EGU Topical Conference Series
4th Alexander von Humboldt International Conference
The Andes: Challenge for Geosciences
Santiago de Chile, Chile, 24 – 28 November 2008
This interdisciplinary and international EGU Humboldt
Conference brings together several hundred researchers from diverse
specializations with the aim to catalyze more comprehensive
interdisciplinary research towards
a better understanding of the complexity of the Andes system.
The Andes, one of the major mountain ranges on Earth, constitute a
unique geosciences laboratory hosting natural phenomena and processes
on virtually all geosciences sub-disciplines (Solid-earth geophysics,
tectonics, volcanology, economic geology, geomorphology, soil sciences,
meteorology/climatology, hydrology, glaciology and geobotany).
Moreover, there are not only many scientific issues specific to each
sub-discipline, but also several cross-cutting themes of tremendous
scientific interest and practical relevance, such as the
climate-geomorphology interactions over different timescales.
Extending from the northern tropics of Venezuela (about 10°N) all
the way to Tierra del Fuego (about 53°S), with heights ranging over
5000 m at tropical/subtropical latitudes, the Andes provide a
formidable barrier for the tropospheric flow. The Andes not only act as
a "climatic wall", with dry conditions to the west and moist conditions
to the east at tropical/subtropical latitudes (the pattern reverts in
midlatitudes), but they also foster tropical-extratropical
interactions. Furthermore, the Andes comprise all major climate and
thus vegetation zones, from tropical to ice climates to absolute
desert, both over their north-south extent as well as in the vertical
direction.
Due to their origin related to an active convergent-plate margin
that causes uplifting and volcanism, the Andes show extreme complexity,
with strong gradients in geology and morphological structure. The
Andean orogeny involves tectonic and geodynamic processes that generate
intense deformation and faulting, active subduction zone seismicity,
magmatism and associated ore deposits.
Humans depend on the Andes through renewable (e.g. water) and
non-renewable (e.g. minerals) resources that support from local
communities to national economies. In particular, water resources are
under immense pressure from increasing population growth, and they
could be severely diminished in the near future in the context of
global warming. Dramatic retreats of glaciers are already observed in
many Andean areas.
Compared to other major mountain ranges, the Andes are not well
studied and their geophysical characteristics poorly documented and
understood. Although research has been carried out by various teams,
from South America, Europe, and North America, on diverse topics and in
different areas, an overall understanding of the Andes as a complex
system is still lacking.
This lack assumes utmost importance given the fact that the Andes
and surrounding low-lands are prone to major natural disasters, such as
volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, landslides, avalanches, flooding and
flash-floods, whose prediction and mitigation strategies require a
comprehensive understanding of the entire system. A better assessment
of the risks that result from a variety of processes is highly relevant
for a more sustainable management of the resources in the Andes.
Media registration
Journalists, science writers and public information officers of all
nations are welcome to attend this conference and to register in
advance by sending an email to the EGU Press Office.
EGU Humboldt Conferences
This is the fourth of a series of Alexander von Humboldt Topical
Conferences organised by the European Geosciences Union. It is a series
of special conferences, meetings and workshops held outside
of Europe, in particular in South America, Africa or Asia, on selected
topics of geosciences with a socio-economic impact for regions on these
continents, jointly organized with the scientists and their
institutes/institutions of these regions.
The first Alexander von Humboldt International Conference on "The El
Nino phenomenon and its global impact" was held May 16-20, 2005 in
Guayaquil, Ecuador.
Information for editors:
Conference website: http://meetings.copernicus.org/avh4/
Conference programme: link
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