Closing address, PPO-Asia

Masaru Yoshida

Sept. 6^th, 2002

Representing the International Association for Gondwana Research, the co-organizer of this symposium, I would like to deliver a few words of thanks to you all. The PPO-Asia was initiated by late Professor Teruo Watanabe, just after the International Symposium on The Assembly of Rodinia and Gondwana, and Growth of Asia held in Osaka last October. His idea was, so far as I have understood, that the academic ideas as well as friendship born from the Osaka symposium should be further shaped, while they are in the for front.

Now his idea has been materialized, we have assembled here in Sapporo, and have had a beautiful meeting. Fourty abstracts from 8 countries formed the abstract volume, with only a few cancellations. Presentations and discussions at the symposium went through successfully as well as drinking at the welcome party. Fairly a good number of presentations were from Asiatic continent with lesser numbers of talks and presentations from other areas. Thus the symposium covered a full Rodinia tectonics, centered in Asian geology.

I found that presentations included both review summaries of joint works of very recent studies, original studies including new field data, as well as new ideas to be developed in the near future. I have found that the symposium materialized successfully the intended objective that Teruo Watanabe and his group initially had imaged. The results obtained, incipient ideas or study plans created, and friendship born out from this symposium will surely contribute much to the geoscientific world, especially for the future studies of tectonics of Asia.

I am quite happy to have realized that joint studies on central Asia, created either directly or indirectly by Teruo Watanabe are appearing to make further progress in the future. I would like to thank all participants for your valuable contribution. I also would like to thank Professor Yoshiki Fujiwara and the Organizing Committee members for their tough but very successful effort for arranging this symposium.

Thank you very much, and I hope to see you all again in the near future.