| Session Details | |
| Section | IG - Interdisciplinary Geosciences |
| Session Title | Where History and Geology Intercept: Multidisciplinary Approaches to Extending Our Chronology of Catastrophic Geologic Events |
| Main Convener | Dr. Christopher Harpel (US Geological Survey, United States) |
| Co-convener(s) | Dr. Fiona Williamson (National University of Singapore, Singapore) Dr. Florian M. Schwandner (Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, United States) Prof. Aron Meltzner (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore) |
| Session Description | Geoscientists, historians, anthropologists, and archaeologists all recognize the impact of catastrophic geologic events on human populations, yet often work on different time scales and in isolation from one another. Catastrophic geologic events such as volcanic eruptions, landslides, typhoons, floods, tsunamis, and earthquakes occur along a time continuum that intersects all of these research disciplines. In many cases, such events are recorded in more than one medium. For example, an event may impact a society in such a way that it is recorded in their oral history and passed down through the generations. Written records exist in many cultures that long predate European contact, though such documents can sometimes be physically fragile, not compiled into centralized archives, difficult to access, and in languages that require specialized knowledge to read and interpret. The advanced trade networks and complex colonial histories in many locations resulted in documents that record such events, but have long been dispersed, sequestered, and forgotten in regional or European archives. Many disastrous events emplace characteristic sedimentary deposits or leave other traces that are evident in archaeological and geological studies. Each data source, whether it be an archival document, story from an oral history, or sedimentary deposit records unique aspects and details of an event. In many locations, detailed chronologies of catastrophic geologic events do not exist. Yet, the hazards presented by such events require that we better understand their history. Research that combines methods from multiple disciplines provides a much richer and more detailed understanding of the number, timing, circumstances, and societal impact of such events. We invite presentations that discuss multidisciplinary research combining geological, historical, anthropological, archaeological, or other methods to better understand a volcanic eruption, typhoon, flood, landslide, tsunami, or earthquake; to develop chronologies of such events; or to understand the societal impact of such past events. |