Geological Association of Canada

Summary

GAC and GSA, two of the premier organizations of earth scientists, combined their resources to co-convene a broad, interdisciplinary meeting to discuss the present state of knowledge of Earth System Processes.

Emergence of a Paradigm

Once considered vast and unconnected, Earth's surface environment is now seen as finite and highly interconnected by a complex web of feedbacks among the biota, oceans, atmosphere, lithosphere, and cryosphere. This earth systems paradigm is being shaped by geoscientists and their colleagues in diverse disciplines of the natural sciences. Together we are seeking a better understanding of the nature of these feedbacks in the modern world, how they have emerged and evolved over Earth history, and how they will respond to human perturbations in the future.


The Themes

Ancient Earth Systems explored the hypotheses, some controversial, describing the nature and drivers of environmental and biotic evolution on geologic time scales, some of which involve extraterrestrial influences and exchange with Earth's deep interior. As we clarify the processes that drive the evolution of the earth system, we come closer to understanding our origins and the future of our planet. We also learn how to refine our search for habitable environments and life elsewhere in the universe. Modern Earth System Processes delves into the processes that link the components of the earth system across all scales of space and time. Interdisciplinary studies are just now beginning to elucidate these feedbacks through observation, experimentation, and modeling. These studies provide the phenomenological basis for the investigation of the evolution and future of the earth system.

Earth System Futures addresses important questions about Earth's future. Can we understand the interactions of the earth system well enough to predict how human-induced and natural changes in one component will affect other components over the next century to millennium? Can we make scientific, social, and economic decisions that will minimize the likelihood of catastrophic stress on the biosphere?