This award will support a seminar, "Neogene Siliceous Sediments of the Pacific Region," organized jointly by Prof. Robert E. Garrison of the University of California, Santa Cruz, and Prof. Azuma Iijima of the University of Tokyo, Japan. Participants will meet in Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara, California, June 21 to 27, 1989 to discuss neogene organic-rich and diatomaceous sediments and to visit selected neogene sedimentary basins. These sediments, which are observed around much of the Pacific rim, are the major source and storage rocks for petroleum in both California and Japan. Furthermore, they record significant global paleoceanographic events, such as intensified upwelling, and thus have considerable economic and historical significance. The seminar will be organized so that five major themes are discussed: the correlation between biological and geological stratification; cycles in the earth's crust; depositional environments; diagenesis; and natural resources and basin analysis. By comparing the development of neogene sediments in Japan and California, and by summarizing the latest research results in both countries, participants should be able not only to advance the state of knowledge in the field, but also to clearly identify the significant unresolved issues and act to promote future trans-Pacific collaborative research in this area.
