Jeanne B. Percival1, David Bish2,and Daisy Barbosa Alves3

The 13th International Clay Conference (ICC)was held in Tokyo, Japan, from August 21 to28, 2005, on the campus of Waseda Univer-sity in central Tokyo. The conference wasorganized under the auspices of the Associa-tion Internationale pour l’Étude des Argiles(AIPEA; http://aipea.org) in conjunction withthe 49th annual meeting of the Clay ScienceSociety of Japan. The theme for this conferencewas “Claysphere: Past, Present and Future.”This quadrennial conference brought together396 participants from 36 countries. Thekeynote lecture by Prof. Akihiko Yamagishientitled “Chiral Aspects of Clay Minerals”presented the remarkable conclusion thatsmectites can exhibit chiral discriminationwhen the interlayer space has been modifiedby chiral ionic molecules. An additional 15invited symposia presentations and 331invited and volunteered oral and posterpresentations in 17 general sessions(http://wwwsoc.nii.ac.jp/cssj2/ 13ICC/) weremade. The Clay Science Society of Japanpublished and distributed to all 15participants a supplement to their journalClay Science (volume 12) containing all

symposia papers. About 60 papers will bepublished in the Proceedings Volume. At theconclusion of the meeting, the organizersheld the First ICC Satellite Symposium forYoung Scientists on the campus, as well asthe International Symposium on Physics andChemistry of Smectites.

Each morning the conference began with aseries of symposium talks. These covered avariety of fields including interstratifiedminerals, exfoliation, advanced materials,advanced characterization of clay structuresand reactivity, and clay polymers and nano-composites. These talks covered currentapplications in fields ranging from nanotech-nology to medicine to industry. The morningsymposia were followed by oral presentationsin the general sessions covering the teachingof clay science, clays in geology, the crystalchemistry and structure of clays, the synthesisof clays, the physical and chemical propertiesof clays, the simulation and characterization ofclays, clays in industry, waste managementand clay barriers and civil engineering, claysand environment, clays and human health, theclay–biology interface, soil and non-crystallineclays, layered double hydroxides and anionicclays, activated clays and porous materials,and clay–organic intercalation compounds.Each day ended with a two-hour poster session.

The traditional mid-week break consisted of afield trip to the Nikko area to visit some localcultural spots, including the Kegon waterfallsand the Toshogu shrine. Four busloads of

enthusiastic participants enjoyed the two-hour drive up the switchback road to visit thefalls; unfortunately the fog was so thick wecould only hear the waterfalls. The shrineoffered a perfect spot for a group photo (FIG. 1).The conference featured a banquet on Fridayevening. Awards and medals were presentedat the closing ceremony on Saturday morning.This year’s Bradley Award winner was JavieraCervini-Silva (USA). The AIPEA Diplomas forFellowships were given to Dr. José JulienFripiat (France) and Dr. José Serratosa (Spain).AIPEA Medals for excellence in clay science,sponsored by Sociedad Española de Arcillas,were given to Dr. Eduardo Ruiz-Hitzky (Spain)and Dr. Stephen Guggenheim (USA).

WORKSHOPS AND FIELD TRIPSA premeeting workshop entitled “Bio-claysand Bio-mineralization” was organized byDr. Kazue Tazaki from Kanazawa Universityand was cosponsored by the 13th ICC and theInternational Year of Planet Earth (IYPE) ofIUGS. This workshop was designed to bringparticipants to view biomineralization inaction through visits to hot springs wheremicrobial mats and bio-clays in lagoonalsediments were observed. The talks andposters were complemented by stops at localceramic and pottery factories, historicalJapanese gardens, and the Kanazawa Castle.Participants praised Dr. Kazue for the infor-mative and experiential character of theworkshop (FIG. 2).

One of us, DBA, took part in a premeetingfield trip—“Bentonite resources of NorthernHonshu”—guided by Dr. Tetsuichi Takagi

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to keep library prices low enough so thatlibraries can afford to purchase GSW and atthe same time provide the participating pub-lishers with sufficient compensation throughroyalties that they can afford to keep publish-ing if print and individual electronic subscrip-tions decrease. For this reason, GSW is limitingits rate of growth until it is more established.After weighing many factors, including advicefrom the Library Advisory Committee, GSWwill not add new journals until mid-2006.Other publishers are seriously interested butare waiting until the first publisher royaltypayments are made to decide if it is economi-cally feasible for their journal to join. The firstpriority when new journals are added will beto fill specific discipline areas. GSW is espe-cially interested in journals covering structureand tectonics, hydrology, geophysics, andsurficial processes. We are currently workingon a separate linking arrangement with open-access geoscience journals.

Alex SpeerMSA Executive Director

Member of Board of Directors, GSW

GEOSCIENCEWORLD (cont’d from p. 313)

1 Geological Survey of Canada, 601 Booth St.,Ottawa, ON K1A 0E8, Canada

2 Department of Geological Sciences, IndianaUniversity, 1001 E 10th St.,Bloomington IN 47405, USA

3 Petroleo Brasileiro, S.A. Research Center (CENPES),Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Some of the delegates who participatedin the mid-week field trip to Nikko.

FIGURE 1

13th International Clay Conference (AIPEA)

(Geological Survey of Japan) and Dr.Masakazu Ito (Kunimine Industries Co. Ltd.)with the assistance of Motoki Minami andKen-Ichi Mogi (Kunimine Industries Co. Ltd.).The first day, en route to Zao City, we stoppedat Kuroiso to visit the active and well-equipped laboratory of Kunimine Industries.This laboratory develops and performsquality-control analyses of the mined productfor Kunimine Industries. The day concludedwith a stay at the Miyagi Zao Royal Hotel,with traditional Japanese hospitality, excellentfood, and beautiful hot spring baths.

Day 2 was dedicated to the study of the maingeological aspects of three bentonite minesand to collecting samples. The first minewas the Dobuyama open pit of KunimineIndustries. Its bentonite is formed mainly ofCa-smectite (with subordinate opal, quartz,and zeolite). The parent rocks were UpperMiocene rhyolitic lapilli tuffs, and alterationwas produced by hydrothermal activityassociated with rhyolite intrusion. The secondmine visited was the Kawasaki open pit of theKawasaki Mining Co. Ltd. Its bentonite bedsare formed mainly of Na–Ca-smectite (withsubordinate opal-CT, quartz, and zeolite). Theparent rocks were two horizons of thick felsictuff beds intercalated in alternating MiddleMiocene sandstones and siltstones. Thesebentonites are considered to have formed bydiagenesis.

The third mine was the largest undergroundbentonite mine in Japan—the Tsukinunomine of Kunimine Industries Co. Ltd. Thissophisticated underground mine is accessibleby ample tunnels in which modern jeeps cancirculate easily. Its bentonite beds are com-posed of Na-smectite (with subordinate quartz,feldspar, illite, calcite, and zeolite). The parentrocks were felsic tuff beds intercalated inMiddle Miocene hard shale. The bentonitebeds 29 (7 m) and 31 (~2.5 m) are the mainlayers mined. We completed the day with atour of the modern Aterazawa factory anddined at the Hotel Symphony on a superbJapanese banquet hosted by Mr. Toshiaki

Kawashima, president of Kunimine Industries.The excursion ended with a visit to the mostbeautiful active volcano at Zao (FIG. 3), areminder of the volcanic source of thebentonite deposits.

Following the conference, JBP participated infield trip 2—“Clays in Active (Hachimantai)and Fossil (Kuroko Deposit) HydrothermalSystems, Northern Honshu.” Dr. KatsumiMarumo from the Geological Survey of Japan/Advanced Industrial Science and Technology(AIST) and Prof. Yohei Ishikawa from Akita

University led the field trip. The trip startedin Morioka (~600 km north of Tokyo), and inthe geothermal area we looked at hot springs,their deposits, and active geothermal powerplants. We also visited the Matsuo neutrali-zation plant built to mitigate the acid minedrainage problem ensuing from the oldMatuso sulfur mine. The day ended at KosakaTown, site of the main Kuroko deposit miningcompany (Kosaka Smelting and Refinery Co.Ltd.) and mine office building. The last mineclosed in 1990, and the smelter now processescomputer parts to recycle metals. Kosaka is

also the host of the Japan InternationalCooperation Agency (JICA) training programsin mining technology.

On the second day, we visited severaloutcrops of saprolite associated with theKuroko deposits, where we collected clayminerals, including excellent specimensof smectite and kaolinite. Walking by ricepaddies and up logging roads, we viewedMiddle Miocene deposits related to fossilseafloor hydrothermal systems, which hadcontained rich reserves of copper. The Kuroko

(meaning black ore) deposits were, at onetime, the largest copper mines in the world.Understanding their nature is important tocurrent studies of modern seafloor systems.The day ended at Lake Towada National Parkwhere we visited the crater lake. Accommoda-tion at the Towada Hotel, a traditionalJapanese lodging, was superb with excellentfood, wonderful hot baths, and breathtakingviews. We returned to Tokyo the next day onthe “bullet” train.

The next ICC meeting will be held in Italyin June 2009 and will be hosted by theItalian Clay Society under the leadershipof Dr. Saverio Fiore.

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Prof. Tazaki (hat) discussing biomineral-ization with participant. PHOTO DR. RENATA

JACH, POLAND

FIGURE 2

Panoramic view, showing the main geo-morphologic features of the active vol-

cano at Zao and participants in the F1 field excursion.PHOTO DR. SEONG-WAN PARK, KOREA

FIGURE 3