Annual Report 2007 of the Working Group on Paleogene Stratigraphy of the North Pacific

1. A meeting of the Working Group of Paleogene Stratigraphy for the North Pacific was held in Moscow in March 2007.
It discussed new data on the region (several presentations were made) and outlined plans of activities for 2008-2010.
2. The 9th Congress on Pacific Neogene Stratigraphy was held in Tsukuba (Japan) in October 2007 (leader Prof. K. Ogasawara).
During the Congress some problems of Paleogene stratigraphy were especially discussed.
Among them were correlations of oceanic and shelf areas and environmental changes (J. Barron, A. Gladenkov, E. Suparka, K. Ogasawara, and others).
3. A field excursion was organized to the Pacific coast of NE Japan (Sendai and Hirono, Joban areas). It included examination of Oligocene formations.
4. In 2007 a new Russian project 2008-2010 was set up to study geological evolution of North Pacific shelf zones in the Cenozoic (particularly, in the Paleogene) . The project embraces investigations of biotic assemblages evolution, sedimentational, tectonic,
magmatic, paleoclimatic and paleogeographic processes. The project will result in
Paleogene refined stratigraphic schemes andcorrelation of geological events.
5. Field investigations of the transitional Paleogene-Cretaceous beds were carried out in Sakhalin. Planktonic assemblages of this interval have been first recovered there (V. Beniamovsky and others).
6. Works on the Ypresian sequences of Kamchatka, which included studies of molluscan and foraminiferal assemblages, were continued (V. Sinelnikova). Studies of this previously unknown rich fauna will provide better knowledge of the climatic optimum in
boreal latitudes.
7. A significant summarization on Paleogene volcanism of the Kamchatka region has been accomplished (A. Shantser). As a result, certain phases of volcanic activities were established in the Paleogene (about 40 mln y.) on the base of changes of volcanism areas and composition of volcanic rocks.
8. Comparative studies of the North Pacific Eocene and Oligocene biotas were conducted (Yu. Gladenkov). Analyses of areas of distribution of shelf and oceanic assemblages and environmental changes were made.
9. A volume “Late Cenozoic detailed stratigraphy and marine ecosystems of the North Pacific region based on diatoms (Moscow, GEOS, 2007, 288 p.) was published (A. Gladenkov).
10. The symposium “Oligocene Series: A time of change in Earth and life history” was included into the program of the 33rd IGC in Oslo (N. Vandenberghe, Yu. Gladenkov).
All these items were reflected in related publications and presentations.

Report by Yu. B. Gladenkov, Chairman