The

Newsletter of the Commission on Large-Volume Basaltic Provinces
IAVCEI International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior

NumberlO

November 1997

The 1998 IAVCEI Congress in Cape Town, South Africa, promises to be the highlightof the upcoming year for many CLVBP members, and we hope to see as many of you
as possible on the flanks of Table Mountain. Plans are also being laid for stimulating
LIP sessions at the 19991UGG General Assembly in Birmingham, England. In thisissue, summaries of recent meetings in Ethiopia, California, and Japan are highlighted. Contributions to The LIP Reader, including recent research results, arewelcomed. Please inform your colleagues about the CLVBP and our activities.

IAVCEINews
Our South African colleagues are gearing up for a superb lAVCEI Congress, "Magmatic Diversity -Volcanoes and Their Roots," in Cape Town next July. Elevensymposia, six pre-Congress excursions, six mid-Congress excursions, and seven postCongress excursions hold much in store for students of large-volume basaltic
provinces. For full details on the Congress, see: http:/ /www.uct.ac.za/depts/
geolsci/ivc98/

Mike Coffin
Institute for Geophysics
The University of Texas at Austin
4412 Spicewood Springs Road, Bldg.
600
Austin, TX 78759-8500, USA.
Tel: 1.512.471.0429
fax: 1.512.471.8844
internet: mtkec@coffin.lg.utexas.edu

CLVBPNews

Leadership
Secretary .
John Mahoney
Department of
Geology and Geophysics
School of Ocean and Earth Sdence
and Technology
University of Hawaii
2525 Correa Rd.
Honolulu, HI 96822, USA.
Tel: 1.808.956.8705
fax: 1.808.956.2538
internet:
jmahoney@soest.hawatt.edu
Newsletter Production
Janelle L Berry, Ltsa Gahagan
and Toni Lee Mitchell

Nominations for new CLVBP leadership have been received by the Steering
Committee and are currently being evaluated. New leadership is anticipated to bein place by early 1998.

CLVBP-U.S. NatiotUJl Science Foundation Dialogue
Efforts to develop a LIP initiative at the U.S. National Science Foundation arecontinuing. The Steering Committee has received input from CLVBP members on:1) the fundamental scientific issues involving LIPs, 2) the rationale for NSF to funda LIP initiative, and 3) a rough 10-year projected budget for a LIP initiative. A
group of U.S. CLVBP members plans to present and discuss the potential LIP
initiative with the relevant NSF program officers in Washington, D.C., in the firsthalf of 1998. We continue to welcome input from all CLVBP members regarding
your views and ideas on a potential LIP initiative--please send suggestions to Mike
Coffin or John Mahoney.

Large Igneous Provinces: Continental, Oceanic, and Planetary Flood Volcanism

The American Geophysical Union (AGU) is publishing Large Igneous Provinces: Continental, Oceanic, andPlanetary Flood Volcanism as Geophysical Monograph 100, and the volume will be available at the Fall1997
AGU meeting. For more information on the monograph, including the table of contents, see: http:/ I
www.agu.org/

Steering Committee
An updated list of Steering Committee members and their addresses follows:

Nick Arndt (Univ. of Rennes, France) ........................................................................ arndt@univ-rennesl.fr
Hans Barsczus (Univ. of Montpellier, France) ............................... barsczus@sa,jou.dstu.univ-montp2.fr
Ian Campbell (Australian National Univ., Australia) .................................... ihc1561@huxley.anu.edu.au
Mike Coffin (Univ. of Texas, USA) ..................................................................... mikec@coffin.ig.utexas.edu
Keith Cox (University of Oxford, UK) ................................................................... Keith.Cox@earth.ox.ac.uk
Geoff Davies (Australian National Univ., Australia) ....................................;......... geoff@rses.anu.edu.au
Bob Duncan (Oregon State Univ., USA) ..................................................................... rduncan@oce.orst.edu
Jean Goslin (Univ. of Brest, France) ............................................................................... goslin@univ-brest.fr
Chris Harris (Univ. of Cape Town, South Africa) ...................................................... kv@geology.uct.ac.za
Chris Hawkesworth (Open Univ., UK) .......................................................... C.J.Hawkesworth@open.ac.uk
Jim Head (Brown Univ., USA) ............................................................................ head@pggipl.geo.brown.edu
jan Hertogen (University of Leuven, Belgium) .................................... jan.hertogen@geo.kuleuven.ac.beJohn Hopper (Danish lithosphere Centre, Denmark) ........................................................... jrh@dlc.ku.dk
Rosaly Lopes-Gautier Oet Propulsion Lab, NASA) .......................................... rlopes@jpluvs.jpl.nasa.gov
John Mahoney (Univ. of Hawaii, USA) ............................................................. jmahoney@soest.hawaii.edu
Sverre Planke (Univ. of Oslo, Norway) .......................................................... sverre.planke@geologi.uio.no
Jakob Skogseid (Univ. of Oslo, Norway) .................................................... jakob.skogseid@geologi.uio.no
Kensaku Tamaki (Univ. of Tokyo, Japan) ............................................................ tamaki@ori.u-tokyo.ac.jp
Dominique Wets (Free Univ. of Brussels, Belgium) ............................................... dweis@resulb.ulb.ac.be
Dave Williams (Univ. of Alabama, USA) ................................................................ dwillia3@wgs.geo.ua.edu
Full addresses and contact numbers for the above are available over the internet, on diskette, or as
hard copy (see below) from Mike Coffin.

Recent Research Summary

To view and obtain an online version of Cordery, M. J., G. F. Davies, I. H. Campbell, Genesis of Flood
Basalts from Eclogite-Bearing Mantle Plumes, Journal of Geophysictll Research, 102, 20,179-20,197, 1997:(1) Connect to s122.es.llnl.gov(2) cd users/cordery/papers(3) Download either CFBPaper.ps.Z (UNIX machines) or CFBPaper.sit.sea.hqx for self-expanding Mac
version.

Previous Meetings

Flood Basalts, Rifting, and Paleoclimates in the
Ethiopian Rift and Afar Depression, Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia, 3-14 February..

The remarkable geology of northeastern Africa, which
includes the Ethiopian flood basalts (one of the youngest
major examples of this type of volcanism), the Afardepression (the site of junction of two oceanic ridges),and the continental East African Rift or Ethiopian Rift(site of numerous crater-bound lakes providing an
excellent record of climatic conditions extending backover 30 kyr), was the focus of an international conference which marked the end of an initial phase ofcooperative research by scientists from France, Djibouti,
and Ethiopia. The meeting was attended by about 100
Earth scientists, the majority from the three cooperating
countries plus Eritrea and Yemen, but included participants from eight other countries. Three days of formal
dL~ion were preceded by field trips to the floodbasalts and sites of paleoclimatic interest, and were
followed by a trip to the Afar depression. The meetingand field trips were sponsored by the lnstitut Nationaldes Sciences de l'Univers du CNRS France, the French
Embassy in Ethiopia, the lnstitut Superieur d'Etudes etde Recherches Scientifiques et Techniques of the
Republic of Djibouti, and the Department of Geology
and Geophysics of the University of Addis Ababa in
Ethiopia.
The particular importance of the flood basalts wasoutlined by V. Courtillot and co-workers, who emphasized the following features. The province can beconsidered one of the youngest major examples of thistype of volcanism, and the rocks are unusually wellpreserved. Their eruption coincided with the start ofcontinental rifting and plate divergence that continues
to the present day in the Afar depression. Plate movements were slow (-2 cm/yr) and the distance between
the volcanic plateau, which is thought to mark the site ofinitial plume melting, and the presently active rifts issmall. The region therefore represents an ideal situation
to investigate the relationships among plumes, flood
volcanism, an~ rifting.
Various speakers provided new data that contributed to
our knowledge of the flood basalts. C. Hofmann and coworkers used a combination of ¥JAr/39Ar dating andpaleomagnetic results to show that the Ethiopian
Traps, like other major flood basalt sequences, erupted
in a very short time, probably less than one million
years, at about 30 Ma. They related the event to global
climatic changes such as the onset of Antarctic ice

sheets and a major fall in sea level. The petrologicaland geochemical characteristics of the basalts werediscussed by Pik, Yirgu, Deniel, and others who
showed that both low-Ti and high-Ti types were
present in the province and who demonstrated the
involvement of at least two types of mantle source
and of continental contamination in the petrogenesisof the volcanic rocks. Rogers and George provided
new and valuable information on the geochemistry offlood basalts from the southern part of the country, as
did Al'kadashi for the equivalents in Yemen. Finally,
Marty et al. presented He isotopic data that delineatedthe past and present extent of the Ethiopian plume.
Tectonicists at the meeting emphasized the advantages offered by the entire region in the study of thetectonic causes of continental rifting and seafloor
spreading. Two oceanic ridges, in the Red Sea andGulf of Aden, are currently propagating towards theAfar depression, as a result of the separation of Arabia
and Africa. Manighetti and co-workers showed thatrifting and propagation along the Aden ridge began
about 30 Ma, at the time of the Ethiopian Trapemplacement. The rift then propagated WSW
through the Gulf of Aden to Afar as the result of an
episodic process due mainly to complex interaction
between the 3D plate geometry and the direction andintensity of regional stress. Propagation of rifting was
first rapid (>10 cm/yr) and then slower (a few cm/yr)
as the Aden rift reached the plume area, as shown by
Huchon and co-workers. Cochran anEl Bonatti
showed that rifting and its propagation along the Red
Sea proceeded through the development of disconnected cells.
The Aden and Red Sea rifts are currently propagating
into Afar, trying to connect and thus to completely
separate Arabia and Africa. Manighetti and coworkers showed that rifting is concentrated along rift
belts on both sides of the Afar depression, where
lithosphere is thinnest. These belts comprise disconnected rifts that propagate northwestwards along theonland continuation of the Aden ridge, and southeastwards along the continuation of the Red Sea. Most
exhibit geometries and features similar to overlapping
oceanic ridge segments, as·pointed out by Macdonald,
who recognized common "volcanic growth faulting."
Transfer of extension between rifts is accommodated
by a bookshelf-faulting mechanism, implying fast
block rotations, some of which have already been
confirmed by paleomagnetic and K-Ar results. The
same mechanism operates at larger scale to transfer
strain between the Aden and Red Sea emerged plateboundaries. From their extensive paleomagnetic
study, Kidane and co-workers showed that theamount of block rotation decreases westwards, as aresult of the westward propagation of the whole Aden
rift zone. Between the two plate boundaries, wherelarge blocks rotate clockwise, Jacques and Tapponnier
identified smaller zones of opposite vorticity, resulting from local kinematic compatibilities. One of thesmaller zones was the site of northwestward propa-

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gation of faulting during the last major earthquake inAugust 1989. Lepine and co-workers related theseismicity in the Gulf of Tadjoura to the finite Quaternary deformation.
The two emerged rift zones in the Afar depression
offset the long East African rift system to the north.
Bocaletti showed that this system is still active, thoughslower moving than the other plate boundaries.
Oblique rifting along the East African rift generated
active faulting associated with intense mafic to felsic
volcanism, as studied by Bocaletti and Peccerillo. At
larger scales, Hayward related tectonic and volcanicchanges along the East African rift north to the Afardepression to changes in the structure of the lithosphere, in particular its elastic plate thickness. Kingsuggested a new view of the lithosphere, which could
be considered as primarily elastic. Finally, the Afarrifting was evaluated in light of previous work inoceanic environments by Hey, Macdonald, and Taylor,
who found some striking similarities, and who emphasized the need for complementary studies.

These questions provide ample reason to continue researchin the Ethiopia-Afar region. The need to continue theproject was recognized at the end of the Addis Ababameeting and provided the impetus to prepare a second
four-year program. A formal proposal has now been
written as is currently being evaluated by authorities inFrance, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and several other countries.
A full meeting report has been submitted to Eos, Transac-

tions American Geophysical Union.
contributed by Nicholas T. Arndt (UniversiU de Rennes,
France) and Isabelle Manighetti (lnstitut de Physiquedu Globe, Paris, France)
The History and Dynamics of Global Plate Motions,
Marshall, California, USA, 17-22 June

Since the advent of plate tectonic theory three decades ago,
two principal goals of global geodynamics have been to
determine the forces that drive plate motions and to
explain the relationship between global plate motions andmantle convection. Progress in geophysical modeling ofMany characteristics of the Ethiopian province can beplate motions and seismic imaging of the Earth's interior,
explained in terms of classic models in which the
combined with continuing advances in reconstructing theoccurrence of flood basalts and continental rifting are
history of plate motions, are now yielding rapid adv.-.nces
related to the arrival of a new mantle plume at the base in understanding the relationship between plate motionsof the lithosphere. In a model developed by Courtillot and deep mantle processes. Powerful 3D numericaland others, which is intermediate between the classic
models are now capable of resolving the vigoro1.lS dynamimodels of "active" and "passive" rifting, the plume
cal regime of high Rayleigh number convection in thehead is said to have influenced a vast area within which Earth's mantle. Geodynamic models now incorporate thea major rift system in the Indian Ocean was guided
history of plate motions explicitly in seeking to explain thealong a path of least resistance after its original link to thermal state of the mantle now and in the recent past.
the Indian subduction zone through the Owen fracture Simultaneously, seismological studies have mapped lateralzone became blocked by collision with India. Although velocity variations in the mantle: regional seismic studies
such a model explains many aspects of the relationbeneath subduction zones image the trajectories of cold
ships among the plume head, the active hotspot, andslabs as they sink in the mantle, and global studies also
oceanic and continental rifts, certain features of thereveal warm upwelling structures and their relation tovolcanism and tectonics of Ethiopia pose problems.
plate boundary processes and volcanic hotspots. Progress
Unlike the situation in the North Atlantic Tertiaryin plate tectonics includes more tightly constrained
province, where continental rifting immediately
reconstructions (from better survey coverage of thepreceded continental volcanism and resulted in theseafloor) and the use of satellite gravity data to deduce
eruption of enormo.u s volumes of basalt now preserved aspects of seafloor evolution that were previously invisible
in seaward-dipping reflector sequences, rifting of
beneath sediment or in regions lacking shipboard geoArabia ~d Africa created oceanic crust of normal
physical data.
thickness. The magmas that are currently erupting
along the active rifts have transitional to alkaline
These advances have increased interactions between "deepgeochemical characteristics and appear to have come
Earth" geodynamicists/seismologists and the geologists/from a relatively cool mantle source. If a large-volume geophysicists who study the kinematics of plate motions.
"plume head" ever existed, it appears to have been an To further this interdisciplinary dialogue, an American
ephemeral feature that disappeared within 10 Myr, atGeophysical Union Chapman Conference, co-sponsored by
the time of the onset of continental rifting in the Afar
CSEDI and JOI/USSSP, on "History apd Dynamics ofdepression. Other outstanding problems include
Global Plate Motions" was held at Pt. Reyes Nationalquestions specific to the Ethiopian province-the
Seashore, astride the section of the San Andreas Fault that
relationship between the traps in the northwest andruptured in the great 1906 San Francisco earthquake. The
south of Ethiopia, the origin of the felsic volcanics, the Marconi Conference Center was the venue for 116 scienrelationship between the main 30 Ma traps and the -2 tists representing 18 nations during four days of lively
Ma stratoid sequence; and questions of wider signifidebate and interchange, and one day of intraconference
cance such as the relationships among flood volcanism, field trips. The interdisciplinary nature of the meeting wascontinental rifting, and global climate change.
underscored by the titles of the principal sessions: (I)Pacific Basin Plate Motions and Hotspot Fixity, {II)Mantle Plumes and the Hotspot Reference Frame, (Ill)Pre-Mesozoic Plate Motions, (IV) Modeling Plate
Motions and Intraplate Stresses, {V) Seismic Imaging of
Subducted Lithosphere, (VI) Intraplate Deformation
and Diffuse Plate Boundaries, and (VII) Geodynamic
Modeling of Plate Boundaries and Dynamic Topography. Evening tutorial sessions on Error Analysis in
Plate Reconstructions, Plate Driving Forces and Mantle
Convection, and Software for Plate Tectonics helped tofurther bridge the interdisciplinary gaps.
The conference was somewhat a remarriage ofgeodynamic modeling and information from thegeological record of global plate motions. Meeting
participants recognized an overwhelming need forbetter organization of information on past platemotions for the purposes of geodynamics as well as
geology, and agreed that a major, sustained effort
should be undertaken to produce an integrated database of plate rotations, plate boundaries, plate ages, andattendant uncertainties using consistent magnetic
anomaly picks. In turn, these reconstructions must be
used carefully in ever-more-powerful computer models
to test a broad range of hypotheses regarding the forces
acting on plates, the fundamental rheological nature ofplate boundaries, the fate of subducted slabs in the
deep mantle, the origin of volcanic hotspots, and thegeologic record of intraplate deformation and verticalmotions of the Earth's surface. Ultimately, one would
hope to incorporate plate motion constraints from theseafloor and paleomagnetics, geological observations of
uplift and deformation, and seismic imaging of mantle
heterogeneity into integrated, self-consistent models of
the geological evolution of specific regions of the Earth.
Many participants at the meeting felt that the interdisciplinary walls were just beginning to crack and suggested re-convening in a few years to check progress.
A full meeting report is in press with Eos, Transactions

American Geophysical Union.
contributed by Mark A. Richards (University of California,
Berkeley, USA) and Joann M. Stock (California
Institute of Technology, USA)
Conference on Cooperative Ocean Riser Drilling(CONCORD), Tokyo, Japan, 20-22 July
More than 150 leading international Earth scientists anddrilling engineers reached a clear consensus on theneed for a new generation deep-water drilling vessel,
equipped with a riser, or riser-type system, that cancirculate drilling fluids, provide well control, and thus
allow access to deeper and more challenging environments. This major research facility, proposed by theJapan Marine Science and Technology Center
OAMSTEC), will open up a new and exciting phase ofscientific exploration, with consequent societal andeconomic benefits. Japan's commitment to this major
capital investment was universally welcomed by

CONCORD participants, and is seen as evidence of its
emerging leadership in marine science.
Conference participants identified a range of fundamentally important scientific problems that can beaddressed only by drilling deeper into the Earth. They
agreed that the understanding of major earthquake
processes through direct observation and monitoringshould be the first priority of a new riser drillship. Key
problems identified further include:• searching for new species of ancient, but still living
bacteria that lie deep within marine sediment andoceanic crust;• extending the record of natural climate variability toat least 180 Ma, and the determination of the historyof, and enviro~ental conditions associated with,significant past "greenhouse" climate events andrelated sea level change;• the record of past "super volcanic" (i.e., LIP) events inthe ocean basins, their relation to the dynamic8 of the
deep Earth, and their impact on global climate.
Specific targets include oceanic plateaus (one or moredeep holes), seaward-dipping volcanic wedges on
divergent margins (several deep holes), and possibly
a volcaniclastic apron adjacent to an oceanic plateau(one deep hole);• the nature of oceanic crust, which constitutes twothirds of the Earth's surface, the dynamics of its
formation and alteration, including drilling throughthe entire crust and into the upper nfantle (the "21stCentury Mohole''); and• the formation of continents, the breakup of continents, and the evolution of their sedimentary basins
along margins, many of which are rich in hydrocarbon deposits.
Resolution of these important scientific problems iscritical to achieving a better understanding of the
dynamic processes that shape the planet's surface,cause earthquakes and volcanism, control formationand distribution of petroleum and mineral resources,
and regulate Earth's climate. Achieving many of theseobjectives will require installation of arrays of subsurface deep-sea observatories that can monitor our
dynamic and evolving Earth.
CONCORD participants were in full.agreement that
resolution of the above key scientific problems requires
drilling to greater depths than currently possible. It
requires a concerted international scientific effort,
which must highlight deep drilling. Riser, or riser-type
drilling, involving circulation of dense, viscous drilling
fluids, is critical for well stability and sub-surface fluid
control. Nonetheless, there will be a continuing role fora drilJ.il)g vessel that is not equipped with a riser, and issimilar to that operated by the current Ocean Drilling
Program (ODP). Such a drillship is necessary for
ongoing, high resolution sediment studies and exploration of shallower crustal sections. It can also provide
pilot holes that support later riser drilling. A multiple
platform, scientific ocean drilling program beyond

2003, as envisaged in the 1996 ODP Long Range Plan, wasendorsed at CONCORD. The participants encouraged theCommission Products and Services
emerging cooperation among Japan, the United States, andother ODP partner countries in making possible a future
UPs on Internet
Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (lOOP), and encouraged even wider international involvement.
LIPs have an Internet presence, accessible via standard
Internet
tools. The Commission's LIP bibliography of -4650
The new generation deep-water drilling vessel proposed
references,directory of -600 members, and digital database
by JAMSTEC should be equipped initially with a riser,that will enable controlled drilling and rock core recovery of LIP areas (Figure 1 of Coffin &: Eldholm, Reviews ofGeophysics, 1994) are available, as well as the calendar ofin 2,500 to 3,000 meters of water, and up to 7,000 meters
events and text versions of The LIP Reader. Should individual
beneath the seabed. CONCORD urged that the newscientists have improved outlines of LIP areas available
drillship be available by 2003, and encouraged further
digitally and be willing to make these available over thedevelopment of appropriate technology, which will
Internet, please provide a d igital file to Mike. The Internet
eventually enable riser-type drilling in at least 4,000
site
is currently set up as a Gopher server, which allows users
meters of water. To ensure that this new scientific
to log in with anonymous ftp or WWW tools, such as
research facility is at the leading edge of technology,
JAMSTEC will continue to both work in close cooperation Netscape or Internet Explorer. As time allows, the site will
be enhanced for WWW users. Ideas on how the site could bewith commercial deep-water petroleum exploration
improved are most welcome. For copies of materials on
drilling operators and further develop links with ODP.
Macintosh diskette, please send a blank 3.5-inch diskette toccontributed by CONCORD Steering Committee and Working Mike.

Group Co-Chairs

Anonymous ITP

Synopses of recent meetings are welcomed-please send
your ~00 word review to Mike Coffin or John Mahoney.

With ftp, open "uti~.ig.utexas.edu", use the login name"anonymous" and your Internet address as the password.
Change directory to "outgoing/lips".

GopherLIPS and the Ocean Drilling
ProgramUsing your Gopher client software, open
"gopher.utexas.edu". Navigate to "UT Austin", to "Collegesand Departments", to ''Institute for Geophysics", to ''Research Projects", and then to "Commission on Large Igneous
Provinces".

The next proposal deadline is 15 February 1998. For more
World Wide Web
information on planned legs, proposal guidelines, andpanel structure, see the JOIDES web page (www.whoi.
The Universal Resource Locator (URL) is http:/ I
edu/joides). John Mahoney represents the CLVBP as awww.ig.utexas.edu/research/projects/lips.html
member of the Interior SSEP.

UPCOMING MEETINGS
8-12 December: American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, San Francisco, California, USA. Special sessions:
Evolution of the P~rand-Etendeka Large Igneous Province ~rnd the South Atlantic Continental Margins;
Geodynamacs of G1ant Magmatic Ore Systems; Geoscientific Studies in Yellowstone National Park in the
1990s: Se~sion Honoring R~ck Hutchinson; 'Tire Kerguelen Plateau and Archipelago: Recent Geophysical,
Geochem1cal, and Petrolog~eal Results; Mantle Melting and Geochemistry; Plate Tectonics and Mantle
Plum~s; Remote Sensing of Active Volcanism. Information: AGU Meetings Dept., 2000 Florida Ave., N.W.,
Washington, D.C. 20009, USA. Telephone: 1.202.462.6900. Facsimile: 1.202.238.0566. Internet:
meetinginfo@kosmos.agu.org. WWW: http:/ /www.agu.org

1998
7-8 January: Volcanic and Magmatic Studies Group (VMSG) Annual Meeting, Leicester, United Kingdom.
Information: A. Kerr, Department of Geology, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH,
UK. Internet: ack2@leicester.ac.uk. WWW: http: / /www.le.ac.uk/geology/ack2/vmindex.html
20-24 April: XXIII General Assembly of the European Geophysical Society, Nice, France. Special sessions:Dynamics, mineral physics and tomographic imaging of the Earth's mantle; Hot spots and plumes in the
mantle; Lithospheric structure in a hotspot frame; Modem rifts: plumes, kinematic conditions and lithospheric inhomogeneities; Rifted margins; Seismology and physics of the Earth's core and mantle; Variationsin the Earth's rotation: implications for the dynamics and structure of the mantle and for global change
processes. Information: EGS Office, Max-Planck-Str. 13, 37191 Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany. Telephone:+49.5556.1440. Facsimile: +49.5556.4709. Internet: egs@copernicus.org. WWW: http:/ I
www .copernicus.org/EGS
26-29 May: American Geophysical Union Spring Meeting, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Special sessions: The
Past, Present, and Future of Oceanic Plateaus; Plumes ~nd Hotspots through Time: Archean to Present.
Information: AGU Meetings Dept., 2000 Florida Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20009, USA. Telephone
1.202.462.6900. Facsimile: 1.202.238.0566. Internet: meetinginfo@kosmos.agu.org. WWW: http:/ I
www.agu.org
11-17 July: lAVCEI Congress, Cape Town, South Africa. Symposia: Carbonatitic and Alkaline Magmatism from
Source to Emplacement; Flood Volcanism; Wtrabasic magmas; Oceanic 'Dolcanism; Magmatism related to
the Opening of Oceans (MOO); Between magma source and eruption; Relationship between kimberlites,
maars and diatremes. Field Trips: Archaean Barberton Granite-Greenstone Terrane; Karoo Volcanism
along the Lebombo Monocline; Karoo Volcanism adjacent to Lesotho; Carbonatitic and Alkaline Volcanism in the Northern Pro'Dince of South Africa; Late Archaean Volcanism of the Gaborone:Kanye Igneous
Terrane and the Ventersdorp Supergroup; Volcanic Geology of Reunion Island, Indian Ocean; Komatiites in
the Barberton and Nondweni Greenstone Belts; Kimberlites of the Northern Pro'Di~ and Free State;
Bushveld Complex; Southern Etendeka Volcanism, northwestern Namibia; Mesozoic Magmatism innorthwestern Namibia; Jurassic-TP.rtiary Volcanism of southern Namibia; Quaternary Caldera Volcanoesof the South Kenya Rift. Information: Secretariat, lAVCEI 1998, Department of Geological Sciences,
University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7700, Republic of South Africa. Facsimile: 27.21.650.3783. Internet
ivc98@geology.uct.ac.za. WWW: http:/ /www.uct.ac.za/depts/geolsci/ivc98
26-29 October: Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Information: GSA
Meetings Dept., P.O. Box 9140, Boulder, CO 80301, USA. Telephone 1.303.447.2020. Internet:
meetings@geosociety.org. WWW: http:/ /www.geosociety.org
6-10 December: American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, San Francisco, California, USA. Information: AGU
Meetings Dept., 2000 Florida Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20009, USA. Telephone 1.202.462.6900.
Facsimile: 1.202.238.0566. Internet: meetinginfo@kosmos.agu.org. WWW: http:/ /www.agu.org

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The

LIP Reader

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Institute for Geophysics
The University of Texas at Austin
4412 Spicewood Springs Rd. Bldg.600
Austin, Texas 78759-8500 USA