Carpathian Balkan Geological Association

The Carpathian Balkan Geological Association (CBGA)

Part of the following information comes from Grubić (2006).

What is the CBGA?

The Carpathian-Balkan Geological Association (CBGA), according to its Statute, is a "non-governmental, international, scientific, non-political and non-profit making union of geoscientists working in the Carpathian-Balkan realm" and surrounding areas. The membership of CBGA is collective, and it is "open to geoscientists of all countries of the Carpathian-Balkan" and neighbouring countries. Application of collective membership "should be submitted by competent scientific bodies".

Statute

Click here to download the latest CBGA Statute.

Aims

According to CBGA Statute "The aim of CBGA is to promote and encourage joint fundamental and applied geological research, as well as training and specialization in the Carpathian-Balkan realm". This concerns virtually all fields of geosciences (including geophysics), their environmental implications and other related disciplines. In order to accomplish that aim CBGA organizes congresses (one every four years run by one or several country members), establish Working Groups working on joint projects of specific scientific interest, stimulate and run discussions on crucial geological issues (nomenclature, terminology, methodology etc.), and publishes various scientific materials (congress proceedings, maps, monographs etc.). CBGA official journals are: Geologica Carpathica and Geologica Balcanica.

Previous CBGA meetings

The Association was initially founded as "Carpathian Geological Association (CGA)" in 1922 at the XIII Session of the IGC in Brussels. The establishment of this association was the result of the personal initiatives and efforts of R. Kettner (Czechoslovakia), J. Nowak (Poland). G. Munteanu Murgoci (Romania) and V. Petkovic (Yugoslavia). The main purpose of CGA was to bring closer geologists working in the Carpathian area.

The first Congress of the Association was held in Poland in 1925 and the second and third ones in Romania and Czechoslovakia, respectively. The successful work of the Association had been interrupted a few years before the Second World War and an extended period of inactivity started. The Congresses series restarted in 1958 and since then the organization of them is uninterrupted.

After WW II, the Association, following the suggestions of Czechoslovak and Romanian geologists expressed during the XX IGC in Mexico (1956), extended its activities and new country members were involved. Bulgaria. Hungary and USSR (Ukraine) joined the "Carpathian-Balkan Geological Association" (CBGA), followed by Albania, Austria, Greece and Yugoslavia.

Congresses taken place, since CBGA establishment, are:

I Congress (Lvov, then Poland, 1925).
II Congress (Bucharest, Romania, 1927).
III Congress (Prague, then Czechoslovakia, 1931).
IV Congress (Kiev, then U.S.S.R., 1958).
V Congress (Bucharest, Romania, 1961).
VI Congress (Warsaw and Krakow, Poland, 1963).
VII Congress (Sofia, Bulgaria, 1965).
VIII Congress (Belgrade, then Yugoslavia, 1967).
IX Congress (Budapest, Hungary, 1969).
X Congress (Bratislava, then Czechoslovakia, 1973).
XI Congress (Kiev, then U.S.S.R., 1977).
XII Congress (Bucharest, Romania, 1981).
XIII Congress (Krakow, Poland, 1985).
XIV Congress (Sofia, Bulgaria, 1989).
XV Congress (Athens, Greece, 1995).
XVI Congress (Vienna, Austria, 1998).
XVII Congress (Bratislava, Slovakia, 2002).
XVIII Congress (Belgrade, Serbia, 3-6 September 2006). Click here to see the report about this Congress and the updated CBGA Statute by Hoeck and Ionescu (2006).

Organizing structure

The directing bodies of CBGA are the Board and the Council. The Board consists of the President, the Vice President, the Secretary General and the Previous President of the CBGA. The Board is the governing body of the Association between two congresses.

The Council consists of one National Representative of each member country of CBGA who elect the President and the Secretary General. The National Representatives are elected by the collective members of each member country. "The Council has to supervise all activities of CBGA, accept, postpone or reject proposals and to adopt resolutions ... The Council meets at least once in two years ... The Council meetings are charged by the CBGA President or the National Representative of the host country".

CBGA National Committees are elected by the collective members of each member country and are responsible to keep the geoscientists of the member country informed on CBGA activities.

Working Groups are an important element of CBGA. They are consisted of scientists from two or more member countries who are working in common projects of special scientific interest. The Working Groups organize their activities and elect their respective co-ordinators by themselves. Working groups present the result of their work during the congresses and submit an activity report, at least once.

Activities and perspectives

Turning back and reviewing all previous congresses one can see that the science of geology in the Carpathian-Balkan region has gained a lot. New ideas and methods, modern trends and techniques involved, along with a new generation of well-educated geoscientists, resulted in an “explosive” development of it. It is expected that this promising advance will continue.

Publications and achievements

Two groups of publications are published in the CBGA: (a) congress and symposia proceedings, including field trip guides, and (b) results of the collective work of Standing Commissions substituted by the recently established Working Groups. Digital editions are also produced.

As a result of the work of the then Standing Commissions, geological maps, explanation books, monographs, tables with comparative nomenclature, etc. were published. For example, the Commissions for Tectonics, Petrography, Metamorphism, Sedimentology, Geochronology, Hydrogeology and Engineering Geology compiled and printed important generalized maps (1:1,000,000 scale) of the region. They also published several thematic monographs. The Geophysical Commission has also largely contributed to the knowledge of the Earth crust and upper mantle of the region.

Relationship with lUGS

The Carpathian-Balkan Geological Association is affiliated to the International Union of Geological Sciences as a regional organization.

Officers

Today the CBGA is governed from Thessaloniki (Greece) by the Board with the following members:

Prof. Georgios Christofidis, President of the CBGA and ex officio President of the CBGA 2010 Organizing Committee.
Prof. Spyros Pavlides, Secretary of the CBGA and ex officio Secretary General of the CBGA 2010 Organizing Committee.
Prof. Dr. Aleksandar Grubić (Serbia), Past President of the CBGA.