The 25th International Geological Congress, Sydney, Australia (1976)

Abstract

s. For similar reasons the sessions dealing with Recent Advances in Exploration Geophysics attracted more than 70 papers. The rare interaction of Soviet and Australian geologists in these economic geology sessions would have been most interesting. Significant numbers of presentations concerned plate tectonics, which had gained acceptance over the previous decade. Precambrian geology and deep sea drilling also generated much interest and attracted numerous contributions. The largest audiences, approaching 300, were observed in sessions dealing with Circum–Pacific plutonism, exploration geophysics, uranium geology, mineral deposits, tectonics and Precambrian geology. Notably the Sydney IGC was the first following the formal establishment of the International Geological Correlation Programme (IGCP) in early 1973. Over the previous decade Australia had contributed significantly to this development (Harrington, 1994). Specialist Congress symposia sponsored by IGCP projects concerned: — Earliest Archaean tectonics and magmatism — Circum-Pacific plutonism — Tectonic aspects of ophiolites — Global correlation of epochs of folding — Correlation of kaolin genesis and age — Precambrian / Cambrian boundary problem