NEW TRENDS IN GEOMAGNETISM III (INTRODUCTORY REMARKS)

The articles collected here represent written versions of the papers presented at the "New Trends in Geomagnetism" conference held between 23 and 28 June 1992 at the castle of Smolenice in western Slovakia. Let me dispell immediately any concern that the reader may feel that such a meeting might turn out to be somewhat parochial. Not at all, topics discussed ranged from Chinese loess to Vancouver Island speleothems, from Kola Peninsula lake sediments to Antarctic meteorites. Furthermore, the participants themselves hailed from Tokyo to Mexico, from Stockholm to Buenos Aires.

With such diversity, it is not my intention to attempt a detailed summary. Suffice it to say that the largest block of papers treated the tectonic evolution of Europe. In view of the venue, this is as it should be. It is also in keeping with the conference title, since paleomagnetism is poised to play as vital a role in the oncoming "continental" phase of plate tectonics as it did in the original "oceanic" phase. But many other topics were discussed, ranging from the fascination of magnetotactic bacteria to the promise of microwaves in paleointensity studies; from the domain structure of smythite to the puzzling response of hematite magnetism to different laboratory procedures.

All this took place in a friendly atmosphere conductive to lively discussion. Nor should one forget the beautiful surroundings, the thrill of the Slovak folk music and dancing at the barbecue garden party, and the accomplished - and moving - concert given by the Bratislava Children Singers Ensemble. In short, a first-rate conference and a delightufl experience. Don't miss the next one!

Ted Evans University of Alberta

In this issue of Studia geophysica et geodaetica, along with the regular papers, five contributions of the above reported meeting are published. Two more contributions will appear in the frothcoming issue. In addition, other contributions were submitted to a concurrently issued journal Geologica Carpathica.

We would like to express our thanks to the reviewers who contributed to the quality of the presented papers.

Eduard Petrovskg Guest Editor

Studia geoph, et geod. 37 (1993) 365