ABSTRACT

The First IAS/SEPM Meeting on Environmental Sedimentology focused on the coastal zone, which is influenced by fluvial processes, relative sea-level changes, coastal erosion, sea-floor instability, and pollution. In five specialized workshops and in plenary sessions the state-of-the-art in research and implementation was presented, and future needs were discussed. Although each workshop defined specific research needs for its own field, many objectives were revealed to be in common. Furthermore, these objectives concern not only the coastal zone but also environmental sedimentology (and geology) in general. As the human pressure on the natural environment increases and natural hazards become more frequent, environmental sedimentology plays an ever more important role in the evaluation and mitigation of environmental problems and conflicts. Key points of agreement were:

Students must be prepared for research and jobs in environmental sedimentology. Their curriculum must include basic science and basic geology, but should also be relevant to actual environmental problems where sedimentological research can find an answer. On the other hand, sedimentology should be taught to engineers, land planners, and other professionals concerned with environmental issues.

There is a great need for more detailed data in a narrower framework of space and time. High-resolution monitoring of sedimentological and geochemical processes is necessary in order to quantify and model future developments, and in order to recommend the correct measures to be taken. Interdisciplinary research is important to make the best use of the existing technology and methodology, and in order to develop new research directions. Good research can greatly improve the quality of the natural environment and human life, and, in many cases, also save money on the longer term.

Communication with related environmental sciences, planners and managers, members of industry, policy and decision makers, and the general public must be improved.

Funding will increasingly be related to remediation projects and environmental impact studies. The remediation of Venice Lagoon is a good example of a multidisciplinary project that involves sedimentologists and sedimentary geologists.

Environmental sedimentology offers much expertise, but is not yet well known as an important subdiscipline of geology that deals with human-induced processes and their impacts on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Scientists, policy makers, and the general public must be better informed of the extent to which environmental sedimentology is relevant.

IAS and SEPM will establish a Committee on Environmental Sedimentology, which will define priorities and strategies concerning the above-mentioned issues. Follow-up meetings on environmental sedimentology will be organized.