Scope of the conference

In the tradition of the holistic approach of Alexander von Humboldt in approaching complex research problems, the LAC will celebrate transdisciplinary milestones achieved through German-Latin American cooperation in the geosciences. It will also highlight the results of individual research projects and identify future avenues of cooperation. The following topics will be central to the LAC:

- Ocean-continent transition

- Continental growth and modification

- Earth-surface processes and their climatic and tectonic forcings.

The main topics of the LAC will be complemented by contributions regarding methodological and technical advances, collection-based and paleo-environmental research, and resource formation. As such, the scientific goal of the LAC will be at the heart of a deeper understanding of the interactions between solid earth, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere with a focus on Latin America. The forcing factors governing the Earth’s systems also involve the interaction with humankind. In this regard, the modern Earth System Science approach featured at the LAC follows von Humboldt’s approach by substituting isolated research efforts with a conference format that fosters a systemic analysis of the Earth’s systems. Indeed, already in the early 18th century Alexander von Humboldt recognized the importance of understanding the role of different geoprocesses on the environment and human habitats and vice versa. In this context, understanding the behaviour of the System Earth on geological and shorter time scales remains an ever important topic in the geosciences and is the very objective of the Geosciences at the Universität Hamburg. Following the 15th LAC held at the Universität Hamburg in 1996, the University is prepared to host the 25th LAC from September 18 – 21, 2019.