The International Geoscience Program project IGCP-580 (started in 2009), focuses on the application of magnetic susceptibility (MS) as a paleoclimatic proxy on Paleozoic sedimentary rocks and on the characterization of the magnetic susceptibility signal. Here we provide a summary of the scientific targets behind the project and a summary of the organized activities. This project concerns three main issues: the first one consists of compiling the available MS data from the different researchers and continuing the collection of new data (with a main focus on the Devonian). The second issue focuses on the identification of the nature and origin of the magnetic minerals carrying MS signal. The last issue concerns the application of MS as a correlation, cyclostratigraphic and paleoclimatic tool. The IGCP-580 community consists of 245 researchers, from 45 countries (including Kenya, Namibia, Vietnam, Iran, Uzbekistan, Algeria, Tunisia, Colombia, Nigeria, India, etc.). During the project, we organized five meetings (Belgium, China, Czech Republic, Austria, Canada), three special sessions in international meetings and eight field workshops, as well as various training sessions.
Located in
Library
/
RBINS Staff Publications
The limited number of unearthed fossils and their accessibility are factors that hinder paleoanthropological studies. Original remains, but also osteological collections of extant specimens, have to be curated in optimal and adapted environments, and direct manipulation needs to be limited in order to preserve this irreplaceable patrimony. Imaging methodologies have recently provided ways for innovative advances in the preservation of these collections, as well as offering new perspectives to museographic displays and original scientific studies. Here, we describe recent examples of developments obtained from imaging methodologies and discuss methodological and ethical implications of these new “virtual” collections. Undeniably, “virtual anthropology” is an additional tool in our large set of analytical possibilities and for curators, with its specific constraints related to the particular nature of the analysed material. Finally, we suggest some possible guidelines for the optimisation of the preservation, management and development of collections while preserving their scientific exploitation.
Located in
Library
/
RBINS Staff Publications
