report 2013-06

Present

Frieda Bogemans,Vanessa Heyvaert, Marie Coen-Aubert, Marleen De Ceukelaire, Noël Vandenberghe, Alain Herbosch, Michiel Dusar, Jacques Verniers, Johan Yans, Pieter Laga

Excused

Stephen Louwye, Katrien De Nil, Eric Goemaere, Bernard Delcambre, Frédéric Boulvain, Eddy Poty

1.   Report of last NCS meeting

No remarks and the report is approved. Request to make a more structured meeting report without duplicate information

2.   website

ncs.naturalsciences.be will be the new web address. This webadres have to be written in the address in the browser. At this moment , Google will not find the address, we are working on it that also that works.

To do for all subcommissions :

               URGENT :

·        A few lines of texttext for the start page of the subcommission

·        Photo for the top banner of the subcommission

·        Please  note that from now on the distinction is made between ‘discussion and proposal’ (see below) ; can each subcommission inform us on actual ‘discussions’ in their subcommissions . Please  give minimum  the title  but it is advised to summarise the ongoing discussion.

               Further actions :

·        Please check your subcommission texts and let us know any mistake and all suggestions for improvement are most welcome. Gives us remarks if you like to change something or if you find some mistakes

·        Please provide us with some suitable photographs to  illustrate the text and to make your site more attractive for the reader.

Some rules :

               In the listing of the lithostratigraphic units , a newly added  item  will just be labeled “ new” .We will not create new chapter numbers.

               Proposal = an item that is discussed in the subcommission and is on the website before accepting definitive by the commission

               Discussion = an item that is under discussion in the subcommission. A small note is enough and no detailed text is necessary.

               News :

               Please inform us with news-items. Also a report on a congress is useful.

3.   Subcommission reviews.

Lower Palaeozoic

-         New publications soon available. The new publication does not contain major additions of the base text but more detailed. A link to the publications will be available on the website

Devonian

The  insertion of the Lagrou and Laenen texts on the ncs website  should have been labeled a discussion and not yet a proposal . It was not yet discussed by the subcommission. The chair of the subcommission has some remarks and will take the discussion up with the authors and the subcommission.

Carboniferous

No news

Permian – Triassic – Jurassic

NVDV asked the chair of thisthis subcommission to search for An additional person , e.g. as an adjunct secretary because the secretary is very busy.

Cretaceous

Several discussions are going and will be reported on the website..

Paleogene-Neogene

Several texts , discussions and revisions are in preparation since a long time but not yet finished. Some activation of the subcommission is desirable.

Quaternary

Two working groups are very busy with the revision of the Holocene and the eolian deposits.

Regarding the Brasschaat Member , a joint Quaternary and  Paleogene-Neogene meeting is suggested to discuss the precise nature of this unit and the data relative to  its precise stratigraphic position.

4.   Lithotheque Belgian Geological Survey – RBINS geological Collections

A presentation is given by the secretary (MDC) to inform the commission on the procedure for consulting samples from the  litho-collection of the BGS after the reorganization within the Institute of Natural Sciences. The ppt presentation is available on the website.

5.   TS-Creator

The TS Creator school will be held in the Arenberg Library of the Leuven University Science Campus. Participation is limited and will be on invitation. All institutes involved with stratigraphy in Belgium will be invited.

The dates are  25-26-26 March 2014. All commitments have been made and active preparation will resume in December.

6.   Future activities of the NCS

With the improvements and installation of the new ncs website the lithostratigraphic nomenclature  part  arrives at cruising speed. Obviously the lithostratigraphic inventory will continue to be handled by the commission as described in the procedures [http://natstratcommbelgium.drupalgardens.com/content/procedures].

However  scientifically more challenging subjects can  be dealt with in the future. Suggestions are welcome.

 A possibility is to synthesise and complete the Belgian stratigraphy in terms of sequence stratigraphy  or to make  the data accessible in international data bases type TS Creator.

The matter will be taken up after the TS Creator and Time Scale School in March 2014.

7.   Communications

Doodle for the next meeting will be sent end of september

Varia

The commission I informed about the status of the creation of a Walloon Geological Survey. The commission asks its secretary (E.G.) to strive at joint stratigraphic convention at regional and federal level. The ncs has added as members representatives of the regions for that purpose. If a reinforcement of the regions in the ncs is desirable , this can be discussed.

                                                                                          Noël Vandenberghe

                                                                                                         President

Marleen de Ceukelaire & Eric Goemaere

Secretaries