Download Report on the first SEDIFLUX Science Meeting in Sauðárkrókur

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Report on the first SEDIFLUX Science Meeting in
Sauðárkrókur, Iceland, June 2004
Fiona S. Tweed
Geography, Staffordshire University, College Road, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, ST4 2DE, UK; [email protected]
The European Science Foundation (ESF) Network
"Sedimentary Source-to-Sink-Fluxes in Cold Environments"(SEDIFLUX) is scheduled to run from
2004 to 2006. The Network will form a framework
for integrated and multidisciplinary investigations of
sediment fluxes and the relationships between climate and sedimentary transfer processes. The Network
aims to strengthen existing research collaborations
and to build new partnerships within Europe and further afield. This is an account of the first SEDIFLUX
meeting in Iceland in June 2004.
The SEDIFLUX Steering Committee met on the
17th June and the first SEDIFLUX Science Meeting took place in Sauðárkrókur, Iceland, from June 18th - June 21st , 2004. It was organised by
Achim Beylich, the Chair of the SEDIFLUX Network
(Geological Survey of Norway, Trondheim), Þorsteinn Sæmundsson (Director of the Natural Science
Research Centre of North-western Iceland), Armelle
Decaulne (Clermont-Ferrand) and Olga Sandberg
(Goteborg). The Science Meeting welcomed thirtyeight participants from twelve countries and was
honoured by the presence of Frank Ahnert and his wife Bridget.
The journey from Reykjavík to Sauðárkrókur formed the focus of the first of two field excursion
days. Locations en route illustrated Holocene sea
level change, volcanic and tectonic activity, slope
processes, tephrochronology, and landscape development. The spectacular Vatnsdalshólar rockslide in
particular prompted a lively field discussion!
The Science Meeting at Sauðárkrókur was held
over two days and included three keynote lectures Olav Slaymaker (Vancouver) discussed scaling relati-
ons in drainage basin sediment budgets, Norikazu
Matsuoka (Tsukuba) talked about the possibilities of
a global network for monitoring periglacial processes
and Philip Wookey (Stirling) summarized the International Tundra Experiment (ITEX) outlining the
ways in which SEDIFLUX could benefit from the
experiences of this project. The meeting comprised
nineteen talks, sixteen poster presentations and two
working group meetings. The presentations covered a wide range of topics within the SEDIFLUX
remit, including process monitoring and modelling, source-to-sink correlations, landscape ecology,
sediment budget studies, and the analysis of sediment sinks. Working group meetings helped to
decide a programme of future activities for the
SEDIFLUX Network and provided useful opportunities for discussion.
The second excursion day took participants from
Sauðárkrókur back to Reykjavík via Kjölur along the
rugged and scenic Icelandic interior road that passes
between Langjökull and Hofsjökull. This journey
provided a transect across some of the most geomorphologically and ecologically varied environments in
Iceland, and included visits to Hveravellir, Gulfoss
and Geysir and an evening picnic in Þingvellir National Park. Several small dust storms near Hvítárvatn
provided an excellent reminder of the profound influence of aeolian processes in this fragile and dynamic
landscape.
The first SEDIFLUX Science Meeting was very
smoothly organised and participants benefited from
truly excellent hospitality and fine weather throughout.
The Skagafjörður District Heating and
Waterworks Company sponsored a cocktail reception,
JÖKULL No. 54, 2004 87
Fiona S. Tweed
Participants of the first SEDIFLUX Science Meeting outside the Natural Science Research Centre of
North-western Iceland, Sauðárkrókur. – Þátttakendur á fyrsta SEDIFLUX fundinum á Sauðárkróki, júní 2004.
Photograph/Ljósmynd. Þorsteinn Sæmundsson.
everyone enjoyed excellent food and drink courtesy
of the staff at the Ólafshús restaurant and the Sauðárkrókur cinema proved an excellent venue for the talks!
The time of year and good weather gave participants the opportunity to witness the midnight sun over
Skagafjörður.
Planned SEDIFLUX Network activities include a
further three Science Meetings in Clermont-Ferrand,
France (January 20th –22nd, 2005), Durham, UK
(December, 2005) and Trondheim, Norway (October,
2006), Steering Committee Meetings attached to
Science Meetings, and a session co-organized by ESF
SEDIFLUX at the 2nd European Permafrost Conference in Potsdam, Germany (June 12th –16th , 2005).
Also planned are special issue journal publications,
publication of abstract volumes, publication of a
88 JÖKULL No. 54, 2004
SEDIFLUX handbook, and the development of a
SEDIFLUX database. Accepted extended abstracts
of workshop contributions from the first SEDIFLUX
Science Meeting are published in: Beylich, A. A., Þ.
Sæmundsson, A. Decaulne and O. Sandberg (Eds.)
2004. First Science Meeting of the European Science
Foundation ESF-Network SEDIFLUX. Sedimentary
Source-to-Sink-Fluxes in Cold Environments, Sauðárkrókur, Iceland, June 18th –June 21st , 2004. Extended
Abstracts of Science Meeting Contributions. Náttúrustofa Norðurlands vestra. NNV-2004-003. June 2004,
103pp.
For further information on this network please see:
http://www.eld.geo.uu.se/swe/hemsidor/achim/esf.htm
http://www.esf.org/sediflux