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21st Annual V. M. Goldschmidt Conference, Prague, Czech Republic – Sisir K. Mondal (Departmentof Geological Sciences, Jadavpur University, Kolkata - 700032 Email: sisir.mondal@gmail.com)

This year, the 21st Annual V. M. Gold-schmidt Conference was held at Prague,Czech Republic from 14th to 19th August.The Goldschmidt ConferenceTM is thepremiere international conference ongeochemistry (http://www.goldschmidt2011.org/). This conference was organizedand sponsored by The European Associationof Geochemistry and The GeochemicalSociety (USA). This year the main themeof the conference was ‘Earth, Life and Fire’under which there were 23 sub-themes inthe conference. The different subjects thatwere covered under these themes includeCosmochemistry-Planet Formation,Primitive Earth: From Core to Atmosphere,Evolution and Dynamics of the Deep Earth,Mantle to Crust: Ocean Ridge and IntraplateVolcanism, Continental Crust Formationand Evolution, Recycling: Subduction, TheMantle Wedge and Arc Volcanism, EarthResources: Energy, Earth’s Resources: Oresetc. There were 175 numbers of Sessionsunder the various themes in the conference.A total of 3800 abstracts were submitted inthe conference by participants of more thanhundred countries across the globe. Therewas an additional special plenary sessionfocusing on the Fukushima accident (Japan)and its geochemical consequences. Theplenary presentations in the conference weregiven by Samuel Mukasa (‘Volatiles in theMantle: Impact on Intraplate Magmatism),Marc Hirchmann (‘Deep Earth VolatileCycles: From Ancient to Modern’), EdouardBard (‘Geochemical Profiles to Study theLast Deglaciation and its impact onRivers’), Frank Selsis (‘ExoplanetAtmospheres: From Hot to HabitableWorlds’) and Victoria Orphan (‘MicrobialPartnerships and Methene-Oxidation in theDeep Sea’).

There were many new results presentedin the conference, which were based on highimpact research. Among these the Session11b (‘Ore Deposits and the Role of theLithospheric Mantle’), convened andchaired by me and other three (Prof.Wolfgang Maier, University of Oulu,Finland, Dr. Thomas Oberthur, BGR,Germany, and Dr. Marco Fierentini,

University of Western Australia),highlighted the role of the lithosphericmantle in ore deposits. This particularscientific aspect is very much relevant withrespect to fundamental issues in the Earthsciences as well as for the exploration group.There were at least 68 submissions in thissession. This particular session became avery high-power session and promotedcouple of most significant keynote andinvited speakers such as Prof. Bill Griffin(GEMOC, Australia), Dr. Steve Barnes(CSIRO, Australia), Prof. Shoji Arai(Kanazawa University, Japan), Prof. NickArndt (Université J. Fourier, France), Prof.Edward M. Ripley (Indiana University,USA), and Prof. Sarah-Jane Barnes(University of Chicoutimi, Canada). Therole of the lithospheric mantle in magmageneration has been particularlycontroversial since the 1970s when evidencefor strong and regionally homogenouscrustal components was first found incertain flood-type basalt provinces (e.g.Karoo). Our session covered the currentstate of knowledge and understanding of thecomposition of the SCLM, processes ofmagma generation, and evidence for metalderivation in a range of magmatic andhydrothermal mineral deposits from theSCLM. There was a strong debate duringthis session between Prof. Bill Griffin andProf. Nick Arndt on the aspect of metalsource from the lithospheric mantle versusdeeper mantle whereas, Prof. Edward M.Ripley emphasized on the role of timing ofthe sulfide saturation in the formation ofmagmatic Ni-sulfide deposits. There will bea special issue of the LITHOS based on thissession 11b, which will be edited by me,Prof. Wolf Gang Maier and Prof. BillGriffin.

There was an interesting researchpresented by Maya et al. (2011) ofPondicherry University, India in the Session02b (‘Geology, Age and Origin of the OldestTerrestrial Rocks and Minerals’). Maya etal. dated the komatiitic rocks of the SargurGroup from the Western Dharwar Cratonthat gives an age of 3.1Ga and indicate adepleted mantle source. This research is

important because earlier workers dated thissuite of komatiitic rocks, and the age is3.4Ga. J. M. Maya presented this paper asone of the research scholar participants fromIndia. There were few other participantsfrom India who presented their significantresearch results in the conference such asProf. N. V. Chalapathi Rao (Banaras HinduUniversity) and Prof. R. Bhutani(Pondicherry University). In addition, therewere significant representations in theconference from the Physical ResearchLaboratory and National GeophysicalResearch Institute.

In the Session 04a (ChemicalGeodynamics: 25 Years of MantleComponents) Dr. S. Hart (Woods HoleOceanographic Institute, USA) presentedthe keynote on ‘The Mantle Zoo: NewSpecies, Endangered Species, ExtinctSpecies’ that described the severalgeochemical reservoirs of the mantle. Thisparticular subject has the most significantrole in understanding the Earth’s chemicaldifferentiation process through time. Therewere many parallel sessions in theconference, which were based on thedevelopment in research on atmosphericscience, climate change, weathering andsurface processes, oceans atmosphere,biogeochemistry, and evolution of earlyEarth’s environment. In addition, theconference also emphasized on the aspectsof frontiers in analytical techniques,computational geochemistry, mineralogyand mineral physics, and hydrogeo-chemistry and global water sustainability.

In addition to convening and chairingthe session I have presented a paper in thesame session (Session 11b); the title of thispaper was ‘Sulfide Mineralogy of WestGreenland Kimberlitic Mantle Xenoliths’coauthored by Dr. Stefan Bernstein andProf. Minik Rosing of University ofCopenhagen. Sulfides are common inmantle rocks and control the PGE budgetalong with PGE behavior during meltingand thus can be used to trace the Earth’sdifferentiation processes. Our study on thekimberlitic xenoliths from west Greenlandshows the presence of two types of sulfide

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populations: one variety is included in theprimary silicate minerals and the othervariety is interstitial to the silicate minerals.Our study suggests that the sulfide wasinitially monosulfide solid solution (mss)that re-equilibrated at low temperature. Wehave suggested that the effect of mantlemelting as well as melt-rock interactionsmay be responsible for the initial sulfidemineral assemblage.

There were many short-courses andworkshops organized before and during theconference. I had the opportunity toparticipate in one of the workshops (‘PGMfrom experimental to natural’) organized byDrs. Anna Vymazalova and FedericaZaccarini and sponsored by the SGA andIMA-COM in the Czech Geological Survey.The notable speakers in this workshop wereDr. Steve Barnes of CSIRO, Australia (X-

ray computed tomography of platinumgroup minerals in 2D and 3D) and Dr.AnnaVymazalova, Czech Geological Survey(Synthesis of platinum group minerals).Through this workshop the participants hadreceived a first hand overview on thesynthetic platinum group mineral studies inthe laboratory.