Institute for the Study of the Continents (INSTOC)

  ...to stimulate and facilitate research on the structure and evolution of Earth's continents.

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INSTOC News
 
  • 2025 Kaufman INSTOC Symposium: 50 Years of exploring the continents: COCORP to the Future. Celebrating COCORP and the career of Larry Brown. June 9, 2025

    Click here for final agenda.

    Registration and list of attendees

  • To honor Muawia Barazangi, we are creating an endowment for researech staff in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences called the Muawia Barazangi Scholarly Fund.

    To learn more about the Muawia Barazangi Scholarly Fund and donate, please click here

  • Andesfest: Celebrating the Cornell Andes Project, Suzanne Kay, Teresa Jorda, and Rick Allmendinger. June 2-4, 2023

    Click here for final agenda.

    Article in Cornell Chronicle about the Cornell Andes Project

  • Celebration of the career and scientific accomplishments of Muawia Barazangi Friday Oct. 7, 2022 Symposium hosted by INSTOC and the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences to remember Professor Emeritus Barazangi by his students, colleagues and friends. See below for speakers.
  • INSTOC extends sympathies to the family and friends of former Oliver Visiting Professor Peter Molnar, from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Obituary from University of Colorado

  • INSTOC is sad to lose one of its founding members and former Associate Director Muawia Barazangi: Article from the Cornell Chronicle and Obituary from the family

  • INSTOC and the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences will host a special 1.5 day workshop, titled "Kaufman INSTOC Symposium: Mysteries of the Earth's mantle: Honoring Larry Cathles, Bob Kay, and Bill White" on October 14-15, 2019. See below for schedule.

  • INSTOC and the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences will host their 11th workshop, titled "Kaufman INSTOC Symposium: How Continents Break: Earthquakes, fault rocks, and rock mechanics" on October 10, 2017. See below for schedule.

  • The seventh Oliver Visiting Professorship was awarded to Professor Emily Brodsky of the University of California, Santa Cruz, starting in 2017.

  • INSTOC and the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences will host their 10th workshop, titled "Kaufman INSTOC Symposium: Shake, bake, and boil: Magma and the fluid system and the subduction factory" on October 11, 2016. See below for schedule. See the 2016 EAS Newsletter for more details.

  • Effective July 1, 2016, Associate Professor Matt Pritchard is the Director of INSTOC. Thanks to Larry Cathles for his 6 years of service as INSTOC Director.

  • The sixth Oliver Visiting Professorship was awarded to Professor Brad Hacker of the University of California, Santa Barbara, starting in 2015.

  • INSTOC and the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences will host their 9th workshop, titled "Kaufman INSTOC Symposium: The Appalachians, New Views of an Old Orogen -- landscapes, earth structure and earthquakes " on September 13, 2014. See below for details.

  • The fifth Oliver Visiting Professorship was awarded to Professor Karen Fischer of Brown University, starting in 2013.

  • For the 8th year, INSTOC and the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences will host a workshop titled "Kaufman INSTOC Symposium: What Happens When Contintents Explode -- Ignimbrite Flare-ups and Ore Deposits " on September 8, 2012. See below for details.

  • INSTOC and the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences will host a workshop titled "Kaufman INSTOC Symposium on the Origin and Evolution of the Continental Crust" on September 24, 2011. See below for details.

  • The fourth Oliver Visiting Professorship was awarded to Professor Roberta Rudnick of the University of Maryland, starting in 2011.

  • INSTOC and the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences will host a workshop titled "Strength and Composition of the Lower Continetnal Crust and Mantle Lithosphere" on September 25, 2010. See below for details.

  • Effective July 1, 2010, Professor Larry Cathles is the Director of INSTOC. Thanks to Larry Brown for his 6 years of service as INSTOC Director.

  • INSTOC and the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences will host a workshop titled "Why Mountains? Tales and timescales of their birth and death" on September 12, 2009. See below for details.

  • The third Oliver Visiting Professorship was awarded to Professor Peter Molnar of the University of Colorado, Boulder, starting September 1, 2009.

  • INSTOC and the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences hosted a workshop titled "Magma" on September 17, 2008. See below for details.

  • INSTOC and the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences hosted a workshop titled "The Unknown Andes" on September 7, 2007. See below for details.

  • INSTOC Associate Director Muawia Barazangi leads the way in making research results available online. See the Spring 2007 issue of EAS News for more details.

  • The second Oliver Visiting Professorship was awarded to Professor Victor Ramos of the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, on January 1, 2007.

  • For a summary of INSTOC activities for the 2005-2006 academic year, see the Spring 2006 issue of EAS News.

  • The first Oliver Visiting Professorship was awarded to Professor Rainer Kind of GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam in 2005. See the details in the Spring 2005 issue of EAS News.

  • For more EAS and INSTOC news, see the EAS News & Events web site: http://www.eas.cornell.edu/fbxk/nws.cfm.
   
Symposiums and Workshops
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
Seminars
 
  • Global climate, treaties, and national security science

    Presented by Dr. Terry Wallace, Principal Associate Director for Science, Technology, and Engineering, Los Alamos National Laboratory, at Cornell University on October 8, 2008.

  • Magentotellurics on the San Andreas Fault, California

    Presented by Marytn Unsworth, Department of Physics, University of Alberta, and Adjunct Professor, EAS, Cornell, on January 17, 2008.

  • A short course on the magentotelluric methods

    Presented by Marytn Unsworth, Department of Physics, University of Alberta, and Adjunct Professor, EAS, Cornell, January 15 and 16, 2008.

  • Evolution of Island Arcs and Back-Arc Basins

    Presented by Brian Taylor, Dean, School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, University of Hawaii on November 9, 2007.

  • High Resolution Seismics for Coal Exploration in India

    Presented by T. Seshunarayana, Geophysicist, National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad, India, on October 18, 2007.

  • Lithospheric and Hydrocarbon Exploration Studies of the Controlled Source Seismic Group -- A Review

    Presented by B. Rajendra Prasad, Geophysicist, National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad, on October 18, 2007.

  • Science in South America: An Argentine perspective

    Presented by Victor Ramos, University of Buenos Aires and Jack E. Oliver Visiting Professor, Cornell University, on October 1, 2007.

  • Patagonian: A Continent Adrift?

    Presented by Victor Ramos, University of Buenos Aires and Jack E. Oliver Visiting Professor, Cornell University, on September 21, 2007.

  • Deep Structure of the Dabie Shan

    Presented by Dong Shuwan, Vice Presidence of the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, on September 20, 2007.

  • Application of Transition Metal Isotopes in Paleo-Oceanography

    Presented by Zhu Xiangkun, Director of Key Laboratory of Isotope Geology, on September 20, 2007.

  • Geologic and Strategic Comments on Oil Resources in the Arabian/Persian Gulf Region

    Presented by INSTOC Associate Director Muawia Barazangi at Cornell University on January 17, 2007.

    Click here to view an article published in The Cornell Chronicle (01/24/2007) summarizing the seminar.

  • Bending-Related Faulting (Bend-Faulting) at Subduction Trenches: Implications for Hydration of Ocean Plates, Water Transport into the Mantle, and Intermediate-Depth Intraslab Earthquakes

    Presented by César Ranero, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar, Barcelona, Spain, at Cornell University on May 17, 2006.

  • Accretionary Tectonics of the Amazon Craton

    Presented by Umberto Cordani, University of San Paulo, Brazil, at Cornell University on January 27, 2006.

  • From Rodinia to Gondwana: A Review of the Available Evidence from South America

    Presented by Umberto Cordani, University of San Paulo, Brazil, at Cornell University on January 23, 2006.

  • Structure of the Andes from Passive Seismic Imaging

    Presented by Rainer Kind, GeoForschungsZentrum, Potsdam, Germany, at Cornell University on September 15, 2005.

  • Passive Seismic Techniques for Imaging Lithospheric and Mantle Discontinuities

    Presented by Rainer Kind, GeoForschungsZentrum, Potsdam, Germany, at Cornell University on September 13, 2005.

  • Dynamics of an Active Andesitic System: Lessons from Surface Deformation and the CALIPSO Project at Soufriere Hills Volcano, Montserrat

    Presented by Glen Mattioli, University of Arkansas, at Cornell University on February 23, 2005.

  • Growth of New Continental Crust in an Eocene Arc-Continent Collision Zone, Sredinnyi Range, Kamchatka, NE Russia

    Presented by Jeremy Hourigan, Yale University, at Cornell University on November 12, 2004.

  • Integrated Geophysical Studies in Taiwan: Seismotectonics and Earthquakes

    Presented by Kuo Fong Ma, National Central University, Taiwan, at Cornell University on October 4, 2004.

   
Other Special Events
 
   
INSTOC Library
 
   
Recollections of Sidney Kaufman
 
  • On June 26, 2003, a group of people (Bill Brice, Muawia Barazangi, George Hade, Steve Gallow, and Carrie Brindisi) met with Sidney Kaufman for an interview. In this interview Dr. Kaufman discussed many aspects of his life including being a student at Cornell University, his wife Goldie, his job at Shell Oil Co., the first ever offshore seismic survey, WWII, radar, and his return to Cornell University.

    Click here to access the video files of the interview.

 

Last modified: Dec. 2024