First Cuban Earth Science Convention
• Some 700 delegates from 33 countries to participateBY LILLIAM RIERA —Granma International staff writer—
THE first Cuban Earth Science Convention is to take place in
Havana between April 5 and 8, with the participation of 700 people from 33 countries, including the host country.
The event, at which 650 papers will be presented, combines the 6th Geology Congress, the 3rd Geophysics Conference, the 1st Mineralogy Conference and the 1st Astronomy and Spatial Geophysics
Symposium.
Doctor Manuel Iturralde Vinent, first vice president and scientific secretary of the organizing committee, stated to the press that the convention is taking place at a time when the world is immersed in a process of changing ideas on the role played by geoscience in the development of life.
For example, he highlighted how more accurate predictions could be made if we know how to utilize geological studies of similar past events.
Iturralde Vinent noted that precisely in relation to the theme of seismography and geological risks, 70 papers are to address climatic change, drought, earth- and
seaquakes, as well as other topics. Meanwhile 90-plus presentations relate to nickel exploration and exploitation of nickel.
Cuba enjoys a certain reputation in the field of geoscience that has been strengthened since the triumph of the Revolution, making it possible for the country to exhibit its
scientific results on oil extraction and drilling, Iturralde observed.
Very important projects related to astronomy and spatial geophysics, which received prizes from the Cuban Academy of Science, will also be demonstrated at the event and there will be discussions on the application of computer
science to geology, the conservation of resources and the geological heritage, and on the use of Cuban zeolites in certain Latin American countries. There will be roundtable discussions on education in the geo-sciences, on nanoscience, including nanotechnology, new materials and microporous materials.
The doctor highlighted a lecture by Umberto Cordani from the International Union of Geological Science, on generalities of geological evolution in South America with an emphasis on the Mesozoic Era, and one by Tomás Benítez, first deputy head of the Ministry of Basic Industry, on the development of
geology, mining and oil in Cuba: a perspective, as examples of two interesting seminars to be given.
The first Cuban Earth Science Conference is co-sponsored by different agencies attached to the Ministries of Science, Technology and Environment, Basic Industry and Construction, as well as the National
Union of Architects and Construction Engineers of Cuba and others.
