PLEASE NOTE:
*
Priority: Normal
To: cambridge-conference@livjm.ac.uk
From: JR Tate <fr77@dial.pipex.com>
Subject: SPACEGUARD UK
Date sent: Wed, 09 Apr 97 19:30:08 GMT
SPACEGUARD UK
Introduction
The threat posed to mankind by the impact of an asteroid or comet
is now
widely recognised as one of the most significant risks to human
civilisation,
yet there is no co-ordinated international effort to identify
threatening
Near Earth Objects (NEOs) or to deal with them once
detected. The United
Kingdom has unique intellectual and physical resources that could
put the
nation at the forefront of any international Planetary Defence
programme.
Spaceguard UK is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of
such a
programme, and UK participation therein.
Over the past decade or so it has become apparent that asteroidal
and
cometary impacts have played a dramatic, possibly leading role in
the
development of this planet, and the evolution of life. Natural
Science is in
the throes of a revolution in thinking, akin to that which
occurred after the
publication of Charles Darwins "On the Origin of
Species by Means of Natural
Selection". With this understanding comes the realisation
that there is no
reason to believe that this extraterrestrial influence is at an
end, and the
possibility that a major impact could severely disrupt, or even
destroy our
current way of life on a global scale is one to be considered
seriously.
As a result of this ongoing research there is a growing
international
movement dedicated to quantifying and assessing the risk, and to
determining
methods of avoiding threatening impacts. While the subject has
traditionally
suffered from a great deal of scepticism this attitude is now
generally seen
as archaic, and the matter has become one of serious research.
The leading
institution involved internationally is the Rome based Spaceguard
Foundation.
AIMS
Spaceguard UK has been established to pursue the following aims:
¨ To promote and encourage British activities involving the
discovery
and follow-up observations of Near Earth Objects.
¨ To promote the study of the physical and dynamic properties of
asteroids and comets, with particular emphasis on Near Earth
Objects.
¨ To promote the establishment of an international, ground based
surveillance network (the Spaceguard Project) for the discovery,
observation
and follow-up study of Near Earth Objects.
¨ To provide a national United Kingdom information service to
raise
public awareness of the Near Earth Object threat, and to increase
confidence
in the technology available to predict and avoid dangerous
impacts.
AFFILIATION
Spaceguard UK is affiliated with the international Spaceguard
Foundation.
The Aims of Spaceguard UK are fully harmonised with those of the
Foundation,
and the activities of Spaceguard UK are intended in no way to
detract from
those of the Foundation; they are intended to support and
complement them,
with a specific bias towards the situation as it pertains to the
United
Kingdom. Details of the Spaceguard Foundation, its aims, by-laws
and
membership can be obtained from The Spaceguard Foundation or from
Spaceguard
UK.
MEMBERSHIP
Trustee Members
Trustee Members will be those individuals who have made
outstanding
contributions in the field of NEO studies, or who have special
qualifications
that enable them to significantly further the aims of Spaceguard
UK. Trustee
Members will be invited to join Spaceguard UK. Dr Arthur C.
Clarke, the
renowned author and scientist, and Dr Patrick Moore, the world
famous
astronomer and author have both agreed to become Trustee Members
of
Spaceguard UK.
Associate Membership
Associate Members will be those currently involved in activities
or studies
related to Planetary Defence, and who will form a core of
multi-disciplinary
expertise in the subject. The role of the Associate Members will
include the
provision of expert advice to the general membership, and to
other bodies as
deemed necessary. Associate Anyone wishing to become an Associate
Member is
invited to contact Spaceguard UK.. Amongst others the following
British
scientists have already agreed to become Associate Members:
Professor Mark Bailey Director, the Armagh Observatory
Dr Victor Clube Oxford University, author
Dr Bob Matthews Aston University, journalist
Professor Tony McDonnell University of Kent, Canterbury
Dr Bill Napier Armagh Observatory, author.
Dr Duncan Steel Vice President of the Spaceguard Foundation
General Membership
General Membership is open to any individual with an interest in
the subject
of the NEO Impact Threat. Applicants are invited to contact
Spaceguard UK
with a brief statement of their interest, and any relevant
qualifications
that might be of use or interest to other members.
Membership of the Spaceguard Foundation automatically entitles an
individual
or organisation to membership of Spaceguard UK.
ACTIVITIES
Members of Spaceguard UK have already been active in promoting
the assessment
of the UKs contribution to the international NEO detection
effort. The
recent, well publicised meeting at the British National Space
Centre on 12th
November 1996 was precipitated by the activities of the
organisation. The
subject of Planetary Defence has moved from the realm of a
handful of experts
to the corridors of the House of Commons and the British media in
less than
nine months.
Spaceguard UK has so far established links with the following
organisations:
· The Spaceguard Foundation,
· Spaceguard Australia
· Spaceguard Canada
· Spaceguard Japan
· United States Air Force Space Command
· Oxford University
· University of Kent, Canterbury
· Spacewatch, University of Arizona
· British National Space Centre
· Royal Greenwich Observatory
· Armagh Observatory
· Defence Evaluation and Research Agency
· The Parliamentary Space Committee
· The Parliamentary Office for Science and Technology
Current activities are concentrated on ensuring that the
consensus achieved
at the BNSC meeting is transformed into meaningful action by the
British
government and organisations world-wide. This will be achieved
through
continued co-operation with the institutions listed above, an
active and
ongoing press campaign and the dissemination of information to
the general
public by physical and electronic means.
For further information please contact:
Spaceguard UK
35 Pownall Road
Larkhill, Salisbury
Wiltshire SP4 8LX
Tel: 01980 653634
E-Mail: fr77@dial.pipex.com
The Spaceguard UK Home Page can be found at: http://ds.pipex.com/jay_tate/
*
Date sent: Wed, 09 Apr 1997 13:52:01 -0400 (EDT)
From: HUMBPEIS <B.J.PEISER@livjm.ac.uk>
Subject: VOLCANOES, EARTHQUAKES & ARCHAEOLOGY
To: cambridge-conference@livjm.ac.uk
Priority: NORMAL
VOLCANOES, EARTHQUAKES AND ARCHAEOLOGY
Geological Society, Burlington House, Piccadilly Circus
A two day international meeting held at the Geological
Society of London on April 28th and 29th, 1997, and
co-convened with the Volcanic & Magmatic Studies Group,
the Commission on Tectonics and the Institute of
Archaeology
---------------------------------------------------------------
CONVENORS: Dr Bill McGuire (Centre for Volcanic Research,
Cheltenham and UCL), Dr Dafydd Griffith (Institute of
Archaeology), and Professor Paul Hancock (University of
Bristol)
For further details, please contact
Bill McGuire [ucfbkwg@ucl.ac.uk]
---------------------------------------------------------------
PROVISIONAL PROGRAMME (excl. poster presentations)
Monday, April 28th
Session 1 VOLCANOES I
10.10 Introductory remarks
10.20 D.K. Chester et al. Human response to Etna volcano
during the classical period
10.40 L. Gavarra et al. A GIS for the archaeological
area of Pompei (Naples)
11.00 Santorini before the Minoan eruption - a
reconstruction of the ring-island based on
geological and archaeological evidence
11.20 J Driessen et al. The archaeological effects of
the Santorini eruption
11.40 P Bicknell Late Minoan 1B marine ware, the Late
Bronze Age eruption of the Thera volcano, and the
decline of Minoan Crete
12.00 R Torrence et al. Volcanic disasters and cultural
discontinuities in the Holocene of West New
Britain, Papua New Guinea
Session 2 EARTHQUAKES I
1.30 A Nur The collapse of ancient societies by great
earthquakes
1.50 S Stiros et al. The advent of archaeoseismology in
the Mediterranean: from Lancianni to the present
2.10 J L de Boer Could emission of light hydrocarbon
gases have played a role in the mantic sessions at
Delphi (Greece)?
2.30 PL Hancock Fractured classical columns as
potential palaeoseismographs
2.50 JG Crow et al. The Anastasian Wall Project:
investigating eartquake damage in Byzantine Thrace
3.10 M Waelkens et al. A major earthquake at Sagalassos
(SW Turkey) around the middle of the seventh
century AD: an archaeological and geological
approach
Session 3 POSTERS
4.00 - 5.30 brief oral presentations of 20 posters
TUESDAY, April 29th
Session 4 MATERIALS
9.30 AE Shimron et al. Ballast stones as a guide in
the search for the home-port and final route of
a sunken Phoenecian-period vessel
9.50 M Evron-Weinstein et al. Sourcing Natufian basalt
implements using K/Ar dating
10.10 JM Curran et al. New geochemical discriminants
for provenancing neolithic porcellanite axes from
Ireland
10.30 IK Whitebread Volcanic in ceramics: exploting
volcanic materials in ceramic petrology
11.20 RCP Doonan Vulcanism and the furnace: the social
production of technological metaphor
11.40 SJ Vaughan et al. Manipulation of pyroclastic
clays at Akroti on Thera for specialised
production of Middle Cycladic White Wares
Session 5 EARTHQUAKES II
12.00 GA Papadopoulos et al. Historical and
archaeological evidence of earthquakes felt at
Kythira island, Greece
12.20 R Hughes et al. Seismic and volcanic hazards
affecting the San'a area of Yemen
12.40 E Guidoboni et al. Territorial archaeology in the
area of the Straits of Messina: searching for a
large earthquake
2.00 S Marco et al. Crusader castle torn aprt by
documented earthquakes on the Dead Sea Transform
2.20 S Pavlides et al. The 1867 Lesbos (NE Aegean)
earthquake fault pattern dertermined from remote
sensing, field mapping, and geochemical data
2.40 Y Nishimura et al. Historic tsunami disasters in
Hokkaido, nothern Japan, as revealed by old
documents and geological evidence
Session 6 VOLCANOES II
3.00 C Doumas et al. Stratigraphy of the 1628BC
(Minoan) plinian deposits in the Akrotiri
settlement: inferences on precursory phenomena
and eruptive scenario of the Minoan event and
comparisons with Pompei and Ercolano
archaeological settlements
3.20 R Cioni et al. The Avellino plinian eruption of
Somma-Vesuvius: eruptive phases and their impact
on the Ancient Bronze Age populations of southern
Italy
4.10 C Rolandi et al. The volcanic roots of Pompei
and Herculaneum
4.30 J Gratton et al. Farming, endemic stress, and the
influence of volcanic eruptions in the Scottish
Highlands
4.50 P Plunket et al. Revelations of a Plinian
eruption of the Popocatapetl volcano in central
Mexico
5.10 SJ Day et al. The line-of-sight problem and
errors in folk memory and scientific accounts of
historical eruptions
5.30 Closing remarks and end of meeting