THE GEOCHEMICAL NEWS Newsletter of The Geochemical Society NUMBER 106 ISSN 0016-7010 JANUARY 2001 Eleventh Annual V.M. Goldschmidt Conference May 20-24, 2001 Hot Springs, Virginia, USA 2 The Geochemical News #106, January 2001 THE GEOCHEMICAL SOCIETY The Geochemical Society is a nonprofit scientific society founded to encourage the application of chemistry to the solution of geological and cosmological problems. Membership is interna- tional and diverse in background, encompassing such fields as or- ganic geochemistry, high and low-temperature geochemistry, pe- trology, meteoritics, fluid-rock interaction, and isotope geochem- OFFICERS - 2001 istry. The Society produces a Special Publications Series, The Geochemical News (this newsletter), the Reviews in Mineralogy PRESIDENT and Geochemistry Series (jointly with the Mineralogical Associa- Michael F. Hochella, Jr., Virginia Polytechnic Institute tion of America), the journal Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (jointly with the Meteoritical Society), and co-publishes the elec- VICE PRESIDENT tronic journal G3 (jointly with the American Geophysical Union); Judith McKenzie, ETH, Zurich grants the V.M. Goldschmidt, F.W. Clarke and Clair C. Patterson PAST PRESIDENT Awards, and, jointly with the European Association of Geochemis- Michael J. Drake, University of Arizona try, the Geochemistry Fellows title; sponsors the V.M. Goldschmidt Conference, held in North American in odd years SECRETARY and elsewhere in even years, jointly with the European Association David J. Wesolowski, Oak Ridge National Laboratory of Geochemistry; and co-sponsors the Geological Society of INTERNATIONAL SECRETARY America annual meeting and the American Geophysical Union spring Eiichi Takahashi, Tokyo Institute of Technology meeting. The Society honors our first President, F. Earl Ingerson, and our first Goldschmidt Medalist, Paul W. Gast, with the Ingerson and TREASURER Gast Lectures, held annually at the Geological Society of America Rebecca Lange, University of Michigan Meeting and the V.M. Goldschmidt Conference, respectively. The CHAIR, ORGANIC GEOCHEMISTRY DIVISION Geochemical Society is affiliated with the American Association for Mike Engel, University of Oklahoma the Advancement of Science and the International Union of Geologi- cal Sciences. SECRETARY, ORGANIC GEOCHEMISTRY DIVISION Members of the Organic Geochemistry Division are individu- Peggy Ostrom, Michigan State University als with interests in studies on the origin, nature, geochemical sig- nificance, and behavior during diagenesis and catagenesis of natu- rally occurring organic substances in the Earth, and of extraterres- trial organic matter. GS members may choose to be affiliated with DIRECTORS the OGD without any additional dues. The OGD presents the Alfred Thure Cerling, University of Utah E. Treibs Award for major achievements in organic geochemistry, Jochen Hoefs, Universität Göttingen and Best Paper awards (student and professional) in organic Albrecht W. Hoffman, Max Planck Institut f. Chemie geochemistry. K. Vala Ragnarsdottir, University of Bristol Roberta L. Rudnick, Harvard University Everett L. Shock, Washington University Ed Sholkovitz, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Editor’s Corner Neil C. Sturchio, Editor Phone: 312-355-1182 EDITORS Earth & Environmental Sciences Fax: 312-413-2279 University of Illinois at Chicago Email: [email protected] GEOCHIMICA ET COSMOCHIMICA ACTA 845 West Taylor St. (M/C186) Frank Podosek, Washington University Chicago, IL 60607-7059 U.S.A. GEOCHEMICAL NEWS ASSOCIATE EDITORS Neil C. Sturchio, University of Illinois at Chicago Janne Blichert-Toft, Lyon(France) Yoko Furukawa, Naval Research Laboratory(USA) INTERNET COORDINATOR John M. Hanchar, University of Notre Dame (USA) Bob Nichols, Washington University Mitch Schulte, NASA Ames Research Center (USA) SPECIAL PUBLICATIONS AND Angelina W. M. G. Souren, Armadillo Research, REVIEWS IN MINERALOGY AND GEOCHEMISTRY (CO-EDITOR) Amsterdam(Netherlands) Scott Wood, University of Idaho ASSISTANT EDITOR Dolores Sturchio, Naperville, Illinois (USA) Newsletter of The Geochemical Society The Geochemical News #106, January 2001 3 From the President . this end, forty-one topical sessions have been organized in six major subfields, including (in alphabetical order) aqueous geochemistry, metamorphic and igneous processes, mineralogy Exactly one hundred years and crystallography, ore deposits, organic geochemistry, and ago this month, at the grand open- planetary geochemistry. ing of the last century of the mil- Critical deadlines for the meeting are coming up next lennium just past, stood a rare breed month. Hard-copy abstract submission is due no later than Feb- of chemically-inclined geologist. ruary 9, and electronic submission is allowed until February 16. These were not privileged viewers Detailed information on every aspect of the conference as well of either the molecular or global as all forms pertinent to the conference can be found on the world as we are today. They were conference website http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/gold2001/. equipped with a periodic table, but Registration and housing forms can be found in this issue of the had only primitive ideas of the Geochemical News if you prefer to use them. It is particularly atomic structure of matter or whole important to get your housing registration form in now if you earth chemistry, and virtually no idea haven’t already done so. We only have 400 lodging rooms at The of the secrets of life. The first crys- Homestead, with limited accommodations off-site. If you are in- tal structure determinations were terested in the latter, or have any other questions about the meet- still over a decade away, and the ing, contact the conference secretary, Ellen Mathena, at golden years of microscopic and spectroscopic development [email protected]. and whole earth chemistry/structure discovery much further still. But they made wonderfully creative use of wet chemistry and Welcome to the European Association of Geochemistry were the masters of keen observation in both the field and the (EAG) lab. They were, in fact, the forerunners to the geochemists of Also in this issue of The Geochemical News, you will today. find letters from Francis Albarède and Al Hofmann, President Now, in 2001, it’s finally the first year of the new century and Past President, respectively, of EAG. I urge you to read and millennium. And guess what? Geochemists are everywhere, these letters no matter what continent you happen to be sitting and they have something to say in every corner of the earth and on right now. The Geochemical Society is international, with planetary sciences. Whether deep mantle or deep ocean research, members in 47 countries, but there are many highly successful paleoclimate or future climate projections, the Sahara or Antarc- regional geochemical societies like, for example, EAG and the tica, petroleum or meteorites, geochemists are right in the mix and Geochemical Society of Japan, as well as other widespread or- playing key roles in academics, government, and industry. The ganizations like the International Association of Geochemistry past few decades have seen the awakening of environmental and and Cosmochemistry. The leaders of all of these organizations planetary geochemistry, biogeochemistry in the most common are always looking for ways to cooperate with us, as I am with soils to extreme environments on earth to astrobiology beyond, them, to ultimately allow the voice of geochemistry to exceed isotope geochemistry unlocking geoprocess discovery as well as the sum of its parts. I welcome the participation of EAG in The the timing of it all, and on and on, from the atomic scale to the Geochemical News, both in this and future issues. global one and all shades of gray in between. What a privilege it is to be engaged in this science in this part of its history. May we And finally . continue along this path of service to the planet, and be recogniz- Allow me to end this letter by wishing everyone a Happy able to those geochemists that open the twenty-second century New Year. May your scientific fortunes of this year, in particu- one hundred years from now. lar, be ones of excitement and discovery. See you at The Home- And, speaking of cutting-edge science --- stead in May! Best regards to all, The 2001 Goldschmidt Conference: You’re invited! Mike Hochella Bob Bodnar and I are the co-conveners of this year’s President of The Geochemical Society Goldschmidt Conference. The meeting runs from May 20th to the 24th and will be held at the world-renowned Homestead in Hot Springs, Virginia, USA. Talks and poster presentations will Geochemical Society Business be in the morning and early evening, allowing for participants to Please address all inquiries and correspondence to: explore The Homestead, its vast surrounding private lands, and the many activities that it affords all its guests (visit Seth Davis, GS Business Manager www.thehomestead.com). This year not only has the Lunar and Earth & Planetary Sciences Planetary Institute and the European Association of Geochem- Washington University istry teamed up with us again for this meeting, but we are also One Brookings Drive, Box 1169 joined by the Mineralogical Society of America. As the tradi- St. Louis, MO 63130, USA tional boundaries between mineralogy and geochemistry are Tel. 314-935-4131; Fax. 314-935-4121 blurred, we will benefit greatly from MSA’s participation. To e-mail: [email protected] Newsletter of The Geochemical Society 4 The Geochemical News #106, January