Meeting opened at 9:00 am with remarks by President Fari Goodarzi

Attendees (Attachment I):

Agenda - approved (Attachment II)

President's report

President Goodarzi was very enthusiastic about the number of students attending the meeting and quality of their study projects. This bodes well for the future of coal and organic petrology in Canada.

Organic petrology is being revived although coal petrology seems to be in a bit of decline. This situation exists despite the fact that some high profile activities, such as coalbed methane, have highlighted the importance of coal petrology to fully realize the potential of the resource. Also studies in coal related areas are being carried out, especially by students of M. Bustin, University of British Columbia and E. van der Flier-Keller, University of Victoria. Further coal activities in British Columbia are carried on by private consultants and British Columbia Geologial Survey. Alberta is covered by GSC Calgary, Alberta Research Council and to a limited extent by Langenberg of Alberta Geological Survey. Saskatchewan is represented by University of Regina and Ontario has a number of students involved in graduate studies at University of Western Ontario and University of Guelph. These studies include peat studies as well as some international projects. Quebec activities are led by INRS Georesources and the Atlantic area by Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resourses, GSC Atlantic and private consultants. Regretfully cuts are continuing at federal and provincial levels which have impacted on our members such as W. Kalkreuth who as reported at last year's meeting has taken a position in Brazil. He still continues contact with the society and is involved in the atlas.

After six years as president F. Goodarzi considered it was time for him to step down. During his term he was able to accomplish a number of initiatives for the society. We are now a voting member of the Geoscience Council of Canada and the society has been formalized with a constitution and registered as a non-profit organization for tax purposes. He suggests it is time for a change of leadership which would allow him to spend more time on his many other projects and responsibilities.

Regrets: Peter Hacquebard, Ken Hampel, Andrew Beaton and Bob Lamour

Changes in executive
- The treasurer's term was up in May/97, so nominations were sought from the members for the position. Note that the constitution allows the treasurer to run for a second term. A request was made for more nominations or volunteers for treasurer from those present at the meeting. Three names were put forward, they are: D. Marchioni, T. Gentzis and K. Pratt. K. Pratt is not able to accept the nomination at this time and D. Marchioni indicated that since T. Gentzis is still willing to take on another term he would withdraw his nomination. Therefore T. Gentzis will be our treasurer for another term.
- Also, because President Goodarzi has announced that he will be stepping down as soon as we can elect an new President, nominations for the position were sought from the members for the next term. Two names have been put forward, they are: L. Stasiuk and J. Potter. Both candidates have asked for some time to consider the nomination so we will send out ballots as soon as possible depending on their deliberations.
- It was decided that if L. Stasiuk was to become president then he would turn over his duties as publication editor to P.K. Mukhopadhyay. Since P.K. Mukhopadhyay will have a major involvement in a publication for the joint meeting next year that it would be best for him to take the position.

Jim Allen memorial
- I am pleased to inform you that a special session was held in memory of Jim Allen at the CSPG - SEPM conference last week in Calgary. The title of the session was Jim Allen Memorial: Source Rocks of Western Canada Sedimentary Basin and the World. It was organized by Drs. Cynthia Reidiger and Martin Fowler. Many members from our society gave or participated in talks at the session.

John Castano memorial
- On a related note for anyone who has not heard I regret to announce the death of John Castano. John died suddenly of a heart attack on April 20 at his home in Houston, Texas. He was a very widely known and active member of TSOP. In fact he was very instrumental in establishing TSOP. For more information see the TSOP web site or the review of his career (with photo) in the June/97 TSOP newsletter. Many at the meeting expressed considerable shock at the announcement. John had recently reviewed a paper for at least one member attesting to how suddenly his career ended. It was announced by P.K. Mukhopadhyay that a special symposium will be held in his honour as part of the TSOP/CSCOP joint meeting in Halifax next year. At P.K. Mukhopadhyay's request a minute of silence was observed in respect of both John Castano and Jim Allen.

Hacquebard Award - At last year's meeting J. Potter announced the names of the three nominees forwarded by the membership. Since that time letters have been sent to the nominees (Marc Bustin, Alex Cameron and Wolfgang Kalkreuth) informing them of their selection and requesting that they prepare a brief outline of their career as it relates to the award guidelines. This outline as well as guidelines for the award will be included with the voting ballot to help members in making their decision. The ballot is just about to be mailed out and has a return deadline of August 30, 1997. The committee and executive consider your input as essential to this process so please take the time to make your choice and promptly return ballots to President F. Goodarzi.

Joint TSOP/CSCOP meeting - Plans for TSOP Halifax '98 meeting July 26-28th, 1998 are moving along. Conveners are P.K. Mukhopadhyay (Muki), J.H. Calder, F. Goodarzi and M. Avery. Local conveners in Halifax area have had a couple of meeting so far. The venue is the World Trade and Convention Centre in downtown Halifax. A letter head has been developed for the meeting and some letters of invitation have been sent out. Also a web home page based on the letter head design is being set up for the meeting. Look for an insert in this mailing and the June TSOP newsletter. A poster advertising the meeting has been prepared for posting in various locations.

Constitution - Our constitution needs some updating in the form of amendments or by-laws. For instance the constitution says there is only one position of secretary-treasurer but we have split this into two positions. The members at the meeting were asked if changes should be handled by a constitution committee.

Web site - Our present site is temporarily hosted on an NRCan computer in Ottawa. The page was originally set up by Ken Pratt and we appreciate the effort he put into it. K. Pratt is no longer able to spend the time necessary to maintain or improve the site. I have agreed in the meantime to take over the site and make some improvements. The web site could become an important communication tool for the society. Right now we are not getting much feedback about use of the site and no way to measure any feedback. We need to add a specific request for feedback and a hit counter to track usage of the site. One issue is the registration of the web address to replace the present tedious one (www.nrcan.gc.ca/~kpratt/cscsop/index.htm) with one that has some relation to our society name. A permanent address could be something like the recently setup by TSOP (www.tsop.org). It also allows changing the actual location of the files without changing the address so that if there is a change of caretakers the address can remain stable. The cost of registration is about $50US/year which I realize is significant for our society but will be worth it as more members and anyone else interested in the society use the site. If the executive agrees then these minutes will be placed on the web site.

Glossary/Atlas - Again this year the work and direction of J. Potter has produced real progress on the glossary. J. Potter has been able to urge leaders to submit some very good photo plates as well as prepare some others largely on her own. With almost all the plates ready she is quite confident the atlas will be going to print in September. The annual meeting this year was substantially the last opportunity for members to have input into the atlas. J. Potter held an extensive session with the members present at the meeting especially the working group leaders (see society business below).

Forthcoming meetings:
ICCP: 49th Annual meeting, Wellington, New Zealand, October 20-24th, 1997
TSOP: 14th Annual meeting, Lexington, Kentucky, September 27-30th, 1997
(Joint meeting with AAPG- eastern section)

Dinner - As is customary at our annual meeting, members were encouraged to gather for a social evening that continues or fosters informal dialogue in a relaxed setting. This year the place was "Rosa Café" at Brentwood Mall.

Field trip (see Agenda; Attachment II) - A very well attended and successful field trip was led by Drs. Cynthia Reidiger, Department of Geology, University of Calgary and L.D. Stasiuk, Geological Survey of Canada (Calgary). In perfect weather we hiked to the Jura Creek exposure of the Lower Carboniferous Exhsaw Formation. About three kilometers up this beautiful canyon/valley is the type section of this prolific hydrocarbon source rock of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. We had lunch sitting across the bank from the section and subsequently had a very good description of the source rock and its setting from Cindy with petrographic/geochemical details from Vern.

Thomas Gentzis presented the financial statement for fiscal year 1996/97.

T. Gentzis asked if we should invest in safe mutual funds for a better rate of return. D. Marchioni pointed out that at our level of investment there would not be enough of an increase in interest to be worth while. J. Potter commented that if we had to break into the fund for unseen reasons in would cost us in penalties. A motion was raised by D. Marchioni to put the major part of present investment certificates into 30 day T-Bills. The motion passed unanimously.

T. Gentzis said that a second instalment of $1650.00 would soon be paid to J. Potter for her work on the atlas. It was suggested that K. Pratt or D. Marchioni would audit the books as required by the constitution.

There was considerable discussion on expenses for co-sponsoring the joint Halifax meeting next year (see below).

Hacquebard Award: The exact form the award will take was discussed. It was decided that it will probably be a combination of a medal and cash award. Overall consensus was that it should be funded mostly by interest on society investments. This would prevent us from having to raise the cost of the award from memberships dues.

Web site: Suggested improvements to the web site including registering a permanent address such as www.cscop.org was unanimously supported by members present at the meeting. The costs of the registration was approved by the meeting even though it may cause some burden on our budget. You can take a look at the updated site using: agc.bio.ns.ca/cscop. This site is under construction so if it does not work right away keep trying. Please try it and send any comments to web site caretaker, M. Avery.

Halifax '98: P.K. Mukhopadhyay (Muki) was asked to inform us as to the plans for the joint TSOP/CSCOP meeting in Halifax. A poster outlining the schedule and some details of the meeting was circulated. A version of this poster has been included in the June/97 TSOP newsletter and copy is inserted in this mailing. The dates of the meeting were changed from August/98 to July/98 because of a conflict with an American Chemical Society meeting in August which would have been a problem for a significant number of TSOP members. The exact dates in July were set to accommodate the post meeting field trip to view coastal exposures in the Bay of Fundy area keeping in mind the exceptional tides along this coast. All CSCOP members are warmly invited to the meeting which will have a strong international attendance including a number of well known European speakers. A special volume will be published after the meeting. Deadline for abstracts will probably be April 1/97.

F. Goodarzi suggested holding an organic petrology workshop. There was considerable discussion on this course with various suggestions such as holding it a concurrently with the 'Apatite Fission Track Analysis' course. Goodarzi said that if members could settle on a specific course title and theme it should be presented to the conveners for their approval.

P.K. Mukhopadhyay made a request for a $1500 advance needed to cover expenses until registration revenue is realized at the meeting. TSOP has already advanced $2500. It was asked if these amounts would be paid back if the meeting made a profit. P.K. Mukhopadhyay said most if not all would be paid back if there was a profit. T. Gentzis said due to investment terms that this amount was not presently available. F. Goodarzi said he would approach GSC for funding and was quite confident of getting some. J. Potter suggested contacting energy companies to get some funding for sending students to the Halifax meeting. T. Gentzis said that companies he talked to wanted see our constitution but that he didn't have a copy. M. Avery replied that it will be on the new web site and should be part of a membership directory.

Glossary/Atlas: J. Potter presented a comprehensive update on the atlas with a list of items to be checked by group leaders (Attachment IV). A few sections such as combustion residues have been 'whittled out' of the atlas. It will be predominately a pictorial atlas with only minor text and descriptions. A one page non-technical introduction and reason for the publication was prepared and read by J. Potter. There will be no description of geological setting of coals except necessary information in plate captions and stratigraphic tables. P.K. Mukhopadhyay strongly suggested inclusion of a table for converting new terms to 'familiar' Stach terminology. When a table was presented showing the maceral groupings and terminology it was suggested that some macerals be moved from one group to another such as moving acritarchs into the alginite block. A request was made for suggestions for the front cover design with the general preference being a photomicrograph or collage of microphotos although the price of colour printing of the cover might more expensive. It was agreed that internal editors would be M. Bustin, A. Cameron, T. Gentzis, D. Marchioni and P.K. Mukhopadhyay.

Publication cost considerations: If published entirely by society then it would cost about $10k but as a joint publication with GSC then it would be much less. GSC has facilities and capabilities that can do a lot of the work especially for black & white sections. These 'in kind' costs would be reasonably easy for the GSC to contribute. Also such a partnership would benefit from the marketing systems already setup by GSC such as bookstores. A motion was put forward by T. Gentzis that on behalf of the society F. Goodarzi and J. Potter proceed with negotiations for a joint CSCOP/GSC publication. Motion carried. It was asserted that CSCOP should retain the copyright to the atlas.

Setting a price is still very difficult because of the number of unknown variables. It was estimated about 200 copies might be sold, acknowledging that the lower the price the more we should sell. Many agreed that the cost be kept as low as possible to keep it as affordable as possible.

Society Logo: Since K. Pratt's presentation of his logo design and request for comments at last year's meeting there has been little response to the proposed design so we are assuming that it fits the needs of the society. In fact in the last few months I have used the design in preparing letter heads, posters and a web site for next year's Halifax '98 joint meeting. In order to have it fit on a letter head I made a few small changes to the logo. The full name has been replaced by our acronym CSCOP. As you will have noticed the logo is now incorporated in our letter head while a colour version is used on our web site and in the Halifax '98 meeting announcement.

Membership dues: A check of our income from memberships dues in the budget shows that a significant number of members are not keeping their dues current. Discussion of this matter at the meeting led to a proposal to increase dues to $20 from the present $15 level. Even at the new higher level they are well below similar societal fees. If income from dues has not sharply increased before next year's meeting then the society will have to implement this increase. If you have been forgetting your dues payment then we urge you to send it along promptly. The current dues year started on May 1st so that payment for 97/98 should be made now.

TSOP '97: Joint Annual Meeting: American Association of Petroleum Geologists-Eastern Section and The Society for Organic Petrology, September 27-30, 1997, Lexington, Kentucky, USA. For more information contact:
 

James Drahovzal Kentucky Geological Survey University of Kentucky Lexington, KY 40511-8433 USA ph: 606-257-5500 fax: 606-257-1147 drahovzal@kgs.mm.uky.edu

or:

James Hower UK Center for Applied Energy Research 2540 Research Park Drive Lexington KY 40511-8410 USA ph: 606-257-0261 fax: 606-257-0360 hower@alpha.caer.uky.edu

Web page: http://www.uky.edu/ArtsSciences/Geology/eaapg/welcome.html

TSOP / CSCOP Halifax '98: Joint annual meetings of these groups is set for July 26-28, 1998 in Halifax. For information contact:
 

Prasanta K. Mukhopadhyay Global Geoenergy Ltd., Research Ltd. Box 9469, Station A Halifax, Nova Scotia B3K 5S3 ph/fax: 902-453-0061 muki@ra.isisnet.com

GAC 50th Anniversary: Representing our society on this occasion L. Stasiuk made the following remarks: - On behalf of the Canadian Society for Coal Science and Organic petrology I would like to extend congratulations to the Geological Association of Canada on its 50th anniversary. Our society views the Geological Association as an integral and vital link between all those who have a direct, and indirect vested interest in the geosciences, including academia, government , industry and the Canadian public. The strength and co-operation which exists in the geoscience community across this country, and the outstanding international reputation of Canadian geosciences has been fostered and strengthened by the dedicated people who have served the Geological Association of Canada over the past 50 years. The role of the GAC in this respect must continue and will become more critical over the next 50 years, as new and difficult challenges continue to confront our science. Hats off to the Geological Association of Canada on this occasion; together, let us look forward, to a scientifically prosperous and co-operative future. Happy Anniversary.

Attendees:
 

Mike Avery (GSC Atlantic) Marc Bustin (U of British Columbia) Jaydeep Deshpande (U of Alberta) Curtis Evans (AEUB-Mine Development Group) Tom Gentzis (Alberta Research Council)  Fari Goodarzi (GSC Calgary) Michelle Hawke (U of Guelph) Fotina Karavas (U of Calgary) Willem Langenberg (AGS Edmonton) Dave Marchioni (Petro-Logic Services, Calgary) Bill McDougall (GSC Calgary)

P.K. Mukhopadhyay (Global Geoenergy Res. Ltd, NS)  Marc Obermajer (U of W Ontario) Sharlene Pollock (U of Calgary) Judith Potter (J.P. PetroGraphics, Calgary)  Ken Pratt (GSC Calgary)  Cindy Riediger (U of Calgary) Scott Rose (U of Calgary) Barry Ryan (GSB BC gov) Lavern Stasiuk (GSC Calgary) Maria Tomica (GSC Calgary)

Monday June 9th

9:00 Welcoming remarks
9:10 Executive reports (President, Secretary & Treasurer)
9:40 Society Business
  (i) Hacquebard award - M. Avery/J. Potter
  (ii) Review of constitution re: election of officers and duration of term of office - J. Potter
  (iii) Joint TSOP-CSCOP meeting in Halifax - M. Avery/P.K. Mukhopadhyay
  (iv) Web site registration etc. - M. Avery/K. Pratt
  (v) Reports from ICCP, TSOP
10:15 Coffee Break
10:30 Glossary: Progress report and session on timetable and plate captions prior to completion of final draft (extended to 9am June   10th if necessary) - J. Potter
12:15 Lunch (on your own; cafeteria available)

Technical Presentations

1:20 Thomas Gentzis, Alberta Research Council: "Application of Hot-stage microscopy for observation of mesophase during heavy oil upgrading"
1:45 Michelle Hawke, University of Geulph: "Petrographic characteristics of selected Ontario Peats: Possible modern analogues for early Permian Gondwana coals"
2:10 Fotina Karavas, University of Calgary: "Thermal maturity and organic facies of the Ostracode zone of southern Alberta"
2:35 Willem Langenberg, Geological Survey of Alberta and Wolfgang Kalkrueth, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brasil: "Components of syn- and post-deformational coalification in the Mountain Park area, Alberta"
3.00 Coffee break
3:20 P.K. Mukhopadhyay (Muki), Global Geoenergy Research Ltd: "Application of Environmental Organic Petrology to Fingerprint Organic Pollutants from Lake Ontario"
3:45 Mark Obermajer, University of Western Ontario: "Petrography and geochemistry of Ordovician and Devonian source rocks and oils, Ontario"
4:10 Lavern Stasiuk and Ken Pratt, Geological Survey of Canada (Calgary): "Confocal microscopy of dispersed organic matter"
4:45 Meeting adjourns

Tuesday, June 10th

9:00 Extension of review of glossary plate captions by members and working group leaders (if necessary).
10:00 Field trip
 

led by:	Cynthia Reidiger, Dept of Geology, University of Calgary and L.D. Stasiuk, Geological Survey of Canada (Calgary)
to:	Jura Creek to look at exposures of the Lower Carboniferous Exhsaw Formation, a prolific hydrocarbon source rock in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin.
departure:	Main foyer GSC Calgary 10am sharp.
details:	Bag lunch provided at cost of $6/person. Please inform J. Potter by noon, June 9th if you want a lunch.

INVESTMENT CERTIFICATES

Our Society has two (2) fixed-term investment certificates with Canada Trust in Edmonton, Alberta.

Certificate (number 1)

It has a principal sum of $3,180.00. It matures on December 13, 1997 and has a rate of return or 2.50%.

• Interest payment at maturity will be $79.52.
• This amount will be transferred to the Society's chequing account.
• This certificate is reinvested for a period of six (6) months.

• The other has a principal sum of $10,000.00.
• It earns an interest rate of 3.00%.
• This certificate will mature on May 14, 1998 and is invested for 12 months.
• Interest at maturity will be $300.00.

The balance as of June 8, 1997 was $2,272.27. This account is used to pay all expenses associated with CSCOP's day-to-day activities.

Thomas Gentzis
Treasurer-CSCOP

June 8, 1997

June 8, 1997 

To: CSCOP WORKING GROUP COORDINATORS:

From: Judith Potter

Ref: "A PETROGRAPHIC ATLAS..." - EDITORIAL CHECKPOINTS

For your section of the Atlas, please check the following carefully:

1. Acknowledgements

- is there anyone you would like to add to this list who has made a significant contribution e.g. technical assistance?
- is there anyone who's name has been inadvertently missed off the list?
- has anyone's name been spelled incorrectly?
2. List of Contributors

- please check the list of contributors for your working group - has anyone not been acknowledged?
3. Plate captions

- check the technocal content (picture versus description);
- check that the labels match the caption (maceral name abbreviations);
- the format (upper, lower case for maceral names; maceral names in bold print);
4. Plate numbers

- preference for Roman (I to XXIII) or Greek/numeric (1 to 23) numerals?
5. Figures

- please check to see if figures are correct, e.g. location of coalfields, stratigraphic nomenclature etc.
6. Front cover

- plain with text
- photomicrographs
- pen/ink drawing or collage
7. Missing items

- plates for medium volatile bituminous (plates 8, 9, 10)
- reference list (hvb, mvb, lvb, a & sa; DOM)