27th Colloquium of African Geology (CAG27) and 17th Conference of the Geological Society of Africa (GSAf17)
From 21 to 28 of July, 2018, more than 250 scientists from Africa and all over the world attended the27th Colloquium of African Geology (CAG27) and 17th Conference of the Geological Society of Africa (GSAf17) which were held at the University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal.
This event was sponsored by the Universidade de Aveiro and the GeoBioTec Research Centre, under the auspices of the Geological Society of Africa. The event was an opportunity to continue the scientific exchanges between researchers from all over the world in the field of Geosciences, and to demonstrate the high scientific research standards that are being carried out over the world. The participants in the conference had the opportunity to share their expertise in a range of scientific fields, such as geology, geological resources, environmental risks, environment and human health, sustainable development, education, and tourism in Africa.
A group photo of the participation during the CAG27
The CAG27 has received considerable international attention from around the world. More than 250 researchers from 38 countries (Algeria, Australia. Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Cameroon, Czech Republic, Dem. Republic. Congo, Dem. Republic of Korea, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Gambia, Germany, Ghana, Italy, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Malawi, Norway, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan. Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, United Kingdom, Zambia, and Zimbabwe) joined the conference, highlighting the importance of this event.
The conference has been organized into 5 days sessions that included a wide range of topics, such as: S01 – Crustal Evolution of Africa value; S02 – Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology; S03 – Tectonics and structural geology; S04 – Stratigraphy, Sedimentology & Paleontology; S05 – Isotope Geology; S06 – Earth’s mineral resources and sustainable development; S07 – Weathering, Climate and Surface Processes; S08 – Geophysics; S09 – Ocean Sciences; S10 – Geoparks, Geotourism and Geoethics for Promoting Earth Heritage in Africa; S11 – Geohazards, Natural and human-induced environmental hazards and disasters; S12 – Geosciences Education in Africa; S13 – Integrated approaches in Geology (Medical Geology, Geophysics and Geochemistry).
The Scientific Committee compiled an interesting program of oral and poster presentations. The CAG27 local committee together with the Scientific Committee have compiled the accepted abstracts in the “Book of Abstracts” which was edited by Eduardo Ferreira da Silva, Carla A. Figueiredo Patinha, Nuno Durães, Carla Candeias; and published by UA Editora, Universidade de Aveiro, with ISBN 978-972-789-557-1.
The conference included 5 relevant Plenary Lectures (S. Felix Toteo, Luis Filipe de Menezes Pinheiro, Rui Manuel Soares Dias, Lahcen Daoudi e K’tso Nghargbu), 5 Keynotes (João Mata, Rui Castanhinha, Fernando Tavares Rocha, José Feliciando da Silva Rodrigues e João F.B.D. Fonseca), 2 workshops, as well as 165 oral presentations, organized in 3 parallel sessions and also 83 poster communications. To complement the conference’s academic program, the Local Committee has also organized two post-conference technical field trip to visit the (a) Thermal/SPA Complex of S. Pedro do Sul and regional geology and (b) the Lourinhã Formation, the paleobiodiversity of Portuguese Upper Jurassic dinosaurs.
In additional to the scientific program, the CAG27 hosted two days’ workshop under the title of “Kick-off workshop for the AU-AMREC working group”. The workshop was facilitated by the African Union Commission.
The Geological Society of Africa General Assembly was held on the Thursday of 25 July, 2018 as a part of the activities during the CAG27 and the GSAf17.
The Geological Society of Africa acknowledges the Scientific Committee for their reviewing of the conference papers, and the Local Committee for their hard work in the organization which made another great event.