FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT
The Hunt for Precambrian Life: An Integrated Approach
Geological Society of America
Annual Meeting: November 2-5, 2003
Seattle, Washington
Dear Colleague:
With sponsorship of the Paleontological Society, Bill Schopf and I have organized a half-day (morning) Symposium (officially, a “Topical Session”) for the 2003 Annual GSA Meeting to be held November 2 – 5 in Seattle, Washington. The Symposium, entitled “The Hunt for Precambrian Life: An Integrated Approach”, is to be followed by a half-day (afternoon) Poster Session, intended to focus on detailed examples of Precambrian paleobiological investigations. Although the GSA has not yet given us a confirmed date for the Symposium/Poster Session, we have requested that it be scheduled for Tuesday, November 4, so that it will not conflict with the Paleontological Society luncheon (to be held on Monday, November 3).
We are writing to you to invite you to submit an abstract and participate — either as a poster presenter in the afternoon Session, or as a speaker (only a few slots are still open) in the morning Session.
The following “prospectus” (prepared for our successful proposal to the GSA) will give you an idea of the rationale underlying this Symposium and what we have in mind in terms of topics to be covered:
“Driven by intense curiosity about how life first evolved on Earth, as well as how eukaryotes including animals and plants then evolved, Precambrian paleobiology has become a major focus of attention for Earth and biological scientists. This interest has greatly increased through the needs and contributions of geo- and astrobiologists searching for clues to determine whether life once existed or does now on other planetary bodies. The Precambrian world, dominated by microscopic organisms, represents the best analog for such searches now known. We propose a Topical Session that will provide an overview of the advances in how searches for evidence of life in the Precambrian are conducted, as based on diverse data sources. Studies of fossils, of sedimentary structures reflecting the presence of life, and of isotopic and organic geochemical evidences of ancient life will be presented with emphasis on the latest advances in ancient life detection. The Oral Session, which we propose be scheduled for Tuesday morning of the GSA Meeting, will consist of talks to be presented in the following order: 1) Microbial Fossils; 2) Geochemical Approaches; 3) Stromatolites; and 4) Eukaryotic Life, and will be organized to emphasize the broad integrated methodology that is necessary to detect Precambrian life. The Poster Session, which we propose be scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, after the Oral Session, will consist of volunteered poster presentations which will be organized to center on detailed examples of Precambrian paleobiological investigations. Through presentation of this Topical Session at the Seattle GSA, we hope to provide an opportunity to the broad Earth and biological sciences community to learn in depth how the hunt for Precambrian life — including that focused on the oldest records of life now known — is conducted.”
Precambrian paleobiologic studies have probably never been so active as they are today — spanning the gamut from the oldest known fossils, to biomarker/isotopic evidence of ancient physiological innovations, to the rise of metaphytes and metazoans. Worldwide, there is more interest, more press coverage, more discoveries, more progress, that we’ve ever seen before. New techniques are being introduced at a rapidly increasing pace (laser-Raman spectroscopy, ion microprobe isotopic analyses, three-dimensional optical/chemical/tomographic imagery). And, certainly, never before has there been such a flood of new workers entering the field. The aim of this Symposium/Poster Session is to help to bring us all — the new colleagues and the experienced, both — to a new level of understanding of how this science can best be done.
Your participation will contribute greatly to the success of this Symposium/Poster Session. So, Bill and I very much look forward to your positive reply to this invitation! Once we have heard from you, we will send you all the particulars necessary for abstract submission, etc. And, of course, please let us know if you need any additional information — we very much hope that you will be able to join us in Seattle.
Thanks, very much, from us both!
Dave Bottjer (DBottjer@usc.edu)
Bill Schopf (Schopf@ess.ucla.edu)
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Department of Earth Sciences
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA 90089-0740
(213) 740 – 6100
fax: (213) 740 – 8801
dbottjer@usc.edu
