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Society report 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