at the general assembly of the iagc in rio de janeiro, national memberships were terminated as it was widely felt that the iagc was sufficiently mature and financially stable that the control and support of individual countries on the iagc, through designated representatives (who may not have been geochemists), was redundant and potentially counter-productive. thus, the iagc evolved into a self-supported organization whose activities were controlled by its members, through an elected executive and council.