Dear subscribers, I hope this gives a flavour of what is to come.... STABLE ISOTOPES AND THE INTEGRATION OF BIOLOGICAL, ECOLOGICAL AND GEOCHEMICAL PROCESSES AAB Meeting to be held at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne 9-11 July 1996, in conjunction with SEB and BES. The meeting will provide a theoretical and practical framework to the analysis and interpretation of the stable isotope signals across a range of applications. Latest developments in mass spectrometric analysis and sample preparation for carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen will be set against the theory underlying fractionation and implications for primary production of organic material. The transformations associated with the hydrological cycle, soils and vegetation will be compared for a range of ecosystems. Ultimately, the aim is to validate models of resource acquisition and turnover in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, producing a sounder basis for palaeoclimatic reconstruction and more reliable predictions for future climate change. Provisional programme: Monday 8 July 12:00 Excursion to Hadrians Wall and the Whin Sill 17:00-18.30 Registration at Castle Leazes Halls of Residence Tuesday 9 July 08:15 REGISTRATION AT CURTIS AUDITORIUM (Buses are available to take delegates from Castle Leazes to Curtis Auditorium at 08:30 Tues-Thurs) Session 1: STABLE ISOTOPES, Introduction and technical development Keynote lecture:J RAVEN Palaeoatmospheres and the evolution of phototrophy Manufacturers presentations:FINNEGAN, FISONS VG, EUROPA SCIENTIFIC, ANALYTICAL PRECISION Session 2: Sources: inorganic and organic transformations J T BRENNA GCC-IRMS for organic hydrogen J VOLKMAN Isotopic analysis of hydrocarbons from a permian shale R EVERSHED Compound distributions and d13C of modern and fossil leaves G GLEIXNER Origin of refractory organic acids in aquatic ecosystems. M COLEMAN Interactions of inorganic and microbial systems. G FARQUHAR Interpretation of d18O of leaf material J SCHLEUCHER Intramolecular deuterium distributions and plant growth conditions K FREEMAN Carbon 13 plant lignin records and Quaternary climate variations D HOPKINS & D ROBINSON Stable isotopes in studies of nitrogen fluxes in and from soils L HANDLEY Nitrogen sources and sinks T YONEYAMA Nitrogen fractionation during plant uptake and assimilation AAB Reception and poster session CONFERENCE DINNER Wednesday 10 July Session 3: Terrestrial resources and transformations:soil, nutrient and water sources H SCHMIDT 13C patterns in natural compounds and enyzme catalysed reactions G GEBAUER NH4+ and NO3- use by forest plants: effect on soils/ground water J RICHARDS 15N and bladderworts P ERSKINE Plants, penguins and 15N: N pathways on a subantarctic island C KENDALL Use of d18O and d15N to detect sources of nitrate in early spring run off T DAWSON H and O isotope analyses and plant water relations D M SMITH Water competition between trees and crops in agroforestry J MAGID Plant litter decomposition in a tropical ultisol: a dual isotopic study in 13C and14C R AMUNDSON Relationship between d18O of soil CO2 and water J GAT Stable isotopes and the hydrological cycle Session 4 Through plant to terrestrial ecosystems D YAKIR Leaf water, a cross road for plant associated isotopic signals E PENDALL Isotopic tracers of water movement through the soil-plant- atmosphere continuum E BRUGNOLI Carbon isotope discrimination in stuctural and non-structural carbon: adaptation to unfavourable conditions J EHLERINGER Integration of arid zone ecosystems using stable isotope L FLANNAGAN Oxygen isotope effects during CO2 exchange: from leaf to ecosystem processes B KRUIJT Do we need isotopes to estimate carbon recycling in plant canopies? J R BROOKS Leaf d13C of boreal plants: functional groupings of life forms J M GUEHL Diversity in tree species of an Amazonian rainforest: a dualisotope approach (d13 C and d15N) N BUCHMANN Carbon isotope discrimination of terrestrial ecosystems POSTER SESSION GALA DINNER AT CIVIC CENTRE Thursday 11 July Session 5: Aquatic ecosystems A JOHNSTON & H KENNEDY Modelling carbon acquisition & isotopic composition in phytoplankton N OWENS Nitrogen cycling in oceans S BURY C & N biogeochemical cycling in coastal waters off South Georgia, Antarctica D DES MARAIS Marine cyanobacterial mat ecosystems: isotopic discriminationin carbon & sulphur biogeochemical cycles H SPERO Effects of seawater chemistry on oxygen and carbon isotopic composition of biogenic calcite F A STREET-PERROTT, Y HUANG & G EGLINTON 'Heavy carbon' in lake sediments and peat during the last glaciation P WACHNIEW Controls on isotopic composition of calcite precipitating in lake Gosciaz M JEDRYSEK Mechanisms of methanogenesis in freshwater sediments Session 6: Climate change and atmospheric processes A FALLICK Carbonates and development of life J MARSHALL Carbon isotope ratios & stomatal densities of Miocene fossil leaves and modern congeners D BEERLING Changes in land-plant function over the Phanerozoic T CERLING Calcretes and the evolution of photosynthetic pathways G KLINKEN Determining ancient human diet: are plants the key? M POLLARD Stable isotopes in archaeology V R SWITSUR Stable isotopes in tree ring cellulose H MEIJER 18O of CO2 - direct signal of the global biosphere P CIAIS Integration of 13C and 18O in atmospheric transport models