Acta carsologica, XXV (1996) 
Martin Knez 
30 th INTERNATIONAL GEOLOGICAL CONGRESS 
(BEIJING, CHINA, 4-14 AVGUST 1996) 
On behalf of the Karst Research Institute ZRC SAZU and as the only 
reperesentative of Slovenia I attended the 30th jubilee International Geologi-
cal Congress in Beijing, China. In the capital of China where 12 millions of 
people live and which covers 16.800 square kilometers the geologists from all 
over the world gathered between August 4 and 14 trying to find out the 
actual state in geology and at the same tirne to issue guidelines for the third 
millenium. We spent ten interesting and instructive days in Beijing. 
All the aspects of the International Geological Congress appear in super-
latives. About 8000 men registered to the Congress and the same number of 
abstracts was published. Later it was shown that "only" about 6500 papers 
were held. The number of all the participants together with locals that 
attended the Congress for some days only, was unofficially more than 10.000! 
The Organizing Committee numbered 77 men, Scientific Committee 86 
men, Honorary Committee 26 men, other committees 131 men, altogether 
more than 300 men. The Honorary President accompanied by six Vice-
Presidents was the president of P.R. China Li Peng; after scientifically and 
culturally rich opening ceremony he solemnly declared the 30th International 
Geological Congress open. 
The Chinese geologists prepared 10 pre-Congress, 14 during-Congress short 
courses, 6 workshops during the Congress and 20 Congress workshops. There 
were 316 pre- during- and after-Congress field trips (some of them cancelled 
later) covering the area of entire China! Most of them were dedicated to 
geomorphology, mineral resources, petrology, structural geology, sedimentology, 
stratigraphy and tectonics. 
Scientific Symposium's Programme was divided into 22 sections from 
stratigraphy, paleontology and sedimentology at first places to marine geology, 
structural geology, igneous petrology, mineralogy, Precambrian geology, geol-
ogy of mineral deposits, geology of fossil fuels, mineral econom.ics, geochem-
istry, geophysics, seismogeology, Quaternary geology, hydrogeology, engineering 
geology, environmental geology, mathematical geology and geoinformatics, 
comparative planetology, geological education and history of geoscience. 
In addition to the above mentioned the programme included also several 
touristic, cultural and artistk performances giving animation to day and 
evening. 
The so-called Special Symposia appeared within 11 sections: Origin and 
history of the Earth, Geosciences and human survival, Globa! changes and 
future environment, Structure of the lithosphere, Contemporary lithospheric 
motion, Global tectonic zones, Orogenic belts, Basin analysis, Energy and 
454 
Reports 
mineral resources for the 21st Century, New technology for geosciences and 
Progress of international geoscience projects. 
From August 4 to 9 the Organizing Committee of the 30th International 
Geological Congress together with some participants prepared the exhibition 
Geoexpo '96 at which about 150 exhibitors from China and abroad have taken 
place. 
The 30th International Geological Congress was organized in collaboration 
with the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS), the Geological 
Society of China, the Ministry of Geology and Mineral Resources of P.R. 
China and the relevant Chinese governmental agencies, scientific institutions 
and industrial organizations. 
A lot of various papers were held, in particular outstanding were two 
papers of Prof. W. Fyfe, University of Western Ontario and the President of 
International Union of Geological Sciences. 
Slovenia, Karst Research Institute ZRC SAZU appeared within a section 
Formation and Evolution of Karst and Data on Environmental Changes with 
a paper Karst Cave Development from a Bedding-plane Point of View 
(Škocjanske jame Caves, Slovenia) and by poster entitled Development of 
Phreatic Channels in Škocjanske jame Caves, Slovenia. In addition I took part 
at the meeting of IGCP UNESCO Project 379, Karst Processes and the 
Carbon Cycle where our Institute figures as a collaborator to a project. 
As a congress of such dimensions deserves the organizers published, in 
addition to other items, a detailed programme with names of all the 
participants in a booklet of more than 300 pages, a booklet containing a list 
of guests and their distribution in hotels, a booklet containing the donors of 
financial means where are listed all that have given at least 100 yuans and 
also three volumes of abstracts and posters of more than 2000 pages, that 
were presented at ten days of Congress. 
After four years geologists of all countries will gather again in Brazil. 
455