---Background Information---

The International Conference on Arctic Margins (ICAM) was founded by the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE), formerly the Minerals Management Service, in 1991 with the underlying two-point theme of 1) Arctic understanding, 2) international cooperation in Arctic research. To these ends, ICAM has provided a forum for the exchange of information and presentation of research.

To these ends, ICAM has provided a successful forum for the exchange of information, collaboration in research, and presentation of results.

Meeting Summaries


ICAM I (convened in September, 2-4, 1992 Anchorage, Alaska)

  • Over 400 participants from 12 countries,
  • 198 presentations (90 by US; 40 Russian; 32 Canada; 25 from Scandinavia; 8 from Europe and 6 from Australia)
  • ICAM Featured Speakers included Ashton F. Embry and Michael P. Cecile of the Geological Survey of Canada, Calgary, Igor S. Gramberg and Michael K. Kos'ko of VNIIOkeangeologia, St. Petersburg, Edward Shipilov of NIIMorgeophysica, Murmansk, Kazuya Fujita from Michigan State University, and Michael Churkin Jr., an Independent Geologist from Moscow and Yuba City, California.
  •  6 workshops
  •  5 invited symposia
  •  11 general oral sessions
  •  12 poster sessions
  •  5 geological field trips
  •  Hosted by the Alaska Geological Society
  •  Sponsored by BOEMRE, formerly MMS

An abstract volume containing over 250 abstracts was published in limited supply and given to all participants. The 1992 ICAM Proceedings was published in 1994 as OCS Study MMS 94-0040 and is available free of charge from the MMS Alaska office or can be viewed from the web in Adobe Acrobat PDF format.


ICAM II (convened in September, 6-10, 1994 Magadan, Russia)

  • 130 people participated representing 45 different organizations from 10 countries (60 non-Russian participants from 12 Universities, 6 Federal Surveys and 10 gold-mining and oil companies from the U.S., Canada, England, Australia, Germany, Netherlands, South Korea and Japan; 60 participants from Russia--10 from Institutes of the Russia Academy of Sciences, and the Yakutsk State University, and 6 industrial enterprises from Magadan, Yakutsk, Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Novosibirsk, Anadyr, Sankt-Petersburg, Moscow and Yuzno-Sakhalinsk)
  • 7 technical sessions, plus many from science, industrial and public organizations and private companies of Magadan
  • 4 symposia and a round-table session
  • 103 oral and 43 poster presentations
  • Hosted by the Russian Academy of Sciences, Far East Branch and the University of Alaska Geophysical Institute, Fairbanks
  • 9 excursions to the Geologic Museum of the Northeast Interdisciplinary Research Institute and "Golden Room" of the Sevvostgeolkom Geologic Museum, 3 excursions to the Regional Museum of Local Nature and History, and 3 bus excursions round the city.
  • Field trip "Golden Ring of Kolyma" was conducted on September 9-20, and its participants were 11 representatives of mining industry of Canada, U.S., Australia and Japan.

An abstract volume containing over 280 abstracts was published in limited supply and given to all participants.

The 1994 ICAM Proceedings was published in 1995 by the Russian Academy of Sciences Far East Branch, Northeast Science Center, Magadan is available free of charge from the BOEMRE Alaska office or can be viewed from the web in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. www.boemre.gov/alaska/icam


ICAM III (convened in October 12-16, 1998 Celle, Germany)

  • 200 participants from 14 countries
  • 15 Technical Sessions
  • 142 oral presentations and 70 posters
  • Hosted by the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR),  the German Society for Polar Research, and the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research
  • Supported by the Russian Academy of Sciences, the University of Alaska Geophysical Institute, and MMS.
  • 220 Abstracts received
  • 2 Proceedings Volumes with 67 papers published in AWI’s “Polarforschung”

The ICAM III Proceedings were published as two special volumes of the Journal Polarforschung (numbers 68 and 69) in 2000 and 2001 by the German Society for Polar Research and Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research.


ICAM IV (September 30-October 3, 2003, Dartmouth Nova Scotia)

  • 130 participants
  • Featuring 9 technical sessions
  • Workshops
  • Hosted by Natural Resources Canada through Geological Survey of Canada (Atlantic)
  • Supported by the Canadian Polar Commission and MMS
  • A special meeting of the Nansen Arctic Drilling Program was held
  • Field Trip: Marine Geophysical Tour of Halifax Harbour aboard the Harbour Queen

Proceedings edited by Robert Scott of Cambridge Arctic Shelf Program and Dennis Thurston, BOEMRE and published as Study MMS 2006-003 available on the BOEMRE Alaska web page www.boemre.gov/alaska/icam.


ICAM V (September 3-5, 2007 in Tromsø, Norway)

  • More than 300 participants
  • 106 Oral presentations
  • 86 Posters
  • 9 Thematic Sessions
  • Sponsored by the Geological Society of Norway (NGF) in cooperation with the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers (EAGE).

ICAM V was held in conjunction with Arctic Conference Days 2007 which included The Arctic Geology, Resources and Environment Conference (AGReE) and The Shelf Edge and Shoreline Trajectories Conference (SEST).
The Proceedings containing 11 invited papers were published by the Norwegian Journal of Geology as ICAM V Special Volume NJG 2008 Volume 88 Nr. 4 http://www.geologi.no/cgi-bin/geologi/imaker?id=11607&visdybde=2&aktiv=11607


ICAM VI (May 31-June 2, 2010 in Fairbanks, Alaska, USA)
Hosted by the University of Alaska, Fairbanks and the Geophysical Institute of UAF
www.gi.alaska.edu/icam6

Programs of the International Conference on Arctic Margins


ICAM I (September, 2-4, 1992 Anchorage, Alaska)

Symposia:

  • Cretaceous Dinosaurs and Associated Terrestrial and Near-shore Records: Implications and Challenges
  • Reconstruction and Paleogeography of the Arctic: I and II
  • Geology and Resource Potential of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
  • Regional Terrane Correlations

General oral sessions:

  • Resource Potential I: Minerals
  • Resource Potential II: Hydrocarbons
  • Stratigraphy
  • Biostratigraphy
  • Paleoclimate,
  • Quaternary and Environmental Geology and Permafrost,
  • Arctic Marine Geology, and
  • Regional Geophysics and Tectonics I, II, III, and IV;

Poster sessions covering the above general session topics.

Workshops:
The Future of Arctic Paleontology: Challenges, Cooperation and Problem Solving led by Roland Gangloff of the University of Alaska and Phillip Currie of the Royal Tyrell Museum, Calgary,

Pre-Carboniferous Stratigraphy, led by Julie Dumoulin of the U.S. Geological Survey and James Clough of the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys

Evolution of the Canada Basin: Models and Constraints, led by Lawrence Lawver of the University of Texas and Shiri Srivastava of the Geological Survey of Canada,

Proposals for Cooperative Alliances between Science, Industry, and Governments, led by Mike Churkin, Igor S. Gramberg, and William Patton of the U.S. Geological Survey.

In addition we had two special meetings of the Ad Hoc Planning Group for International Cooperation in Canada Basin Tectonic Studies, which consisted of the Canada Basin: Models and Constraints workshop participants and the Magnetic Anomaly Mapping in the Arctic Subcommittee of International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy Working Group V-9, led by Lawrence Lawver and Ralph von Frese of Ohio State University.


ICAM II (September, 6-10, 1994 Magadan, Russia)

Symposia

  • The Cretaceous Volcanic Belts of Arctic Circumpacific
  • The Late Cenozoic Basic and Ultrabasic Alkalic Volcanism in Beringia Province
  • New data obtained on the Beringia history in Late Cenozoic
  • Mantle gneiss domes, core metamorphic complexes and granite metamorphic domes

General Sessions

Poster sessions covering the above general session topics.

Round-table discussion
Present and Future Cooperative Alliances Between Science, Industry and Government of Northern Countries.


ICAM III (October 12-16, 1998 Celle, Germany)

General Sessions

  • Theme 1: Volcanic Provinces around the Eurasian Basin: Interplay with Tectonism
  • Theme 2: Aerogeophysics on the Eurasian Shelves: Signatures and Interpretations
  • Theme 3: Plate Boundary Problems in the Laptev Sea Area
  • Theme 4: The Lomonosov Ridge: History, Boundaries, Function
  • Theme 5: The Barents Shelf and the Eastern Greenland Margin: A Comparison
  • Theme 6: Eurekan Tectonism in Canada, North Greenland, West Spitsbergen: Fold Belts Adjacent to Extensional Ocean Basins.
  • Theme 7: Problems of the Caledonian / Ellesmerian Junction
  • Theme 8: Polar Urals, Novaja Zemlya and Taimyr: The Northern Connection of the Uralides
  • Theme 9: Hydrocarbon Potential of the Eurasian Margins: Geological and Tectonic Factors
  • Theme 10: Metallogenic Provinces in the Circum-Arctic Region
  • Theme 11: Cenozoic Sedimentary Archives of the Eurasian Marginal Seas: Sampling, Coring and Drilling Programmes.
  • Theme 12: Gashydrates and Permafrost, Onshore and Offshore
  • Theme 13: The Amerasian Basin and Margins: New Developments and Results
  • Theme 14: Circum-Arctic Margins: the Search for Fits and Matches.
  • Theme 15: Geodynamics of the Arctic Region

Poster sessions covering the above general session topics.

Plenary Presentations
Eurasian Arctic Margin: Earth Science Problems and Research Challenges, I.S. Gramberg, G. Grikurov, V. Ivanov, Eu. Korago, M. Kos'ko, A. Piskarev, Yu. Pogrebitsky & O. Suprunenko

The Eurasian Basin, T Y. Kristoffersen


ICAM IV (September 30-October 3, 2003, Dartmouth Nova Scotia)

General Sessions

  • Circum-Greenland Tectonics
  • Oil and Gas Reserves/Gas hydrates
  • Ridges and Basins in the Arctic Ocean
  • Article 76-Law of the Sea
  • Geodynamic Significance of Magmatism in the Arctic
  • Atlantic versus Pacific tectonic regimes in the evolution of the Arctic Ocean
  • Circum-Arctic epeirogeny (vertical motions): Tectonic and glacial
  • Modern Processes on Arctic Continental Margins such as Climate change, Coastal processes and Environmental Issues
  • Tectonic Framework
  • New Technologies including Arctic Drilling.

Poster sessions covering the above general session topics.


ICAM V (September 3-5, 2007 in Tromsø, Norway)

General Sessions

  • Geodynamics and Tectonic Evolution of Arctic Region--Search for past plate boundaries; Megasequences in the Circum Arctic; Magmatism; Palaeogeography
  • Circum Arctic Orogens--Uralides; Caledonides/Ellesmerian; Brooks Range
  • Sedimentary Basin Development
  • Uplift and Erosion of Arctic Margins – Timing and Causes
  • Continental Slopes and Deep Basins--Sedimentary processes; Origin and evolution of the Alpha-Mendeleev Ridges
  • Arctic Gateways--Tectonics; Palaeo-oceanography
  • Glacial History and Processes--Morphological development; Palaeoclimate; Permafrost; Technologies for Arctic Ocean Research
  • Technologies for Arctic Ocean Research
  • Paleogeographic Reconstructions of Amerasian Arctic Margins


ICAM VI (May 31-June 2, 2010 in Fairbanks, Alaska, USA)

General Session Topics

  • Hydrocarbon potential and gas hydrates;
  • Science issues relating to UNCLOS Article 76;
  • Geodynamic Significance of Arctic Magmatism;
  • Vertical Motions in the Arctic, Tectonic and Glacial;
  • Geology and palaeogeography of the Arctic continental margins;
  • Evolution of the Arctic Ocean basins, including plate reconstructions, magmatism and sedimentology;
  • Modern Arctic environments, including geological, climatic and oceanographic processes;
  • Recent advances in Arctic research technology

 

Special thanks to BOEMRE for hosting this web site
Last Updated: October 15, 2010