SvalGeoBase II

Welcome to SvalGeoBase II

SvalGeoBase II aims to summarise actual state of understanding of tectono-thermal evolution of Svalbard and precisely construct the strategies of investigations for the nearest future.

The field-based workshop aboard research vessel Horyzont II will be divided into three distinct thematic packages: A. The jigsaw puzzle of tectono-thermal provinces of Svalbard – spatial relations, paleogeographic positions, geotectonic context. B. From magmatic processes to climate change. C. At the edge of the continental platform – geothermal potential of Svalbard.

SvalGeoBase II will constitute the multidisciplinary international platform for critical evaluation of actual geotectonic and paleogeographic models, discussion of the tectono-thermal evolution of Svalbard and establish the frame for the nearest future scientific collaboration – shared projects, field campaigns and publications.

Representatives of the leading institutions involved in recent geological investigations of Svalbard have been contacted, and have already confirmed their participation: The University Centre in Svalbard – UNIS (Norway), University of Oslo – UiO (Norway), Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences – IG PAS (Poland), Uppsala University – UU (Sweden), AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow – AGH (Poland), Natural History Museum of London – NHM (Great Britain), University of Warsaw – UW (Poland).

We will also have the honour to host representatives of the following institutions on board: Ministry of Climate and Environment (Poland), Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland – GEUS (Denmark), Curtin University (Australia), Stockholm University – SU (Sweden), University of Gothenburg – GU (Sweden), Museum of Natural History (Sweden).

The scientists invited to take a part in the workshop represent a wide range of geosciences: largescale
geotectonic reconstructions, palaeogeography, metamorphic petrology, mineralogy and
mineral resources, structural geology, geochemistry, palaeomagnetism and digital geology.

Priorities

Increased scientific quality in research in Svalbard – 11 years after the first addition of SvalGeoBase actual knowledge about the Svalbard Caledonian Basement will be again summarised. Important knowledge gaps in the tectono-thermal Proterozoic and Phanerozoic Svalbard history will be identified.

Increased coordination of research activities – a detailed strategy for the nearest future investigations in Svalbard and the adjacent Arctic regions (Greenland, Ellesmere Island) which share a common ancestry, will be created.

Increased collaboration between researchers and research institutions in Svalbard – SvalGeoBase II is the ideal multidisciplinary scientific platform to strengthen a research network between leading European scientific institutions focused on geological evolution of Svalbard and the High Arctic in general.

Placing Svalbard research in a larger pan-Arctic and global perspective – spatial paleogeographic relations of Svalbard to the adjacent paleocontinents Baltica and Laurentia as well as within the Rodinia supercontinent will be discussed.

Open sharing of data collected in Svalbard – detailed plans regarding collected data repository will be constructed. Open-source strategy regarding published articles will be discussed.

Reduced environmental footprint from research activities – coordinated plans for future fieldwork will be prepared to maximize scientific outcome of expeditions and reduce impacts on the fragile Arctic ecosystems.