CIRCUM-PACIFIC COUNCIL FOR ENERGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES

George Gryc

Photo of Circum-Pacific Map Project, 1987.

Beginning in 1972, geologists from Menlo Park and the then Branch of Foreign Geology met with petroleum geologists from the Pacific Section, American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) to discuss the need for better communication and scientific exchange on the geology and natural resources of the Pacific Basin and surrounding land areas. This resulted in the creation of the Circum-Pacific Council for Energy and Mineral Resources (CPCEMR) and in 1974 the Circum-Pacific Map Project (CPMP). The Council established four international panels of volunteer experts to collect information on the four quadrants of the Pacific Basin and later expanded coverage to include the Polar Regions. Since 1974, production support for this project has been and continues to be headquartered in Menlo Park. Fifty-one, new, multi-colored maps on the geology, geodynamics, resources, and natural hazards have been produced and published first by AAPG but since1990 printed and distributed by the USGS.

Under the leadership of Michel T. Halbouty, the Council has raised funds to support their part of the Map Project and to continue a series of more than 20 conferences, symposia, and workshops held throughout the Pacific Basin. Operational support and scientific participation in these meetings has been largely by USGS personnel from Menlo Park. Sixteen book publications and three transaction volumes recording papers and results of these meetings have been produced and published.

Although the map series have been largely completed, the Council continues to provide an international bridge between industry, academia, non-governmental and governmental organizations throughout the Pacific Region. New projects have been started and conducted from the CPCEMR headquarters in Menlo Park with the addition of new partners including Stanford University, American Red Cross, Chevron Texaco Corporation, British Petroleum Corporation, David and Lucille Packard Foundation, International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS), and others. Operational support and leadership continues to be provided by USGS employees and volunteers, largely in Menlo Park.

Photo on the left (l-r): USGS Director Vincent E. McKelvey, Frank Calkins, and David Howell, USGS Menlo Park, California.

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