MAP NEWS

Upcoming Activities

Volcanology Field Course
(Activity: B.98/M-3)

The volcanology field based course plans are progressing on schedule. At present MAP administrative staff are organizing local transportation and accommodations for trip participants. Names of participants from each of the countries are required by administrative staff no later than the 15th of July. A formal letter of invitation from MAP has been drafted and has been sent to each country for use in obtaining visas. Please take note of the changes in the itinerary (below) and remember that participants must have visas to visit both Canada and the United States. Participants should bring clothing appropriate for doing field work; although it is summer and temperatures reach the high 20's (ºC) much of the time will be spent in the mountains where evening and nightly temperatures do drop to 0 (ºC). The GSC Vancouver will provide tents, hammers, handlenses, and other field equipment.

Revised Itinerary:

Aug. 9: Participants arrive in Vancouver, (overnight in Delta Airport Inn) Aug. 10: Fly to Seattle or Tacoma Washington. Mt. Rainier - ice contact deposits, flows, (overnight in Randall)

Aug. 11: Mt. Rainier Oceola mud flow deposit, (overnight in Castle Rock)

Aug. 12: Mt. St. Helens east side, (overnight in Paradise or Packwood)

Aug. 13: Mt. St. Helens west side - avalanche debris, lahar deposits, surge deposits. Fly back to Vancouver, (overnight at Delta Airport Inn)

Aug. 14: Drive to Wells Gray area. Dr. Murray Journeay and field assistant join the group, (overnight at Wells Gray Inn, camping)

Aug. 15: Wells Gray - ice contact volcanism, subaqueous processes, (overnight at the Wells Gray Inn, camping)

Aug. 16: Wells Gray - ice contact volcanism, subaqueous processes. Drive to Lillooet, (overnight in Lillooet - hotel not yet known)

Aug. 17: Drive to Meager - Coast Plutonic Belt, volcanically triggered catastrophic flood deposits, welded "Merapi" style breccia, (overnight at camp ground)

Aug. 18: Drive to Whistler Mountain. Coast Plutonic Belt, volcanically triggered catastrophic flood deposits, welded "Merapi" style breccia, (overnight at Whistler, camping)

Aug. 19: Fly from Squamish to Mt. Cayley (dacitic complex) - overview of Garibaldi Belt, sample collection, stratigraphy, ice contact features and evidence of recent tectonism. (overnight at Whistler, camping)

Aug. 20: Fly from Whistler to Mt. Cayley (work as Aug. 19), (overnight at Whistler, camping)

Aug. 21: Fly from Whistler to Mt. Cayley (work as Aug. 19). Drive to Vancouver, (overnight Delta Airport Inn). Trip Over

Aug.22: Participants begin return trip home

Please send names of participants from your country to the MAP office no later than July 15th: Fax (604) 666-7507.

Volcanology Field Course Part 2

The second part of the volcanology short course will commence after the November 1998 Executive Council Meetings. The field course will be led by Dr. Moyra Gardeweg (MAP Project Leader) of SERNAGEOMIN Chile. It is tentatively planned for the course to run from November 18-23 out of Antofagasta. Please submit participant names to:

Dr. Gardeweg ([email protected]) and Mike Ellerbeck ([email protected]).

PIMA (Activity: B.97/M-1)

MAP acquired a PIMA during the 1997/1998 fiscal year to be used as a training unit for all four MAP participants. Presently planning is underway to hold PIMA trainning either in Canada or on site in the MAP participant countries. The unit is available for use by countries wishing to start training. Please contact Mike Ellerbeck for further information.

The PIMA short-wave infrared spectrometer is a fast and efficient method of determining the major alteration minerals present in samples. It will be used in situ in the field, on core, and on hand samples in the office. The short-wave infrared (SWIR) technique can analyse alteration minerals such as clays, carbonates and selected sulfates, particularly alunite and jarosite. SWIR analysis is also sensitive to elemental substitution and crystallinity changes in minerals.

Understanding the alteration mineralogy is an important tool for better understanding ore deposits. Using the instrument, an alteration halo can be determined around a mineralized area helping pinpoint the centre of alteration and assisting in modelling the alteration system. Using this instrument, the countries will be able to study alteration zone mineralization and mineral deposits in the field, greatly enhancing their overall understanding of mineral deposits in a region.

The mid-year Executive Council Meetings for MAP
(Activity: PM.98/M-3)

The mid-year Executive Council meetings will be held in Buenos Aires Argentina at the time of the X Congreso Latinoamericano de Geología in Buenos Aires. The Congress runs from November 8 to 13, 1998 and the Executive Council meeting will be held on the 14 and 15. Please forward names of participants from your country to:

Mike Ellerbeck
Fax: (604) 666-7507
Email:

and

Dr. Eduardo Zappettini
Fax: (54-1) 349-3171
Email:

Year End Executive Council Meetings for MAP
(Activity: PM.98/M-6)

The year-end Executive Council meetings will be held in Toronto, Canada at the time of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada's annual Conference (PDAC) March 14-17. The meetings will be held on March 18 and 19. Accommodations have been secured for MAP members attending the meetings. Please forward names of participants from your country to Mike Ellerbeck.

Electronic Conference Room Update
(pma-map.com/conference)
(Activity: B.98/M-2)

Preliminary tests have been conducted on the MAP WEB Page Electronic Conference Room and particular attention has been paid to identifying possible ways to use it for MAP participants to hold electronic meetings. At present it is being planned to use the Electronic Conference Room to hold a meeting between designates for the Cartographic Standards Committee (see MAP News Vol 1 - No. 2). Members will be contacted to decide upon a convenient date and time for all involved. Also, for this meeting an agenda is being written, if you have ideas for agenda items, please forward them to Mike Ellerbeck.

MAP Session at Geological Congress in Argentina

SEGEMAR is arranging for a session for the Multinational Andean Project at the X Latin American Geological Congress in Buenos Aires (Nov. 8-13). Each MAP country will have the opportunity to make a presentation on its' involvement in the project. Presentations should include a general overview of accomplishments and objectives under MAP, there will also be an opportunity to field questions after. It is entirely up to each participant how much detail they wish to cover and maps and graphics are welcome. The presentations will be synthesized and published by the MAP administrative group and will come out with a series number under the already established Chilean Multinational series.

Questionnaires

We have received several questionnaires back for the the Mineral Deposits fieldtrip as well as for the FieldLog course.

Overall the feedback was positive, however, there were some criticisms. We have taken note of these criticisms and will use them to help improve future activities.

Total Number of Participants

Fieldlog Mineral Deposits

TOTAL: 38 12

Total Number of Questionnaires Returned

Fieldlog Mineral Deposits

TOTAL: 21 8

Send completed questionnaires to Ms. Claire Despins at:
Fax: (604) 666-7507
Email:

MAP Staff Update

Bye Bye Ben

We were sad to have to let Dr. Ben Edwards leave the MAP team to start his new career as an Assistant Professor at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan, USA. We wish him the best of luck in the future and look forward to future joint work with him.

Welcome Paul

University of British Columbia geology student Paul Cordy has joined the MAP team for the summer (the northern hemisphere summer). He will take over some of Dr. Edwards former duties as well as help administrative staff in organizing the Volcanolgy Short Course in Vancouver in August 1998. Paul does not yet have an email address but he can be contacted c/o Mike Ellerbeck at:

Rocío's Admittance to the BC Society of Translators and Interpreters

After successfully completing the required examination, Ms. Rocío Lopez of the MAP administrative staff, recently became a member of the Society of Translators and Interpreters of British Columbia. The examination was in March of this year. Rocío is in charge of all the technical translations (English-Spanish, Spanish-English) for the project.

Mike to be Married

MAP Project Administrator Mike Ellerbeck will be married on July 18, 1998. He will be away from his post from July 13th through to August 14th. During Mike's absence Rocío Lopez will be in charge of Project Administration and Paul Cordy will be answering Mike's phone.

The WEB Page
http://pma-map.com

The WEB page has recently seen a surge in hits. The audience has also expanded and we now get visitors from countries such as: Australia, Italy, Spain, Russia, Netherlands, Israel, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Brazil, Belgium, Sweden, Czech Republic, Germany, France, Mexico, Denmark, and many others.

The statistics for April, May and June are as follows:

April/98: 2,648 hits

May/98: 3,048 hits

June/98: 2,315 hits