Last Meeting: WRI-10

The 10th International Symposium on Water Rock Interaction (WRI-10) was held at the Mediterranean resort "Tanka Village" Congress Center in Villasimius (Sardinia, Italy), located about 50 km east from Cagliari, June 10-15, 2001. The Organizing Committee of WRI-10 was lead by its Secretary General, Prof. Luca Fanfani (U. of Cagliari) and included several other faculty members from the universities of Cagliari, Parma, Genova, Pisa, Palermo and Naples.

This conference attracted about 500 participants, including more than 400 leading geochemists, hydrologists and geologists from 45 countries. At registration, we received two hard-cover proceeding volumes, edited by Prof. Rosa Cidu (U. of Cagliari) and published by A. A. Balkema Publishers, that include a record 380 papers and a total of 1607 printed pages. The Symposium was preceded and followed by three different field-trips to the famous geological, volcanic and mining sites in and around Sicily, North Sardinia and Naples. Those participating in the post-session field trip were treated to spectacular eruptions of Mount Etna and the dazzling night-time fireworks of Stromboli. Also, several one day long mid-session field trips to the geological and mining sites in southern Sardinia were organized for all WRI-10 attendees.

The oral and poster presentations at this symposium covered the latest research results of water-rock interactions in a wide spectrum of geochemical environments ranging from low temperature groundwater and mining operations to geothermal and magmatic systems. At WRI-10 there was special emphasis on the application of a multi-tracer (isotopic and chemical) approach to understanding water-rock interactions, and on natural and anthropogenic processes affecting the quality of water resources. One of the highlights of this Symposium was the eight keynote lectures covering the various themes of WRI-10 and presented to all the attendees by distinguished scientists from around the World.

The poster sessions included a large number of outstanding presentations. Three posters received official WRI-10 awards, with the Best Symposium poster going to L. C. Cavé, M. V. Fey and D. K. Nordstrom, Best Student poster was awarded to D. Fabian, Z. Zheng, B. Wehrli and G. Friedl, and Best Mature Scientist Poster was received by S. Gurrieri, C. Federico A. Aiuppaand M. Valenza.

The Organizing Committee of WRI-10 planned an excellent social program for all the participants that included a welcome cocktail reception, a cultural trip to Cagliari with visits to U. of Cagliari (Mike Edmunds, WRI Chairman was awarded a medal), museums, the Cathedral and the ancient town (Castello), several wine and cheese get togethers, and a sumptuous symposium banquet with Sardinian folk music and dance. The accompanying members (about 80 participants) were treated to several

cultural trips, including visits to museums, Nuragic archeological sites, traditional Sardinian cuisine and a Mediterranean cruise.

During the General Assembly of WRI-10, Mike Edmunds (BGS, Wallingford, UK) retired as Chairman and Yousif Kharaka (USGS, Menlo Park, USA) was voted the new Chairman of WRI Working Group. The Assembly also voted to hold WRI-11 in Florida in the Summer of 2004, with Prof. Susan Brantley (Pennsylvania State University, USA) as the Secretary General.