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While we recognise that the proposed changes willnot please all Members, we have experienced widespreadsupport for the concept of modernising theSociety and increasing its effectiveness and value toMembers, irrespective of the changes required underthe Act. There has also been a strong commitment tochange within the Executive over the last 3–4 years,motivated by the best long-term interests of theSociety.Timetable for 2013–2014The new Rules must be accompanied by a revised setof Procedures that will guide some of the detailedoperational processes for a Governing Council andits associated Executive. These are now beingprepared and will be made available for review inearly 2013. The Procedures do not require formalapproval by Members; however there will beadequate opportunity for Divisions, Branches,Specialist Groups and individual Members tocomment before being finalised prior to the AGMin 2013.Actions scheduled for 2013 include:l January/February: incorporate feedback 2012and finalise Rules.l March-April: final Rules and ballot papersforwarded to all members.l External provider to manage the ballot.l All postal ballots counted before Annual GeneralMeeting.l Late May: Annual General Meeting.l The outcome of the postal vote will beannounced at the AGM.l Members notified of outcome.If the Revised Rules are approved, the Executivewill then initiate arrangements to enable a call fornominations for election to the Governing Council in2014, and to undertake the associated electionprocess. It will also initiate discussions with the firstfour Divisions to be represented on Council to ensurethat these appointments are known prior to the ballotfor the first five General Councillors. The timetablefor representation will be finalised in the comingmonths.Election of the General Councillors and appointmentof the Divisional Councillors will be completedin time for ratification at the 2014 AGM and forthe Governing Council to commence operationimmediately following the AGM.Thanks and regardsJim Ross on behalf of the GovernanceCommittee—Ian Graham, Laurie Hutton,Jim Ross, Chris Yeats and Sue FletcherThe Draft Rules are accessible from the GSAwebsite at http://gsa.org.au/management/rules.html, or by contacting your Division, SpecialistGroup or Branch Committee.Member feedback should be sent to the contact foryour Division, Branch or Specialist Group, as listedon the website. Sending your feedback to themprovides them with an opportunity to hear youropinions; they can then send your comments tothe GSA Executive Committee as consolidatedfeedback representative of their Division, Branchor Specialist Group.TAG December 2012| 5
Society UpdateClimate Change StatementThe Executive Committee of the GSA has produced the following draft Climate Change Statement after aprolonged period of consultation with GSA members. In line with feedback from members, the statementemphasises the geological record as an archive of past climate change and how it can contribute to ourunderstanding of future climate change.The Executive Committee recommends that the statement be adopted by the Society, but welcomes furthermember feedback no later than 31 January 2013. This will be followed by consultation with Divisional andBranch committees during February 2013, after which a final statement will be endorsed by the GSA Executiveand placed on the GSA website. All comments should be emailed to climatechange@gsa.org.au.Draft GSA Climate Change StatementThe Geological Society of Australia (GSA) has developedthis document as a science-based statement regardingclimate change, 1 emphasising the contributions that EarthScience can make to the public discussion. This Statementprovides the views of a learned Society dedicated toinvestigation in Earth Sciences and is made by theExecutive Committee of the GSA, after wide consultationwith Society Members who are qualified EarthScientists largely working in or retired from academic,industry, government and public sector organisations.The nature of the geological recordInstrumental records of global climate are short when itcomes to estimating future climate changes because manyof the processes that control global climate operate on verylong time scales by human standards. Current debate aboutthe causes and consequences of global climate change canbe informed by studying the geological record of pastclimate changes on time scales from decades to billions ofyears.The geological record provides the key source ofinformation regarding Earth’s past climates, includingperiods when global climate was both significantly warmerand colder than the present. Important climatic archivesinclude sediment cores from the oceans (up to tens ofmillions of years old), ice cores from Greenland and Antarctica(up to 800 000 years old), as well as marine andcontinental sedimentary rocks that may be hundreds ofmillions of years old. Evidence may include the distributionof fossil plants and animals, the past distribution of ice onthe Earth’s surface, and estimates of temperature andatmospheric composition based on geochemical measurements,to name just a few examples. In some cases, thegeological record may be very detailed and young enoughto overlap with instrumental records of climate (eg, annualgrowth layers in corals).Variability of past climatesGeological evidence clearly demonstrates that Earth’sclimate system is inherently and naturally variable overtime scales from decades to millions of years. 2Some 50 million years ago, mean global temperaturewas about 6°C warmer than today. Since then, Earth’sclimate has fluctuated but has been generally cooling aslarge ice sheets formed, first in Antarctica and then in theNorthern Hemisphere. Over much of the last 2–3 millionyears the climate has typically been colder than today,often much colder, when the growth of ice sheets during‘glacial periods’ caused sea levels to be more than 120 mlower during the largest glacial advances. Theseglacial periods have been interspersed with intervals ofwarmer climate, referred to as interglacial periods. TheEarth is currently in an interglacial period, called theHolocene Epoch. There have been some 50 glacial/interglacial cycles during the last 2.6 million years. Thepresent glacial/interglacial cycle began some 115 000 yearsago with a major global cooling event and growth of icesheets progressively extending from the polar ice-caps tolower altitudes/latitudes. This glacial period peaked about20 000 years ago, when global temperature was some 5°Ccolder than today, and was then followed by progressivewarming, ice melting and sea-level rise that led to thepresent interglacial. We know also that during the last15 000 years interruptions to the gradual warmingoccurred, with both rapid cooling and warming episodessometimes occurring over time periods as short as a fewdecades.6 |TAG December 2012
Page 2 and 3: The Australian GeologistNewsletter
Page 4 and 5: Editor’s CommentIt would be surpr
Page 8 and 9: Causes of past climate changesEarth
Page 10 and 11: New membersThe GSA welcomes the fol
Page 12 and 13: 5. Whereas application of biochar o
Page 14 and 15: Upcoming in AJESResearch papersJH C
Page 16 and 17: Society UpdateStratigraphic ColumnT
Page 18 and 19: International newsOn 11 September,
Page 20 and 21: SOUTH AUSTRALIASouth Australia comm
Page 22 and 23: Earth Science History GroupTom Vall
Page 24 and 25: International Earth ScienceOlympiad
Page 26 and 27: Young Earth Science NewsTop young E
Page 28 and 29: University of South Australia Coast
Page 30 and 31: FeatureNautilus Exploration Program
Page 32 and 33: Examples of archaeological sites in
Page 34 and 35: Special Report34th IGC - another Au
Page 36 and 37: Scientific Program CommitteeThe Sci
Page 38 and 39: Professor Iain Stewart.Left to righ
Page 40 and 41: school children. Here, along the ba
Page 42 and 43: Sponsored student reportsMany organ
Page 44 and 45: Nick Lyons with his poster at the 3
Page 46 and 47: Books for reviewPlease contact the
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