Cardiff, Wales, UK, September 2-4, 2009. "Circum-Caribbean and North Andean tectonomagmatic evolution"

Workshop: Circum-Caribbean and North Andean tectonomagmatic evolution: impacts on palaeoclimate and resource formation

Convened by Andrew C Kerr, Alan Hastie, Iain Neill, and Jim Pindell.

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Want a flyer for the meeting?

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Second Circular (January 09)

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Registration form

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Student travel grant form

Contact: Andrew Kerr. Senior Lecturer in Petrology, School of Earth, Ocean and Planetary Sciences, Cardiff University, Main Building Park Place Cardiff Wales CF10 3YE, Tel: +44(0)2920 874578, Fax: +44(0)2920 874326. Email: kerra@cf.ac.uk, KerrA@cardiff.ac.uk, http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/earth/contactsandpeople/profiles/kerr-andrew.html

 

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Aim

A two-day multi-disciplinary workshop on the tectonomagmatic evolution of the Caribbean and north Andean region and its implications for paleoclimate and resource formation will be held at Cardiff University, Wales, UK on the 2nd to 4th September 2009.

This meeting will focus on a broad range of themes within Caribbean geology from a multi-disciplinary perspective. The main aim of the meeting is to get people from different disciplines talking to each other, who might not normally have much opportunity to discuss their data and perspective on the Caribbean with one another. Hopefully this multidisciplinary approach will enable all attendees to learn new things and perhaps view their own data/research in a wider context. The main themes of the conference will include, but are not restricted to:

There have been two major changes since the initial circular was sent out:

Call for papers and abstracts

This is an exciting time for Caribbean geological research with a significant amount of new geochemical, geochronological, stratigraphic and tectonic data becoming available. However, if we are to gain a clearer understanding of the tectonic evolution of the Caribbean it is important that these data sets are not considered in isolation and it is hoped that this workshop will help facilitate interaction and co-operation between different disciplines.

Submit your abstract to the session and promote it to your colleagues and students!

 

We plan that most presentations will be oral as there is only a relatively small space for posters.

Please indicate when you submit your abstract whether your presentation is particularly suited to a poster format; otherwise, we encourage oral.

Abstracts will not be accepted without a completed registration form and *must* be written in English. Please submit 1 page, 1.5 spaced (A4 or 8.5”x11”) abstracts to kerra@cf.ac.uk, by 30 April 2009.

Abstracts should be in Times New Roman font (or similar) with no less than 2cm wide margins all round, in the following style:

Title centred in 16 point bold

Author 1, 12 point text centred

Author 1 address 10 point italic   centred

Author 2 etc same format as for author 1

Text of the abstract should be in 12 point text and justified

Any references can be given in 10 point text

Registration

Due to generous sponsorship there will be no registration fee for students and a low registration fee of £20 for other attendees. This registration fee does not have to be paid in advance but will be payable ‘at the door’. However, it is still essential that you pre-register your intent to attend, so that we can get accurate numbers for catering and lecture theatre bookings.

The registration fee includes sandwich lunches, coffee, tea and snacks in addition to a wine reception on the evening of the 1st Sept. We have also arranged a ‘Welsh Banquet’ in Cardiff Castle (see attached flyer) at no cost to the first 70 delegates to send in their registration forms.

Please complete the registration form () and return it to kerra@cf.ac.uk as soon as possible.

Publication

If there is enough interest i.e. at least 8-10 papers, it is likely that we will be able to produce a special issue of 'Lithos'.

Circulars

If you would like to be placed on the e-mail list for future circulars, please contact Andrew Kerr (kerra@Cardiff.ac.uk)

Travel, Accommodation and Support

Workshop Venue

Cardiff is Europe's youngest capital city and has air links to many European cities. Nearby Bristol airport has direct daily flights to from New York.

The workshop will take place at Cardiff University Main Building on Park Place, CF10 3AT. You may wish to search for this on Google Maps. Click here for an approximate location map. Cardiff Central, which is marked on this map, is both the main rail and bus station for Cardiff. Some London-bound buses also stop on Park Place directly outside the Main Building.

Transport to and from Cardiff

From Cardiff Airport:

Cardiff International Airport is just over 10 miles west of the city centre and is connected by bus services, local trains and taxis. Taxis cost approximately £25, bus and train time information can be found on the airport’s website www.cwlfly.com.

There are direct international flights to Cardiff airport. KLM City Hopper connects to Amsterdam with three or four flights each day. We recommend delegates who intend to use the City Hopper link to reserve seats well in advance. Other airlines fly to Cardiff from many European cities.

http://info.cwlfly.com/en/content/2/267/destinations.html

From London Airports:

Should you be flying to London airports (chiefly Gatwick or Heathrow), we recommend either rail or bus to get you to Cardiff.  Those unfamiliar with London should allow around 2 hours from the Airport to your connection. Visit www.tfl.gov.uk to plan your journey through London

First Great Western operate an approximately hourly rail service from London Paddington to Cardiff Central Station which takes just over 2 hours.

If you wish to take a bus to Cardiff, the Stagecoach Megabus from Victoria Bus Station (just a couple of minutes walk from the railway) is a cheap option.  Book in advance by credit card as you cannot pay onboard. Single fares can be found for under £10. Visit www.megabus.com and www.megabus.com/uk/stops/london_cardiff_bus.php.

Gatwick Airport (www.gatwickairport.com): one rapid option is that you can use the Gatwick Express train to London Victoria station (www.gatwickexpress.com) (costs from £16.50 single). Use the Underground to get to Paddington Station for the train.  Bus services for Cardiff are just a couple of minutes walk from Victoria train

Heathrow Airport (www.heathrowairport.com): if you intend taking the train to Cardiff, the Heathrow Express train (www.heathrowexpress.com) will take you direct to Paddington Station for your train connection (costs from £16.50 single).You could also use the London Underground Piccadilly Line and connect from there to Paddington. National Express coaches run from Heathrow to Victoria Bus Station if you wish to take the bus to Cardiff.

Alternatives:

There are other international airports at Bristol and Birmingham, (both with some direct flights to the US) around 50 miles and 100 miles respectively away with good transport links to Cardiff. Cardiff is well linked with the UK motorway system so car hire is a convenient alternative mode of travel for overseas delegates who might visit other parts of the UK before or after the conference. However, please be aware that no parking will be available at the University for delegates and daily parking rates in nearby public car parks are very expensive (well over £10/day).

General sites and recommendations:

You will probably have travel agents in your home countries who can book your rail or bus tickets, but most can be booked online. Useful websites to plan your journeys are www.traveline.org.uk (bus and train information) and www.cardiffbus.com. For train information, www.qjump.co.uk or www.thetrainline.com can be helpful. Always check your bus or train times in advance and where possible, book in advance as “walk-up” fares can be very expensive (Megabus you can only book in advance). Be sure to travel at off-peak times if you can (after 10am). The London to Cardiff train can cost anything from £20 to over £100, so take care.

Travel grants for students

Thanks to our sponsors, we are in a position to offer grants to students to help with transport costs.

Priority will be given to those students who plan to present a talk at the meeting and submit their abstract with their application for a travel grant and who have already secured partial funding for transport to and from the meeting.

If you wish to apply for a student travel grant please complete the student travel grant form () and send it to kerra@cf.ac.uk by the 30 April 2009. You will find out if you have been successful by the 15th of May. Grants will be paid immediately after the meeting has taken place. All receipts for travel to the meeting must be provided by the grantee.

Financial support for other attendees

IGCP-546 ‘Subduction Zones of the Caribbean’ is able to offer limited support (depending on funds received), to other conference attendees, particularly members of IGCP-546 from South America and the Caribbean. Judging from the funding received from IGCP in the last two years (4000 USD/year), and taking into account other activities of IGCP-546 to be funded in 2009 (workshop and field trip in Cuba next March), we will probably offer only 2-3 grants of ca. 500 USD/person for Cardiff. However, this may change if IGCP funding increases this year. We shall probably be informed on the funds received by next Spring.

Please contact Antonio García-Casco (agcasco@ugr.es) if you are interested in applying for this support. You will find out if you have been successful by the 15th of May.

Accommodation

Cardiff is a large city with a wide range of accommodation options from 5 star hotels to travel lodges to bed and breakfasts to hostels. Most of these can be easily booked online and links to various websites with accommodation listings are given below. Don’t forget as a first port of call to use Google and search for Hotels, Guest Houses, Bed and Breakfast, Hostels etc in Cardiff. Cardiff has a good rail and bus network within and around the city and it is therefore possible to stay a bit further out. If you have trouble securing your accommodation, or do find accommodation at a distance from the venue and are unsure of the public transport options, please contact Iain Neill (neilli@cf.ac.uk) for advice.

BOOK YOUR ACCOMMODATION WELL IN ADVANCE – MANY OTHER EVENTS AND CONFERENCES OCCUR IN CARDIFF AT THIS TIME OF YEAR

A downloadable map of local public transport routes is available from Cardiff City Council:

http://www.cardiff.gov.uk/content.asp?nav=2870,4048&parent_directory_id=2865&id=791

Staying at Cardiff University:

Cardiff University may be able to supply you with a room at reasonable rates, either en-suite or with a shared bathroom in a self-catering Hall of Residence. All residences are within approximately 30 minutes walk of the Main Building.  Be aware that not all have suitable car parking.  You should e-mail conferences@cf.ac.uk to arrange your booking on an individual basis. For more information please visit:

www.cf.ac.uk/for/prospective/residences/studentsummerresidences/student-summer-residences.html

Hotels:

There are a fantastic variety of hotels around Cardiff.  A mixture of the better hotels are featured here:

www.booking.com/searchresults.html?aid=303948;label=cardiff-w5yGcCCRgGgEwIIUQEne8gS1032741981;sid=6051b0fe5bc519244b9bc5bd500397b0;city=-2591777. You can search by proximity to the city centre (20 minutes from the venue).  You will also find that http://brochures.visitwales.co.uk/brochures.php will allow you to download accommodation brochures which include Cardiff Hotels.  Contact hotels directly to make bookings – you’ll avoid any tourist board booking fees.

Bed and Breakfast:

Cardiff Bed and Breakfast accommodation in family homes can also be found and downloaded at http://brochures.visitwales.co.uk/brochures.php. Again, phone, or email B&B’s in advance and make your booking directly with the owners. A popular area for many B&B’s is Cathedral Road in Canton which is about 25 minutes maximum from the venue (cut across Bute Park for a quicker route) with at least 6 houses advertised on Google Maps alone. Many B&Bs and of course the hotels will have their own websites and e-mail addresses. With small venues, be extra sure to book early.

Hostels:

These get you a dormitory or perhaps a private room for generally less than £20 per person per night.  Breakfast is often available. You could try the Cardiff Backpackers Hostel which is located near the banks of the Taff River.  It is approximately 20 minutes walk from the department. Visit www.cardiffbackpacker.com. You should try searching on www.hostelworld.com.  It contains listings and reviews of various Cardiff locations.

Travel Lodges:

Typically an en-suite room with continental breakfast included for typically between £30-70 per night. Be aware that most places charge for your internet connection. Travelodge, Innkeeper’s Lodge, Holiday Inn and Premier Inn all have several branches in and around Cardiff. Check their websites for locations, facilities and booking. No free parking is available at the inner city venues. One of the Travel Lodges is on St. Mary’s Street in the city centre between the train and bus station and the workshop venue. Visit www.travelodge.co.uk. The Holiday Inn is just opposite Cardiff Castle in the city centre and gives you free Internet access. See www.holidayinn.com. Innkeeper’s Lodge is at the interchange with the M4 Motorway and you can access the city centre and venue by bus or train. They have a restaurant on site. Visit www.innkeeperslodge.com. Finally, try www.premierinn.com. The Etap chain has a newly opened hotel in Cardiff which offers rooms at very reasonable rates. However, these are likely to be booked up quickly – so early booking is advised (rooms can be booked up to eight months in advance). See this link http://www.etaphotel.com/gb/hotel-6175-etap-hotel-etap-hotel-cardiff-centre/index.shtml.

South Wales is a popular tourist destination.  The Brecon Beacons and Pembrokeshire National Parks and the Gower peninsula are from ½ to 2 hours drive away from Cardiff with numerous visitor attractions. You may wish to book accommodation outside the conference time and explore these areas.  Try booking a holiday cottage near Cardiff for a week, perhaps?  The Welsh Tourist Board (www.visitwales.com) has an online list of accommodation and you will also be able to explore some accommodation options in Cardiff on this site.

We look forward to seeing you in Cardiff in September 2009!

last modified: 09.19.09 17:43 +0200