4th Meeting Ulster, Belfast (Northern Ireland) 2008
4th Meeting Ulster, Belfast (Northern Ireland) 2008
UK Sea Level IGCP / INQUA Conference
International Conference and Field Trip on:
Holocene Land-Ocean Interactions: Driving Mechanisms and Coastal Responses
Northern Ireland
22nd – 25th June, 2008
A conference and field meeting to Northern Ireland, organised jointly by the UK working group of IGCP Project 495 and the INQUA Commission on Coastal and Marine Processes with financial support from Environment and Heritage Service, Department of the Environment, Northern Ireland.
Introduction
This conference and field meeting was the third annual meeting of the UK IGCP Working Group for IGCP project 495 (Quaternary Land-Ocean Interactions: Driving Mechanisms and Coastal Responses). The meeting aimed to address the key themes of IGCP495 by providing a one-day scientific session comprising academic papers and a poster session, followed by a one and a half day field trip to the coastal landscapes of County Down and County Londonderry.
The field programme presented newly described field stratigraphy and geomorphology relating to (i) the decay of the last (Late Devensian) ice sheet and associated relative sea level changes (led by Prof Marshall McCabe), (ii) coastal changes during the Holocene (led by Prof Julian Orford and Dr Peter Wilson) and (iii) historical coastal change (led by Prof Andrew Cooper and Dr Derek Jackson).
The field areas visited (Dundrum Bay and the Mourne plain, County Down and Magilligan Foreland, County Londonderry) have been the focus of detailed studies since the late 1990s that have generated a detailed ice sheet history at sub-millennial scale and associated complex relative sea level curve, and provided new insights into Holocene coastal evolution.
Conference Location
The conference was held at the University of Ulster, Jordanstown on the outskirts of Belfast. The conference venue was within easy reach of both Belfast City airport and Belfast International airport, to both of which there were numerous UK and European direct flights.
Accommodation
En-suite accommodation was provided for delegates at the University and this cost was included in the registration fee.
Registration
Conference fee: UK STG £220
(This package included Bed and Breakfast accommodation for three nights, a conference programme and abstract book, a then recently published book on the Deglaciation of Northern Ireland, fieldtrips to late Quaternary and Holocene sites on the County Down and Londonderry coast, refreshments at coffee and tea breaks, lunches on three days and dinner on three evenings, including a conference dinner.
Provisional Programme
Sunday 22nd June
12.00 – 17.00 Arrival & Registration
18.00 Dinner
19.00 – 20.30 Welcome and Keynote Lecture (Prof Joseph Kelley, University of Maine)
Monday 23rd June
09.00 to 17.30 Paper and poster session
18.30 Dinner
Tuesday 24th June
Fieldtrip to County Down Coast (deglacial relative sea level, and Holocene coastal evolution and historical coastal change) – packed lunch provided
Conference Dinner 18.00 for 19.00
Wednesday 25th June
Fieldtrip to Magilligan Foreland (am only) (Holocene Evolution and historical shoreline change) – packed lunch provided
2.00pm Delegates departed
The new website of the INQUA Commission on Coastal and Marine Processes is currently under construction, but a link will appear on the INQUA website.
Conference Organisers and Field Trip Leaders
Professor Andrew Cooper
Dr Derek Jackson
Professor Marshall McCabe
Dr Peter Wilson
School of Environmental Sciences
University of Ulster
Coleraine
BT52 1SA
Professor Julian Orford
School of Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology
Queen’s University
Belfast
BT7 1NN