There is a particularly strong presence at this meeting from the Deep Carbon Observatory. The meeting is taking place in Florence, Italy, from 25-30 August 2013, and among the numerous relevant sessions at the conference, many coordinators, team members, and moderators are DCO researchers. These sessions include, but are not limited to, the following:
Union Sessions 01a, 01b, 01c, 01f, and 01g.
THEMES:
Cosmochemistry and Planet Formation 02g
Subduction 07a, 07b, 07f and 07g
Melts, glasses, magmas: From properties to processes 08c
Volcanoes and Hazards 11a and 11f
Anthropogenic Impacts on Pollutant Dynamics 18e
Biogeochemistry: Activities, Mechanisms and Cycles 19f, 19k
Frontiers in Computational Geochemistry 21b
The Cutting Edge in Mineralogy and Mineral Physics 22e
DCO's Executive Director Robert Hazen will be delivering a Plenary Lecture on Thursday, 29 August at 1:15pm entitled "Earth's Carbon Through Deep Time".
Talk Abstract: Earth’s 4.567 billion year history is marked by a dramatic evolution in the chemical, physical, and biological roles of carbon. Aspects of Earth’s changing carbon cycle are revealed by a variety of investigations, including: (1) Abiotic organic synthesis, notably mineral catalyzed reactions of volcanic gases, yield essential biomolecules. Recent findings point to the critical role played by hydrogen fugacity in the synthesis and stability of these molecules. (2) Small organic molecules display competitive and cooperative adsorption on mineral surfaces. We find that adsorption configurations are strongly affected by environmental conditions such as pH, ionic strength, and solute concentration. (3) Experimental, theoretical, and field studies elucidate serpentinization reactions, as well as other deep interactions between C-bearing fluids and mafic and ultramafic rocks. Both volcanic and impact hydrothermal zones led to the first extensive carbonate mineral production. (4) The subsurface biosphere modifies and cycles carbon. Deep microbial life often survives at metabolic rates and in concentrations far below those of near-surface communities. And (5) carbon mineral evolution traces the changing diversity, distribution, and compositions (including trace and minor elements) in carbon minerals through deep time. Diamond was the first mineral in the cosmos, but many of the almost 400 known carbon minerals have appeared only recently in Earth history. Collectively, these and other investigations of Earth’s carbon through deep time underscore the co-evolution of the geosphere and biosphere.
Also of note are the following awards being bestowed at the meeting:
Distinguished Service Award (GS) to Kerstin Lehnert
Urey Award (EAG) to Igor Tolstikhin
Geochemical Fellows 2013 (EAG and GS) to Yingwei Fei
Key sponsors for Goldschmidt 2013 include the European Association of Geochemistry (EAG) and the Geochemical Society. DCO collaborator Chris Ballentine is president of the EAG and DCO Executive Committee Member Barbara Sherwood Lollar is vice president of the Geochemical Society. DCO Reservoirs and Fluxes SSC co-chair Bernard Marty is EAG Goldschmidt Officer and serves on the conference committee.
For more conference information, please visit http://goldschmidt.info/2013/index.
