International Quaternary Association

International Quaternary Association
Name	International Quaternary Association
Abbreviation	INQUA
Formation	1928
Type	Non-governmental organization
Headquarters	Rotterdam, Netherlands
Region served	International
Membership	National committees, affiliations
Leader title	President

Contents

International Quaternary Association

The International Quaternary Association was founded to coordinate global research on the Quaternary period, linking specialists in geology, paleoclimatology, geomorphology, paleontology, and archaeology across national boundaries. It serves as a nexus connecting national scientific bodies such as the Royal Society, National Academy of Sciences (United States), Academy of Sciences of the USSR, and regional organizations like the European Geosciences Union and the American Geophysical Union through commissions, working groups, and international congresses. The Association has influenced major programs including the International Geophysical Year, the International Union for Quaternary Research initiatives, and collaborations with institutions such as the Smithsonian Institution, British Geological Survey, and Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.

History

The Association traces origins to interwar and postwar scientific networks that produced landmark projects like the International Geological Congress sessions and the International Geological Correlation Programme. Early founders included figures associated with the Bureau des Longitudes, the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the International Union of Geological Sciences, reflecting a European and North American leadership that later expanded to include scientists from the Soviet Union, China, Japan, Australia, and Brazil. Historic milestones include coordination with the International Geophysical Committee and contributions to global syntheses comparable to the Global Change Research Program and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessments through paleoclimate data. Over successive decades the Association adapted to geopolitical shifts after the Cold War and engaged emerging research centers such as the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Indian National Science Academy, and the University of Cape Town.

The Association’s governance typically mirrors structures used by bodies like the International Union of Geological Sciences and the International Council for Science, featuring an elected executive, a bureau, and national committees modeled on those of the National Research Council (US), the Royal Society of London, and the Max Planck Society. Membership comprises national committees from countries including United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Russia, Japan, China, India, Australia, South Africa, Brazil, and Argentina, as well as institutional members drawn from entities such as the Natural History Museum, London, the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (Madrid), and the National Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian). Liaison relationships with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the International Oceanographic Commission facilitate cross-disciplinary projects and funding proposals to organizations like the European Commission and the National Science Foundation (US).

The Association aims to coordinate research on Quaternary stratigraphy, paleoenvironments, and human-environment interactions, aligning with the aims of the International Commission on Stratigraphy, the PAGES (Past Global Changes) program, and the World Climate Research Programme. Activities include fostering data exchange among research centers such as the Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the Moscow State University, and the Australian National University, and supporting field programs in regions like the Loess Plateau, the Andes, the Himalaya, and the Sahara. The Association promotes integration of proxy records from archives managed by the British Antarctic Survey, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Alfred Wegener Institute to inform debates involving the Holocene, the Last Glacial Maximum, and late Quaternary megafaunal extinctions documented by museums such as the American Museum of Natural History.

Commissions and working groups operate on themes comparable to panels of the International Union for Quaternary Research and to committees of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme, covering stratigraphy, chronological frameworks, paleoecology, and geoarchaeology. Notable commissions have collaborated with institutions like the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology on topics linking Quaternary climate change to hominin dispersals documented at sites such as Olduvai Gorge, Denisova Cave, and Blombos Cave. Working groups have developed protocols for radiocarbon calibration aligned with standards from the International Radiocarbon Conference and coordination with laboratories such as the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit and the 14CHRONO Centre.

The Association disseminates results through proceedings, special issues in journals akin to the Quaternary Science Reviews, the Journal of Quaternary Science, and the Boreas series, and through monographs comparable to volumes from the Cambridge University Press and the Elsevier Quaternary collections. Major international congresses occur periodically, attracting delegates from organizations such as the International Union for Quaternary Research affiliates, national academies like the Académie des Sciences (France), and universities including Cambridge University, Harvard University, Heidelberg University, and Peking University. Past congress venues have included cities with strong research traditions such as Rome, Paris, Moscow, Beijing, Perth, and Québec City.

The Association recognizes achievement through medals and prizes modeled on awards like the Lyell Medal, the V. M. Goldschmidt Award, and the Millennium Award frameworks, highlighting contributions by researchers affiliated with institutions such as the University of Oxford, the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Melbourne, and the University of São Paulo. Recipients often have records of collaboration across networks including the PAGES community, the International Paleontological Association, and national bodies like the Royal Society of Canada and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.

Category:Scientific organizations Category:Geology organizations Category:Paleoclimatology