The “International Symposium on Aeolian Deposits in Earth History” was held successfully from October 12 to 13 in the International Conference Center at Yanqi Lake campus of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS). Themed “Aeolian Deposits in Earth History”, this symposium discussed (1) modern aeolian processes, (2) aeolian deposits and paleoenvironmental reconstructions and (3) the modeling of aeolian processes and paleoclimate. This symposium was sponsored by UCAS, Chinese Association for Quaternary Research, and Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IGGCAS), and organized by the INQUA Loess Focus Group, Loess Committee of Chinese Association for Quaternary Research, Key Laboratory of Cenozoic Geology and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the CNC-IGBP PAGES Working Group.  

In China, research on aeolian deposits was pioneered by Tungsheng Liu, a famous scientist from IGGCAS and China is leading the world in aeolian research. Recently, increasing evidence shows that extensive aeolian deposits existed during the Cenozoic and the deep past of Earth's history. This greatly expands the focus and aims of the studies on aeolian deposits. 

During the the opening ceremony of the symposium, Shiling Yang, the vice-president of the INQUA Loess Focus Group from IGGCAS, welcomed all the participants from different countries and thanked the generous sponsors of the symposium. Key speeches detailing the excellent achievements and future prospects of the research on aeolian deposits and the need for more international cooperation where geiven by Zhongli Ding (the chair of the scientific committee, the president of the Chinese Association for Quaternary Research, and the president of UCAS), Slobodan B. Marković (the chair of the INQUA Loess Focus Group from the University of Novi Sad), and Min-Te Chen (the editor-in-chief of Quaternary International from National Taiwan Ocean University). During the symposium, 46 oral presentations and 38 posters were given. More than 120 experts and academics participated in the exchanges and heated discussions on different topics raised at the symposium. Participants representing 13 countries attended the symposium. This included China, Russia, Poland, Serbia, Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Ukraine, Norway, Iran, Canada and the United States. 

This symposium has strengthened the exchanges and cooperation among academics from different countries and has promoted the growth of young talents in paleoenvironmental research in China and further consolidated our leading position in this field. 

Zhongli Ding, the chair of the scientific committee, the president of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, gave welcoming remarks at opening ceremony.

Academic exchanges and discussions 

A group photo of all the participants 

(Photo/Tianpeng Yang)