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Introduction
The first meeting of radiolarian micropaleontologists was organized
in 1978 by P. De Wever (Lille, France). Most participants being from
European universities, the name of "EuroRad" was coined to designate
this meeting and the following ones. EuroRad II was held in 1980
(Basel, Switzerland), EuroRad III in 1982 (Bergen, Norway), and
EuroRad IV in 1984 (Leningrad, USSR). More and more radiolarists
from all continents joining the EuroRad group, a formal international
association of radiolarian micropaleontologists was created and its
first meeting (InterRad V) was held in 1988 at Marburg (Germany)
followed by InterRad VI in 1991 (Firenze, Italy), and
Interrad VII in 1994 (Osaka, Japan).
The last InterRad VIII meeting (almost twenty years after
Eurorad I) was held from September 8th to 13th (1997) at the
Château de Bierville, a meeting center located
50 kilometers South of Paris (France). 85 participants from
17 countries attended 8 workshops and presented
144 oral communications or posters. The abstracts of the
communications were published in a special volume before the meeting,
and further distributed to a total of 200 scientists. A one day
special excursion was organized during InterRad VIII including a
well-appreciated visit of a winery in the Loire area including some
wine tasting, and a visit of the Château de Chambord, a
gorgeous Renaissance castle.
During the meeting, 23 papers were offered for publication in a
special issue of Geodiversitas. A grand total of
21 manuscripts were received by the editorial committee and
submitted to a pair review. Finally, 14 publications were
selected and are presented in this volume.
Two years after InterRad VIII, this special issue of
Geodiversitas cannot reflect the wide scope of the
communications that encompassed all the geological record from
Cambrian to Present. Original information is, however, given about
significant advances in radiolarian biostratigraphy of Mesozoic
formations of the Antartic and Pacific domains. New taxonomic
descriptions of Paleozoic and Mesozoic forms are presented. A single
paper is devoted to the radiolarians of the Messinian diatomites of
the Mediterranean area.
As usual, publication delay was longer than expected due to several
reasons: some authors were late submitting their manuscript, some
reviewers took a lengthy time to review manuscripts and answer
successive requests from the editor. Modifications requested by
reviewers took some extra time to be completed.
Support from the CNRS, the Muséum national d'Histoire
naturelle, the Ministère des Affaires étrangères
and the Total Company is gratefully acknowledged.
Patrick De Wever and Jean-Pierre Caulet