
Vice-President of the Bulgarian National Committee of Geology
Chief Editor of Geologica Balcanica
Geological Institute, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
Acad.G.Bonchev str. bldg. 24, 1113 Sofia
fax (00359-2) 724638
E-mail [log in to unmask]
web-site http://www.geology.bas.bg