Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafie volume 1 1O PP. 3-4 April 2004

THE 6T" INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON THE JURASSIC SYSTEM
AND ITS PROCEEDINGS

Since the first edition of the International Symposium on the Jurassic System held in Erlangen in 1984 and
mainly devoted to ammonite biostratigraphy, more and more the ISJS became a wider aimed meetins where the fo-
cus is a time period with all its aspects. This makes scientists from very different fields of Earth Sciences to meet in
an international and multidisciplinary environment, resulting in lively and fertile discussions.

The 6'1'ISJS was oreanized by Giulio Pavia (Torino University) in mid-September 2002. More than 200 people
convened to Mondello, near Palermo in Sicily, both to join the large field trip program and to contribute in the sci-
entific sessions that were hosted at the Centro Congressi La Torre from 16 to 19 September. The participants had in
fact the possibility to spend four sunny days on the blue sea of the Mondello Bay. In many occasions they also en-
joined outstanding cultural attractions and the Sicilian cuisine that was sublimated in some country lunches and in
the social dinner organized in the fascinating atmosphere of the old Palermo.

From the scientific point of view, the numerous field trips were orsanized in two intervals. The pre-Symposi-
um Fieldtrip was aimed to introduce the Jurassic geology of western Sicily giving an overview of the different pale-
ogeographical domains of such a western Tethys sector. Four post-Symposium Fieldtrips were also organized, ts/o
focussed on the Trapanese and Saccense Domains, other two visitine some classical Jurassic sections in Central Ap-
ennines and Southern Alps. A great effort resulted in the publication of a volume edited by Massimo Santantonio
(Roma University) that was distributed to all the participants. The field trip volume is a huge collection of mostly
unpublished data, that derive from researches of a national group coordinated by G. Pavia and funded by the ItaÌ-
ian University Ministry. Part of these data senerated some of the notes collected in the present volume; some others
need widenins for future publication.

As to the scientific sessions, more than 200 abstracts were submitted and compelled the organisation of three
parallel sessions and two periods of poster display. The scientific program was organized in six topical sessions, that
highlighted the multidisciplinary character of the meeting: (1)Jurassic tectonics and sedimentation. (2) Taphonomy,
facies and paleoenvironmental analysis. (3) Jurassic organisms in space and time. (4) Integrated stratigraphy. (5) Pale-
oceanography and paleobiogeography. (6) Geoconservation: protecting Jurassic fossils, sites and science.

Four plenary sessions were dedicated to lectures of outstanding scientists concerning aspects ofJurassic stratig-
raphy. Jobst Wendt (Tùbingen) gave a fascinating and unforgettable picture of how Sicilian geology and society ap-
peared in the Sixties. Raimondo Catalano (Palermo) illustrated the complex structural arrangement of the Sicilian
chain. John Callomon (London) made the point of two centuries of progresses in Jurassic bio-chronostratigraphy.
Gerd Westermann (Hamilton) discussed on ammonoid biogeography integrating ecology, phylogeny and oceanog-
raphy aspects.

The President of the 6'hISJS would conclude this presentation first stating that the Symposium can be confi-
dentially introduced as a highly positive scientific performance; this is proved, if further necessary, by the collection
of the papers published in this volume of the prestigious Italian periodical. Second, it must remind that the meeting
would not have been possible without the activity of the Organizing Committee among which the coordinators Ro-
dolfo Coccioni, Stefano Cresta, Piero Di Stefano, Luca Martire, Umberto Nicosia, Guido Parisi.

Giulio Pavia
President of the 6"'I SJ S



This special issue of the Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia consists of 45 original papers presented
at the 6th International Symposium on Jurassic Systen.r.

These papers can be erouped in two catesories: in fact the first part of the volun.re deals with topics regardine
the geo-paleontological knowledees of the Jurassic period, rvhilst the second part of the volume is focussed on geo-
conservatio of Jurassic geo-paleontological sites.

The subjects dealt by Italian and foreigner Authors involve muldisciplinary approach to strati!íraphy with nota-
ble contributions on new biostratigraphic dirta, biozonations, stratieraphic correlations, boundaries definitions, pala-
leobiogeography and palaeoenvironnlents of several geological areas in Europe, America, Asia and Africa.

This volume represents an importrnt tool for global correlations based on biostratigraphic, sedimentological
and geodynamic data emphasiz-ing new paleoreographic features. These several contributions, accompanied by wide
and new iconographic documentation, represent an indispensable synthesis for a modern integrated biostratigraphic
aPProacn.

One of the main developed topic of this volume regards the definition of the main boundaries of Jurassic pe-
riod dealt with biostratigraphic, physical and chemic,rl methods. Furthermore, several papers give new data on pale-
oecological and paleoenvironmental reconstructions of the different Jurassic facies. The last part of the volume is
dedicated to the inventory of representative documents, modelling and characterisation of the essential controlling
factors, inventory of representative sites for the studied seoevents, selection of geosites, proposal of olistic formats
for a typologic inventory and for evaluation of the them,rtic geodiversity. This is linked to the Geosites IUGS pro-
gram, which develops a geoconservation strategy aimed to the protection of "geolouical nronuments".

First of all we whish to thank the reviewers of the manuscripts:
Aberhan Martin, Berlin; Atrops Francoise, Lyon; Aurell Marc,Zarasoza; Bloos Gert, Stuttgart; Bosence Dan,

London; Bortolotti Valerio, Firenze; Bown Paul, London; Brancucci Gerardo, Genova; Callomon John, London; Cara-
cuel Jesus, Alicante; Cariou Elie, Poitiers; Carter Elisabeth, Portland; Catalano Raimondo, Palern.ro; Cecca Fabrizio,
Paris; Christ Hans A., Basel; Cirilli Simonetta, Perugia; Clari Pierangelo, Torino; Coccioni Rodolfo, Urbino; Conti
Maria Alessandra, Roma; Cope John, Cardiff; Cresta Stefano, Ron.ra; D'Argenio Bruno, Napoli; D'Arpa Carolina,
Palermo; Di Stefano Pietro, Palermo; Dietl Gerd, Stuttgart; Dinis Joree, Coimbra; Dun.ritrica Jud Ruth, Bern; Elmi
Seree, Lyon; Enay Raymond, Lyon; Erba Elisabetta, Milano; Feist-Burkhardt Susanne, London; Fernandez Lopez
Sixto, Madri d;Fozy Istvan, Budapest; Fursich Franz, \Wurzburg; Galacz Andras, Budapest; Garzanti Eduardo, Milano;
Glowniak Eva, Warsawa; Gorican Spela, Ljublf ana; Guex Jean, Lausanne; Hart Malcolm, Plymouth; Henriques Maria
Helena, Coimbra; Hewaidy Abdel Galil, Cairo; Hillebrandt von Axel, Berlin; Hughes Geraint, Dhahran; Jansa Luba,
Halifax; Jenkyns Hugh, Oxford; Khrishna Jay, Varanasi; Lozar Francesca, Torino; Martire Luca, Torino; Masetti Dan-
iele, Trieste; Mattioli Emanuela, Lyon; Matyia Bronislaw, Warsawa; Meister Christian, Genève; Melendez Guillermo,
Zaragoza; Monaco Paolo, Perugia; Morton Nicol, London; Nicosia Umberto, Roma; Oloriz Federico, Granada; Page
Kevin, Plymouth; Palfy Joszef, Budapest; Pavia Giulio, Torino; Remane Jurgen, Neuchatel; Rettori Roberto, Perugia;
Riccardi Alberto, La Plata; Ruiz Ortiz Pedro, Jaen; Srntantonio Massimo, Roma; Schweigert Gunter, Stuttgart; Si-
mone Lucia, Napoli; Smith Paul, Vancouver; Stampfli Gerard.M., Lausanne; Surlyk Finn, Copehagen; ThierryJacques,
Dijon; Voros Attila, Budapest; \Warrington Geoffrey, Nottingham; Wendt Jobst, Tubingen; Westermann Gerd, Hamil-
ton; Wierzbowski Andrej, Warsawa; Zeiss Arnold, Uttenreuth.

The Guest-Editor appreciates the patience of the Authors in waiting for the publication of this volume, but
believes that it can be justified by the quality and sisnificance of the final product.

Thanks are due to the Editorial Board of the Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia for its support and
accepting for publication the proceedings of the Symposium. In particular thanks are due to Maurizio Gaetani and
Cristina Lombardo (University of Milano) for their kind availability.

Many thanks are due to the Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra of the University of Perugia (Italy). Ve whish
to thank Roberto Rettori (University of Perueia) for his co-operation, Gloria Andreini, Massimiliano Bilotta and
Fabio Masini (University of Perueia) for contribution to the manasing the papers. Special thanks are due to Kevin
Page (University of Plymouth) for his great and kind contribution in the editing the part of the volume dedicated
to geoconservation subjects.

Guido Parisi,
Guest Editor