Field trips are arranged for pre-, mid-, and post- conference excursions according to the responses from participants. These trips will provide opportunities to visit classical Ordovician and Silurian sections of South China, and to collect Ordovician and Silurian fossils and samples. Famous Chinese cultural relics and natural parks will be visited on the way. Field guidebooks will be available.

1. Pre-Conference field excursion to the JCY area and Northwest Zhejiang, SE China--Ordovician and Silurian of slope facies. (5 days, June 22-26; US$500, Leader: Zhang Yuandong, Email: ydzhang@jlonline.com )

Registration fees: US$500 (The fees cover all meals, accommodations, and transportation during the excursion).

Tips:

The trip, starting from Shanghai and ending in Nanjing, will take an intensive investigation into the Ordovician and Silurian rocks and fossils of the slope facies in the JCY area and Northwest Zhejiang, SE China.

The JCY area (Jiangshan, Changshan and Yushan) is located in the border area of the Jiangxi and Zhejiang provinces, SE China, being approximately 800km from Nanjing and 500km from Shanghai by freeway. It has been one of the most classic areas for study of the Ordovician System in China, where a complete sequence of typical slope facies is developed, and where the first Golden Spike of Ordovician (Darriwilian GSSP) was erected in 1997. We will visit the basically clastic Tremadocian rock containing trilobites, brachiopods and rare graptolites; and the middle Ordovician carbonates and shales which yield very abundant and exquisite 3-dim pyritic graptolites and the thick Upper Ordovician deposits containing brachiopods and trilobites. A simultaneous regional carbonate platform, on which coral-stromatoporoid reefs with rich shelly fossils were developed, will be also visited.

The Thousand-Island Lake area and the NW Zhejiang present late Ordovician-early Silurian turbidites and foreland basin deposits. In a number of localities, we will find the distinct Hirnantian-Rhuddanian graptolites, trilobites, brachiopods and bivalves. Deposits of regional Hirnantian conglomerate will also be investigated and discussed.

Tourism in the famous "Thousand-Islands Lake" with the lake food is listed in the schedule.

The temperature of JCY area and NW Zhejiang in late June ranges from 25ºC to 30ºC. Participants should bring their own rain gears (umbrella or rain jacket) for possible rainy days.

Route map for the five days' pre-conference excursion to the JCY area and NW Zhejiang

Day-by-day schedule

All the participants will get together on the evening of Jun. 21 in Shanghai and stay overnight there. The hotel name in Shanghai will be informed to the participants in the 3^rd circular. The trip will be by coach throughout.

Day 1 (Jun. 22) - traveling from Shanghai to Changshan and investigating early-middle Ordovician Hengtang section.

morning: traveling from Shanghai to the JCY (Jiangshan-Changshan-Yushan) area by coach.

afternoon: visiting the early and middle Ordovician shales with interbedded limestones (Yinchufu Fm., Ningkuo Fm. and Hulo Fm.), abundant graptolites and trilobites at Hengtang, Jiangshan.

overnight: Changshan County town. Reception dinner hosted by the Government of Changshan County.

Day 2 (Jun. 23) - trip to Zhuzhai section (Late Ordovician) of Yushan County, ca. 100 km from Changshan.

morning and afternoon: late Ordovician benthic communities and reefs at Zhuzhai and Jitoushan sections, Yushan County, NE Jiangxi province. The collective fossils corals, stromatoporoids, calcareous algae, brachiopods, nautiloids, gastropods and trilobites etc. In the evening, the participants may visit the Geo-museum of the Changshan County, located in downtown.

overnight: Changshan, County town.

Day 3 (Jun. 24) - visiting complete Ordovician sections in Changshan, and travelling from Changshan to the Thousand-Island Lake.

morning: A complete Ordovician sequence at Huangitang section (the GSSP for Darriwilian), Changshan (Yinchufu, Ningkuo, Hulo, Yenwashan, Huangnigang and Changwu/Sanqushan formations).

afternoon: traveling from Changshan to the Thousand-Island Lake

overnight: Chun'an, downtown by the Thousand-Island Lake.

Day 4 (Jun. 25) - Hirnantian-early Silurian rocks in Chun'an

morning: enjoy the Thousand-Island Lake and visit the Ordovician rocks on some islands.

afternoon: visit the Wenchang, Shakengwu, Tantou and possibly also Tongjunshan sections to investigate the Hirnantian and Early Silurian rocks (flysch and possibly coast facies), graptolites, brachiopods, gastropods and bivalves. Travel to Lin'an.

overnight: Lin'an city, downtown.

Day 5 (Jun. 26)  - Hirnantian - early Silurian rocks and fossils in Lin'an, and travel to Nanjing

morning: visit the Tangjia section, Yankou, Lin'an, to see the Hirnantian - earliest Silurian rocks, and collect graptolites, brachiopods, trilobites and other fossils.

afternoon: travelling from Lin'an to Nanjing.

overnight: Nanjing City.

Base of the Darriwilian Stage, Middle Ordovician at the Huangnitang GSSP section, Zhejiang Province

Biostrome at the Zhuzhai section, Yushan County, NE Jiangxi Province

2, Mid-conference excursion: Suburb of Nanjing city, Ordovican and Silurian rocks, and UNESCO world heritage: Mingxiaoling Tomb and other scenic spots

       One day, US$40 (Bus, guide, lunch and dinner covered)

Historic Nanjing city

3, Post-conference Field Excursion: Ordovician and Silurian rocks and fossils of SW China (7 days, July 1-July 7, 2007)

South China is famous for its continuous Lower Paleozoic stratigraphic succession and abundant and diverse marine fossils. For more than a century, the Lower Paleozoic rocks have been studied by generations of Chinese and foreign geologists, stratigraphers, and paleontologists. In the post-conference field excursion, we plan to visit some of the classic Ordovician and Silurian localities and sections (coincided partly with famous scenery spots) in northern Guizhou Province, southern Chongqing District (previously eastern Sichuan Province) and western Hubei Province. One of the main purposes of the excursion is to demonstrate the spectacular outcrops and well-preserved fossils of many major groups, and to examine the sequence of biofacies and ecological relationships of various benthic shelly faunas. The dates and programs are tentatively scheduled as follows.

Excursion leaders: ZHAN Renbin (rbzhan@nigpas.ac.cn), Jisuo JIN (jisuojin@hotmail.com).

Registration fees: $850USD. The fees cover the airfare from Nanjing to Guiyang, capital of Guizhou Province, all meals, accommodations, and transportation (bus and hovercraft) during the excursion.

Tips: The field trip area is located between latitudes of 27-32ºN, with a continental climate. The temperature ranges from 15ºC (evening and rainy days) to 30ºC (average 25ºC). The humidity is usually moderate (rarely high). Participants should bring their own rain gears (umbrella or rain jacket) for possible rainy days. Most of the stops are roadside sections, but two sections involve climbing of gentle hills. Sturdy running shoes or hiking boots are recommended. Traveling by hovercraft through the Yangtze Gorges is included.

Special dietary requirements: The local food in the field trip areas is typically spicy hot. We make every effort to have balanced spicy and non-spicy dishes to satisfy the various tastes of all participants. If you have any special diet requirements (e.g., vegetarian diet, food allergies), please let the organizers know in advance so that we can make proper preparations to accommodate your needs as possible as we can.

Itinerary (July 1-July 7, 2007):

Day 1: Travel by air from Nanjing to Guiyang (8:00am to 11:30am); lunch in Guiyang; travel by chartered bus from Guiyang to Tongzi County town (3:00pm to 6:00pm); reception dinner hosted by the Government of Tongzi County. Staying overnight in Tongzi County town, northern Guizhou Province.

Optional activity (2:00-3:00pm): Jiaxiulou Pavillion, centre of Guiyang city, a historical site from the Ming Dynasty.

Day 2: Lower Ordovician to Lower Silurian section at Honghuayuan, Tongzi, focusing on the lithological sequence, main fossil horizons, biodiversity change of major fossil groups, depositional environments, and paleoecology of benthic faunas. Staying overnight in Tongzi County town.

Day 3: Upper Ordovician to Lower Silurian section at Daijiagou, Tongzi, focusing on the lithological sequence, main fossil horizons such as the Pagoda Limestone, the Wufeng graptolitic shales, the Hirnantia Fauna, the Pentamerus fauna in the Shihniulan Formation, and related depositional environments.

Leaving Tongzi for Chongqing City at about 3:00pm. Staying overnight in Chongqing City.

Optional activity (8:00-9:30pm): Time permitting, a sightseeing tour in the Chaotianmen Harbor area will be organized.

Day 4: Travel by hovercraft from Chongqing to Yichang, western Hubei Province, passing through the famous Yangtze Gorges natural wonders along the Yangtze River. Enroute sightseeing of the Three Gorges and the Three Gorges Dam. Reception dinner hosted by the Government of Yichang City. Staying overnight in Yichang City.

Day 5: Ordovician sections at Huanghuachang-Chenjiahe, Yichang, focusing on the continuous Huahuachagn candicate section of the base of the Middle Ordovician, lithological sequence, depositional environments, main fossil horizons, and paleoecology of benthic faunas. Visit to the archeological site - 2500-year-old Xiaofeng Cliff-Hanging Coffins late in the afternoon. Staying overnight in Yichang City.

Day 6: Upper Ordovician to Lower Silurian sections at Wangjiawan, Yichang, focusing on the Hirnantian GSSP section, lithological sequence of the Llandovery, Silurian and some fossiliferous horizons in the Lungmachi and Lojoping formations (e.g., the Pentamerus Bed).

Day 7: End of field excursion; driving to Wuhan International Airport; participants depart to their own destinations (Wuhan is the capital city of Hubei Province).

Post-conference field excursion along the Yangtze river