Pre-Conference Workshops
Two workshops will take place prior to the conference:
Recognition of Impact Structures and Ejecta Layers on Earth — Shock Metamorphism in Rocks and Minerals – September 28–29 (midday)
This workshop will be convened by:
Ludovic Ferrière, Natural History Museum Vienna, Austria
Michael Poelchau, University of Freiburg, Germany, (with support from Auriol Rae, University of Freiburg, Germany)
The workshop will focus on the study of shock effects in rocks and minerals. All colleagues looking for new impact structures and ejecta layers on Earth are invited to participate. There will be introductory lectures by experts and an opportunity to present recent findings by participants, including optical microscopic analysis. The course will be appropriate for those with different backgrounds, including newcomers to the field, to stimulate cross-domain collaboration, and especially for undergraduates, Master students, PhD, and post-doctoral researchers to meet more experienced researchers.
On Earth, impact craters (and impact ejecta layers) are not so easy to spot and to recognize due to tectonics, volcanism, alteration, and erosion. The Earth’s surface is also largely covered by oceans and densely vegetated areas, making the identification of impact craters and ejecta layers challenging. Within the framework of this workshop, invited summary lectures on the current status of the terrestrial impact record (i.e., confirmed impact structures and ejecta layers) are planned, to be followed by presentations and discussions about the requirements for the confirmation of an impact crater/structure and/or an ejecta layer on Earth. Dedicated presentations on diagnostic indicators for shock metamorphism, including shatter cones and microscopic shock features such as planar deformation features (PDFs) in minerals, are planned and short introductions to the different methods used to detect and characterize shock effects in minerals will be presented.
Participants are invited to present their most recent or favorite discovery/confirmation of a new impact crater or impact ejecta layer, in order to illustrate how challenging it can be. Practical exercises using the optical microscope and Universal-stage are also planned in small groups. Be sure to bring your favorite rock samples with you (only small ones so that you don’t have trouble getting through customs), as well as thin sections with possibly shocked minerals that you would like us to have a closer look at together!
Advances in EBSD and Geochronology Applied to Shock Deformation and Dating Impacts – September 28
This workshop will be convened by:
Aaron Cavosie, Curtin University, Australia
Erin L. Walton, McEwan University, Canada
Timmons M. Erickson, NASA Johnson Space Center, USA
Gavin G. Kenny, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Sweden
The workshop will present contemporary approaches to the study of shock deformation in accessory minerals. The scope is broad, and presentations by organizers and participants will focus on a variety of methods for integrating microstructural and geochronological data used to date impact processes. Special attention will be placed on electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) applications and will include tutorial-type presentations for those unfamiliar with EBSD and other techniques. Minerals of interest that will be discussed include zircon, monazite, xenotime, titanite, apatite, baddeleyite, and others, in both terrestrial and extraterrestrial materials.
General Workshop Information
In order to cover the costs of logistics and lunches, a workshop fee of $55 (R$220) has to be levied for each of these workshops. If interested, please visit the registration website to register by September 19. On-site registration for these workshops will be available on September 28. EBSD workshop participants are invited to participate in the other workshop on Sunday, September 29.
Both workshops will take place at the Darcy Ribeiro Campus of the University of Brasilia. The venue of the workshops at the Darcy Ribeiro Campus is to be determined. Participants will receive an e-mail with final logistics information shortly after September 20.
A bus will pick up workshop participants in the morning on September 28 from St. Moritz, the conference hotel, and transport them to the campus for workshop registration and subsequent workshops.
