Dear Colleagues,

Here is the final Volcanology, Geochemistry and Petrology section newsletter of 2007. This and previous newsletters are archived at http://vgp.agu.org. Feedback and suggestions for the February newsletter can be sent to Sarah Fagents at fagents@hawaii.edu.

We wish you happy holidays and a productive 2008!

In this issue:

* Message from the VGP President

        - AGU Honors

        - AGU Fall meeting highlights

        - Supporting membership and gifts

* AGU Elections

* 2008 Joint Assembly: Call for session proposals

* VGP at the 2007 AGU Fall Meeting

(1) MESSAGE FROM THE VGP PRESIDENT

- AGU Honors. 

I am delighted to announce that the Harry Hess Medal for 2007 has been awarded to Michael J. O’Hara of the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. Mike will receive the Medal at the Fall AGU Honors ceremony (see below).

The deadline for nominations for Union Medals for 2008 is March 15 2008. Union honors are extremely prestigious and VGP members are natural candidates for a number of the Medals (Bowie, Bucher, Hess, Macelwane and Ewing). So now is your chance to nominate a deserving colleague. We have VGP committees for helping with nomination packages. The Chairs are:

Macelwane: Rick Carlson (Carlson@dtm.ciw.edu)

Other Union Medals: Bernie Wood (berniew@earth.ox.ac.uk)

- The Fall AGU Program looks excellent as usual and I’d like to thank Terry Plank, Craig Manning, and Katherine Kelley on behalf of the Section for the work they have put into it—details below.  (thanks also to Katie Kelley for work on the fall program -- TP; this did not make it into the email version -ed.). Three events for the AGU diary:

-- Bowen Session: V21F Tuesday 11 December at 0900 in MS room 102. This year’s Bowen awardees, Eiji Ohtani and Hugh O’Neill will present extended papers dealing with highlights of their recent research.

-- VGP Reception: This will be held on Tuesday 11 December starting at 1830 (location to be announced in the program). Please come along to socialize and help drink the free beer.
-- AGU Honors Ceremony: Wednesday 12 December. Mike O’Hara will receive the Hess Medal..

- Supporting Membership and Gifts. Gifts to the VGP Section Fund are used for outstanding student paper awards, VGP events at meetings, particularly the Receptions at Fall Meeting and Joint Assembly, and small grants in support of other VGP-related activities.  I would like to thank those many VGP members who donated to the Fund last year. This is how it’s done: You can renew at the Supporting level with a donation of $100 or more in excess of the basic $20/year dues. The first $50 of your donation goes to AGU unrestricted funds. The portion of your donation in excess of $50 can be designated as a gift to a section, committee, special fund, program, or project.

(2) AGU ELECTIONS

The nominees for the AGU 2008-2010 election of officers are listed in the October 2 issue of Eos (http://www.agu.org/pubs/eos/eo0740.shtml). AGU members can vote for officers for the Union and for up to three sections. The VGP section has a great slate of candidates:

President-Elect: Rick Carlson or Steve Sparks

Secretary-Geochemistry: Janne Blichert-Toft or Cin-Ty Lee

Secretary-Volcanology and Petrology: Dante Canil or Paul Wallace

The section President-elect becomes President after 2 years and serves 4 years on AGU Council where s/he represents sectional interests. The Secretaries organize the program for the Fall Meeting.

On-line voting will be open soon at www.agu.org. Candidates' photos and statements will be posted on the web at that time.  Please vote!

(3) 2008 JOINT ASSEMBLY: CALL FOR SESSION PROPOSALS

The 2008 Joint Assembly will be held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on May 27-30.  The deadline for session proposals is NOVEMBER 5.  Details can be found at http://www.agu.org/meetings/ja08/program.html.

(4) VOLCANOLOGY, GEOCHEMISTRY AND PETROLOGY AT THE FALL 2007 AGU MEETING

Volcanology-Geochemistry-Petrology sessions focus on magmas and fluids from the depths of the Earth to the surface. Topics range from the recycling of deep continental lithosphere and ultra high pressure rocks, to the dynamics of explosive eruptions and weathering processes across natural landscapes. One broad theme integrates volcanic with plutonic perspectives, to explore the dynamics and longevity of silicic magma systems. Magmas are tracked through fractures, into storage reservoirs, as lava flows, pyroclastic deposits and ash clouds.  Multiple sessions focus on fluid-mineral-rock interactions, from the upper mantle and continental crust, to soils and environmental nanoparticles. Coso and Yellowstone serve as natural laboratories for studies on geothermal energy utilization, and volcano dynamics.  Other sessions highlight frontiers in isotope fractionation, mass spectrometry, and geochronology, with one goal to link precise dates to accurate ages in continental tectonics.  Geochemists and seismologists unite to discuss changing views on the Earth's mantle, complementing a Union session on chemical geodynamics, and the legacy of Claude Allegre.  Geodynamic models will be linked to geochemical and geophysical observations across volcanic arcs and back-arcs. A related session will focus on subduction volcanism at continental margins, inspired by the life and work of James Luhr.  Experimental approaches to the study of fluids from the ocean to mantle will be highlighted in a session that recognizes the lasting contributions of John Holloway.  This year's Bowen awardees are Hugh O'Neill and Eiji Ohtani, and both will deliver Bowen Lectures in a special session in their honor.

The list of VGP sessions is given below.  Full details of these sessions, together with a list of VGP co-sponsored sessions, are available at http://vgp.agu.org/newsletter_0708.html

Terry Plank, Secretary, Volcanology and Petrology

Craig Manning, Secretary, Geochemistry

VGP Session at the 2007 Fall AGU Meeting

V01 Volcanology General Contributions

V02 Geochemistry and Petrology General Contributions

V03 Subduction Volcanism at Continental Margins

V04 Linking Precise Dates to Accurate Ages in Continental Tectonics

V05 Experiments and Fluids: From the Deep Ocean to the Depths of the Earth

V06 A Retrospective and Prospective Look at the Geology, Petrology, Geochemistry and Tectonics of Ultrahigh Pressure Metamorphic Rocks

V07 Magma Fracture in Lava Domes and Conduits

V08 Experiments in Geoscience: Challenges and Future Directions

V09 Frontiers in Isotope Fractionation in Geomaterials: Theory and Experiments

V10 From the Arc to the Back-Arc: Linking Geochemical and Geophysical Observations with Geodynamic Models of the Mantle Wedge

V11 Recycling of Deep Continental Lithosphere: Consequences for the Mantle and Crust

V12 Spreading Ridge Interactions with Hotspots, Subduction Zones, and Transforms

V13 Changing Views on the Earth's Mantle

V14 Saucer-Shaped Sills, Injected Sands and Related Structures: Formation Mechanisms, Examples, and Extra-Terrestrial Analogues

V15 Volcano-Pluton Connections

V16 Geoscience Research For Geothermal Energy Utilization: Case Studies From Coso And Other Geothermal Fields

V17 Weathering Processes Across Natural Landscape Gradients: New Isotopic and Geochemical Approaches

V18 Mineral-Water Interface Geochemistry and Applications to the Reactivity and Transport of Environmental Nanoparticles

V19 Dynamics of Gas Transport in Magma

V20 Hotspot Anomalies and Upper Mantle Processes: Insights from Observations and Modeling

V21 The Origin and Evolution of Continents: Lithospheric and Asthenospheric Perspectives

V22 Yellowstone Volcano Dynamics: Contemporary Measurements and Studies Of Active Magmatic and Tectonic Sources

V23 Physical and Chemical Processes in Mafic Layered Intrusions

V24 Magmatic Processes in Arcs and Metallogeny

V25 High-Pressure Metamorphism in Southeastern Europe

V26 Mud Volcanoes and Their Eruption Dynamics

V27 Tracking Magma Movement and Storage in Basaltic Edifices: From Models to Field Observations

V28 Observations and Techniques to Improve Prediction and Tracking of Volcanic Ash Clouds

V29 Explosive Eruption Dynamics: Recent Advances and Future Directions

V30 Fluid-Rock Interaction in the Crust and the Upper Mantle

V31 Lava Flow Dynamics and Morphology: Integrating Field, Laboratory and Theoretical Studies

V32 Halogens in Volcanic Systems and their Environmental Impacts

V33 Integrating Petrological, Experimental, and Field Studies of Pyroclastic Deposits: From Macro-Scale Observations to Microscopic Quantification

V34 Innovations in Isotope Mass Spectrometry in Geochemistry

V35 Seafloor Hydrothermal Systems Related to Volcanic Arcs

V36 New Developments in Geochronology

V37 The Dynamics and Longevity of Silicic Magma Systems: Volcanic and Plutonic Perspectives

V38 Challenges to Electron Microprobe Analysis in Geology

V39 Mechanisms and Consequences of the Father's Day Intrusion at Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii

U01 Whole or Layered Mantle Convection?

U02 Hadean Times: From Magma Ocean Mode to Modern Geodynamic Regimes

U06 Chemical Geodynamics: The Road Ahead