The purpose of this workshop is to bring together researchers from various disciplines to address one of its major outstanding problems: the effect of target properties, such as porosity, volatiles, and layering, on the impact cratering process. The workshop builds upon the successful workshop Impact Cratering: Bridging the Gap Between Modeling and Observations, which was held in Houston, Texas, in February 2003.

The workshop has been organized into five topical sessions and a final integrated discussion on the last afternoon of the meeting. Each session includes invited oral presentations and contributed oral and poster presentations. Following the successful format of the first Bridging the Gap workshop, each session includes invited speakers from the theoretical/modeling community and the field/planetary observations community.

A general ground rule for every contribution is that "observationalists" are required to discuss how their data constrain models of the impact process, and "modelers" are required to discuss observations that could constrain their models.

Field Trip
The workshop will begin with a two-day field trip to the ~55-km-diameter Charlevoix impact structure, which is about a four-hour drive from Montréal. Field trip participants will depart from the workshop hotel, Holiday Inn Montréal Midtown, at 7:30 a.m. on the morning of September 22. Participants will return to the hotel in the evening of September 23. Unfortunately, other pick-up locations are not possible due to Quebec transit regulations. A prompt departure early on Saturday will be essential, so participants must arrive in Montréal on Friday evening. Please arrive at the hotel lobby no later than 7:15 a.m. to ensure a prompt departure. Travel to and from Charlevoix and accommodations for the field trip are included in the field trip registration fee.

Only 54 places are available and registration will be on a first-come, first-served basis. Participants are strongly advised to register early for the field trip.

The Charlevoix impact crater is located on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River about 100 km northeast of Quebec City and about 400 km from Montréal. The region is an eroded plateau with relief of about 1 km and is renowned for its striking terrain and scenic and cultural diversity. The crater is mid-Paleozoic in age, about 55 km in diameter, and formed in crystalline rocks of the Canadian Shield with relicts of lower Paleozoic sedimentary rocks that comprised a relatively thin cover at the time of impact. It is an excellent example of a peak-ring structure with a pronounced central peak, a subdued ring, and a peripheral trough. Virtually all impact melt rocks and breccias have been removed by erosion, so it provides an exceptional opportunity to examine shock effects and structures in the immediate subjacent rocks. Later tectonic events linked to the formation of the Appalachian Mountains and the St. Lawrence graben have bisected the crater, and the region is still subject to significant earthquakes.

It is anticipated that the distances to be covered and the challenging topography will allow ~12 stops to be made. These will provide views of the terrain and opportunities to examine and, in a few cases, sample exposed rocks within the crater. The field trip will be led by Mike Dence and John Spray.

The temperatures at Charlevoix vary from about 15°–25°C midday to 5–10°C in the evening. The weather can vary from bright sun to mists or rain and strong winds if a tropical storm passes up the Atlantic seaboard. Stout footwear is desirable. Walking distances may be as far as 2–3 km over flat terrain but will be limited by time constraints at the stops.

Accommodations on Saturday night will be at the Fairmont Le Manoir Richelieu overlooking the St. Lawrence River at La Malbaie/Pointe-au-Pic, where an evening buffet and discussion meeting will be held. Box lunches on both days and a cold breakfast on Sunday will be provided. The field trip fee does not include expenses in Montreal incurred before the field trip or the cost of the evening meal on Sunday which will be a dinner buffet in Quebec City at an estimated cost of $20.00-25.00. The bus will reach the workshop hotel in Montreal by 9:00 p.m.

Oral Presentations
Workshop sessions will begin the morning of September 24, and continue through the afternoon of September 26. Each session will generally begin with two or three invited 20- or 30-minute talks, by modelers and observationalists, with the remainder of the talks as contributions. Five half-day oral sessions are planned, with tentative session titles focusing on the effect of target properties on the following key aspects of the impact cratering process:

• Initial energy deposition and shock wave propagation
• Shock melting, metamorphism, and damage to the target
• Mechanics of complex crater formation
• Plume evolution and ejecta emplacement (proximal and distal)
• Environmental consequences of impact cratering

Contributed oral presentations are limited to 15 minutes, including questions, discussion, and speaker transition. Audio-visual equipment available for oral presentations includes one LCD projector and one PC laptop and/or desktop computer. Please bring your electronic presentation on a CD-ROM or USB memory drive to download onto the laptop PC provided in the meeting room (preferred option) or bring your electronic presentation on your own laptop. The meeting room will be open prior to the beginning of the morning presentations and during lunch for downloading afternoon presentations.

The workshop will open with an overview presentation summarizing the results from Bridging the Gap I and providing updates on some of the major questions and tasks that emerged from that workshop (e.g., the ongoing impact codes validation effort; databases of terrestrial impact craters; recent and future drilling of impact structures; impact-related missions). The workshop will close with an integrated discussion focusing on the achievements since Bridging the Gap I and highlighting outstanding problems in impact cratering research.

All sessions will include ample time for questions and discussion. The final afternoon session of the workshop will be dedicated to discussion.

Poster Presentations
Contributed posters will be displayed for the duration of the workshop in the Salle III room next to the conference hall. A dedicated poster session and reception is planned from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday evening, September 25. Participants will also be encouraged to view posters during coffee breaks and at lunch.

Each poster will have a space 36" × 36" for display. Posters will be displayed on free-standing panels. Two presenters will share one side of one panel, so it is important that displays are confined to the specified limit. Posters must be designed to be attached to the panel with push pins.

Field Trip Fee:  $425.00 USD
This is fully inclusive and includes transportation to and from Montréal, accommodations at Charlevoix, breakfast, lunch at the site, dinner at the hotel, field guide, and map.

Workshop Fee: $100.00 USD ($50.00 USD for students)
This fee covers workshop services, including a printed program and coffee breaks.

YOU MUST PREREGISTER AND PREPAY BY SEPTEMBER 6, 2007. For security reasons (the John H. Chapman Space Centre is a secure building), there will be no onsite registration.

Please note that there is a new CSA requirement that foreign visitors must provide a passport number and country of citizenship to gain access to the site. To speed up the access procedure for conference attendees, we are requesting this information in the registration application.

Registrants paying by credit card must use the secure electronic registration form; those registering using any other method of payment (check, money order, or traveler's check) must use the downloadable registration form. Requests for cancellation with a fee refund (less a $25.00 processing fee) will only be accepted through September 13, 2007. After that date, the registration fee will be forfeited.

The Holiday Inn Montréal Midtown is located in downtown Montréal and offers a full range of services. It is within walking distance of shops, museums, and restaurants. The hotel is a 30-minute drive from Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport. Hotel parking is $18.95/day. A taxi from the airport to the hotel costs $35.00. La Québécoise operates a shuttle service that costs $14.00 per person one way. Call 1-514-843-4938 for shuttle service reservations.

Travel time by car to the John H. Chapman Space Centre, Canadian Space Agency (CSA), is approximately 30 minutes, but varies considerably depending on traffic. Directions to the CSA can be found at the CSA website. Participants staying at the workshop hotel should use the Jacques-Cartier Bridge.

Parking at the CSA is free, but somewhat limited. A shuttle service will be arranged to operate between the conference centre and the hotel at the open and close of the day. Times will be circulated to registered participants after the registration deadline. When completing the registration form, please indicate your interest in the shuttle service to aid in estimating numbers.

Workshop participants are responsible for their own travel arrangements and costs, including hotel, meals, beverages, and other services. A cafeteria is available onsite at the conference centre for lunches.

    GORDON OSINSKI
    University of Western Ontario
    Phone: 519-661-4208
    E-mail: [email protected]

    ELISABETTA PIERAZZO
    Planetary Science Institute
    Phone: 520-547-3951
    E-mail: [email protected]

For further information regarding meeting logistics and announcements, contact
    ELIZABETH WAGGANER
    Lunar and Planetary Institute
    Phone: 281-486-2164
    E-mail: [email protected]

For further information regarding fieldtrip logistics, contact
    KAREN SHEA
    University of New Brunswick
    Phone: 506-453-3560
    E-mail: [email protected]