Conference and Field Excursion Announcement
Asian Conference on Permafrost
7-9 August 2006
Lanzhou, China
Field Excursion Along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway
10-16 August 2006
Abstract deadline for oral and poster presentations: 30 January 2006
Registration deadline for hotel and field excursion: 30 June 2006
For further information, please go to:
http://www.casnw.net/permafrost/index.html
or contact:
Jerry Brown
E-mail: jerrybrown [at] igc.org
Under a changing climate and influenced by steadily increasing
anthropogenic activities, the permafrost in Central Asia has been
undergoing dramatic changes due to its warm characteristics and unique
environments at high elevations. As a result, the evolution of
permafrost environments substantially impact natural ecosystems,
engineering infrastructures, and land use due to their close
interactions with the underlying permafrost conditions. The construction
of the Qinghai-Tibetan Railway (QTR) that traverses 632 km of permafrost
has attracted much attention. The QTR is scheduled for operation in
2007, with the main construction completed in 2006. Other major cold
regions projects in China are the West Line of Water Diversion Programs
from the Yangtze to the Yellow Rivers, oil and gas pipelines with
Kazakhstan and Russia, and electric transmissions. These programs
influence natural ecosystems in permafrost regions and require continued
research on frozen ground and on the impacts to the natural ecosystems,
and cooperation among countries in Central Asia and their mountain and
plateaus regions.
The first Asian Permafrost Conference will be held on 7-9 August 2006 in
Lanzhou, China, under the auspices of the International Permafrost
Association (IPA), Chinese Geographical Society, and Chinese Academy of
Sciences State Key Laboratory of Frozen Soils Engineering (SKLFSE).
The following topics are included but not limited to:
- permafrost engineering, properties of frozen soils, model
development, and their applications;
- permafrost hazards and periglacial environments in mountain/plateau
regions;
- climatic and environmental and cryospheric changes;
- permafrost hydrology and cold regions water resources and land use; and
- monitoring, mapping, and modeling of mountain and high-elevation
permafrost.
Reports and papers are welcomed from all permafrost regions of the
world. A series of peer-reviewed papers are proposed for publication in
English-language journals. An abstract volume will be available at the
conference. The official language is English.
Results of the conference will contribute to the IPA planning and
implementation for the International Polar Year (2007-08) and the
International Year of Planet Earth (2007).
The post-conference field trip is planned on 10-16 August 2006.
Participants will travel along the QTR from Golmud to Lhasa to inspect
the completed QTR, operating Qinghai-Tibet Highway and fiber-optic
cables, and recently rehabilitated Product Oil Pipeline.
For further conference and excursion information, please go to:
http://www.casnw.net/permafrost/index.html