Geoscientists discuss sea level rise, extreme storm event...( Boulder CO More than 300 geoscienti...)

Boulder, CO More than 300 geoscientists will gather 12-13 March for the 58th annual meeting of the Southeastern Section of the Geological Society of America. The meeting takes place at the Hilton St. Petersburg Bayfront Hotel in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Geoscientists from the University of South Florida (USF) Department of Geology are hosting the meeting along with the USF Geology Alumni Society.

Journalists are invited to attend sessions of interest, interview scientists, and visit the exhibit area. Complete meeting information can be found at http://www.geosociety.org/sectDiv/southe/09mtg/index.htm

SCIENCE HIGHLIGHTS

Theme sessions cover such topics as geologic maps and digital map publication; geoscience education and literacy; local cave and karst systems; the impacts of sea-level rise, reduced sediment supply, extreme storm events, and human activity on coastal systems; the region's diverse animal and plant fossil record; and the study of volcanoes, with an emphasis on those in the Caribbean region.

Interest in local cave and karst systems, including new and existing sinkholes, has seen an upswing in the past decade, partly because of major population growth in the area, and this is reflected in the scheduled presentations. Another session also generating much interest covers the paleobiology of the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains, with talks on increasing growth rates in herbivores in Florida following a late Neogene extinction event, investigations of ancient shell beds, and a comparison between fossil shells and recent mollusc populations.

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