Dear Colleague,

     This fall's meeting of the Geological Society of America will be held
on October 20-23 in Salt Lake City, Utah.  We are writing to inform you of
an oral theme session entitled:

     "The Galilean Satellites: Exploring Their Connections."

The session's goal mirrors the overall "connections" theme of the meeting:

     Galileo data are revealing astounding differences
     among the geologies of Jupiter's Galilean Satellites.
     This session explores common links among these diverse
     moons.  Such connections might include composition,
     internal evolution, volcanism, tectonics, cratering,
     or other characteristics.  Through examination of their
     commonalties, the striking differences among these
     worlds can be better understood.

We hope that this comparative planetology session will provoke stimulating
discussion and provide insights into the geological evolution of the
Galilean satellites.

     We encourage you to contribute an abstract to this special Galileo
session.  The abstract deadline is July 8.  The day of the Galileo theme
session will not be known until mid-July.  Additional information about the
meeting, including information on electronic submission of abstracts, can
be obtained at: http://www.geosociety.org/meetings/97/index.htm

     Please notify us by e-mail if you intend to submit an abstract to this
session.  Also, please feel free to forward this message to colleagues who
may be interested.  Note that GSA's limit of one volunteered abstract per
presenter at the meeting applies to theme sessions.


     Sincerely,

     Bob Pappalardo (pappalardo@brown.edu)
     Rob Sullivan (SULLIVAN@atlas.la.asu.edu)