Workshop Announcement
The Bering Strait, Rapid Climate Change, and Land Bridge Paleoecology
20-22 June 2005
Fairbanks, Alaska
Sponsored By:
Joint Oceanographic Institutions (JOI)
U.S. Science Support Program (USSSP)
For further information, please contact:
Sarah Fowell
E-mail: ffsjf [at] uaf.edu
JOI/USSSP is sponsoring an interdisciplinary workshop to discuss
potential scientific ocean drilling in the Bering Sea Shelf basins.
Reconstruction of the sea level history of the Bering Strait, including
the exact timing of the opening and closing of the land bridge and the
rates of associated sea level changes, is essential to understanding its
role as a trigger, pacemaker, or benign observer of northern hemisphere
climate changes. Strategic cores from the region will also help answer
outstanding questions regarding Bering Land Bridge paleoecology and its
impact on migration of plants and animals between Asia and North
America. The purpose of the workshop is to formulate the key scientific
questions, identify relevant drilling sites, discuss drilling platform
options, and to begin coordinating subsequent geophysical surveys,
proposals, and multi-proxy analyses.
Participation
Scientists from diverse geoscientific specialities including chemical
and physical oceanography, geomorphology, paleoclimatology,
sedimentology, stratigraphy, and geoarcheology are encouraged to apply.
International participation and student/post-doc applicants are also
encouraged.
Conveners
Sarah Fowell, University of Alaska Fairbanks, and David Scholl, Stanford
University and the USGS, are convening the workshop.
Applications
Contact Sarah Fowell (ffsjf [at] uaf.edu) by 22 April 2005 with the following
information: name, institution, contact information, research specialty,
and a brief statement of interest relevant to the purpose of the
workshop. Limited JOI/USSSP travel support is available to U.S.
participants