The platform unifies societies and scientific bodies that are active in the field of geoscience. It acts as an interface between the various academic disciplines of geosciences as well as between research, practice, administration, politics and the public.more

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5th Swiss Geoscience Meeting 2007 in Geneva

Water eruption in the Geneva Lake
Water eruption in the Geneva Lake

The 5th edition of the Swiss Geoscience Meeting focused on natural hazards as well as on the latest advances in research in geosciences. It was held 16th to 17th November 2007 in Geneva.

The Section of Earth Sciences of the University of Geneva, the Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle of the City of Geneva, and the Platform Geosciences of the Swiss Academy of Sciences cordially welcomed the 373 participants in the 6th Swiss Geosciences Meeting held on 16 and 17 November 2007 in Geneva.

On Friday 16th, keynote presentations focused on this year's theme "Catastrophe! Catastrophes". The invited speakers are distinguished experts on natural hazards:

  • Costanza Bonadonna from the University of geneva strated with a presentation on Assessing volcanic hazards: quantitative models of tephra fall.
  • Christoph Schär from the ETH Zürich warmed the audience with a presentation on Climate change and extreme weather events.
  • Stefan Schmid from the University of Basel unravelled the history of Earthquakes in the Basel area: natural versus induced hazards
  • Jean F. Schneider from the Institute of Applied Geology in Vienna moved the public with Seismically triggered Landslides in the Himalayas
  • Vincent Courtillot from the Institut de Physique du Globe, Paris talked about the interplay between Volcanic eruptions, global change and evolution of species

On Saturday 17th,
About 119 talks were given and 82 posters were presented in 11 scientific symposia focused on diverse domains of geoscience research encompassing the hydrosphere, the lithosphere, the cryosphere, the biosphere and the atmosphere without neglecting to also address the anthroposphere and the noosphere.

The SGM offers an ideal environment to also foster informal contacts and discussion between scientists: Such opportunities occur at the Swiss Geoscience Party on Friday evening, or during the poster session on Saturday. Special time slots are allocated to two poster sessions, at which the authors are present.