I would like to draw your attention to the session entitled “Supercontinents and Crustal Evolution” (S-MP09) as a part of the International Sessions of the Annual Meeting of the Japanese Geoscience Union Meeting (JpGU 2015) to be held at Makuhari Messe, Tokyo, from May 24 to 28, 2015. We invite you to consider submitting an abstract in this session (Submission deadline: February 18, 2015 Japan Standard Time).

Details of the session are as follows:

“Supercontinents and Crustal Evolution”

Conveners: M. Satish-Kumar, Yasuhito Osanai, Geoff Grantham, Sajeev Krishnan and Tomokazu Hokada

Scope: Supercontinent formation and dispersion has been enigmatic in the Earth's history. Eurasia is one such supercontinent and considerable progress in the understanding of its geological evolution has been achieved in the past decade. Earlier supercontinents in the Earth's history such as Gondwana (0.5 Ga), Rodinia (1.0 Ga), Columbia/Nuna (2.0 Ga), Kenorland (2.5 Ga) and Vaalbara (3.1 Ga), have been the focus of several studies, however with limited progress. Several important unsolved issues remain, such as how, when and where these supercontinents formed and how long they remained as such before breaking apart. Additional questions arise on the processes that triggered the fragmentation and unification of continents. In this session, we invite researchers to present original new data as well as reviews on the continental scale crustal processes and tectonic evolution that are associated with supercontinent formation events in Earth's history. The well-studied Eurasia and Gondwana supercontinents are of particular focus. Topics of interest include, but not restricted to, extremes in metamorphism, P-T-d-t evolution, magmatism, and the role of fluids. We hope to provide a platform for scientific discussions that will enlighten our understanding of the physical and chemical processes in the continental crust that records episodes of orogenesis that contributed to the formation and evolution of supercontinents.

Invited speakers:

• Prof. Mike Brown

• Prof. Joachim Jacobs

The URL, http://www.jpgu.org/meeting_e/index.htm, provides information on Japan Geosciences Union Meeting 2015 along with registration and membership requirements. This URL also has links to registration information, scientific program, abstract submission information, information on venue, and other relevant items.

Abstract submission has already started on January 8, 2015. For the period, Jan. 8- Feb. 3, 2015, your submission is an “advance submission”, which has a lower submission fee (JPY 3,000) than for abstracts submitted between Feb. 3 and Feb. 18, 2015 (JPY 4000).

Registration, which is required for abstract submission, is from Jan. 8, 2015 until April 16, 2015 is JPY 16,000-. Registration later than that will cause you to incur a higher fee (JPY 22,000-). These fees imply membership in the Japan Geoscience Union.

For those of you less familiar with Japan, please feel free to contact me ([log in to unmask]) for any practical information.

We look forward to seeing you in Japan in May.

Prof. M. Satish Kumar
Department of Geology,
Faculty of Science, Niigata University,
2-8050 Ikarashi, Nishi-ku,
Niigata 950-2181, JAPAN
Tel/Fax: +81 25 262 6327
Email: [log in to unmask]