contents
Why Study Geology? It's All Around Us
It seems that geology isn't such a favoured choice at university these days; much preferred are subjects like Marine Biology, Environmental Science or some sort of tree hugging option.
There's no getting away from it, geology can be tough. I've just spent the last four weeks looking at rocks in Italy: I've tramped over tens of kilometres of basalt cobblestones in quaint winding alleyways, only to end up drinking espresso in yet another hard rock paved piazza.
I've slogged through innumerable hill towns carved out of, and constructed from, the very limestone, dolomite or granite mountain tops on which they now stand, just to find a quaint little place to spend the afternoon eating pasta and drinking red wine. I've visited endless cathedrals, including the Pope's humble abode in Vatican City. These
are veritable geological display-cases, with marble inlaid floors of every colour and pattern imaginable, with sandstone, granite or limestone block walls, not to mention tufa sarcophagi and polished Carrara marble statues by Michelangelo that look as if they are about to get up and walk away; and having to look up at all those artworks on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel really strained my neck.
I also had to drive through many, many kilometres of tunnels and road cuttings within the Umbrian Apennine fold belt which revealed fantastic folds and faults in the clastic and carbonate sections that they cut through and on into rolling hillsides planted with olive groves and vineyards just turning to their autumn colours. As it happens, sangiovese grapes thrive in soils with a high concentration of limestone and have the potential to produce elegant wines with forceful aromas. In the Chianti region, sangiovese thrives on the highly friable shale-clay soil known as galestro and I can personally vouch for the quality of the wine derived from there.
Now that I've written all of that geological research up in this learned industry publication, I think I should be able to claim it all as a legitimate work-related tax deduction (well, maybe not the eating and drinking bit). Let's see the Marine Biologists do that.
Having moved on to the subject of this learned industry publication, let's take a peek at what this edition has of interest for many of the industry's diverse professional streams.
In Queensland, Agforce is highlighting concerns that the agricultural sector has with the commentproposed rapid expansion of the State's CSG industry and planned seven LNG export facilities. With an anticipated 40,000 wells required over the next 20 years, Agforce is reiterating its call for a moratorium on the industry to "step back and assess some of the serious concerns", and claiming: "Until all of the Underground Water Impact Reports and baseline bore assessments have been completed, it is actually impossible to say with certainty that there have been no impacts on aquifers as a result of CSG activities".
The gas industry is being attacked and questioned – depending on which side of the spray you're on – from several fronts, so is defending itself on many more fronts. It seems every other week Santos has a senior executive speaking somewhere in Australia about what it is doing to address environmental and landholder concerns, and the potential benefits of its CSG operations in NSW, a State which has derived much of its gas from the Cooper Basin, where Santos is also now targeting shale. This is also discussed in PESA News Resources. In our Young Professional section the focus is on an ex-trader-turned-geologist who is also PESA YP representative in WA.
Shale has been the focus of much attention, especially in the US due to controversial methods (read: dodgy well completion), after the US Energy Agency released a report early in 2011 which gave a glimpse of Australia's staggering potential. With this in mind, WA has reviewed its petroleum legislation which needs to be updated to deal with the shale gas revolution which appears to be on the brink of going off. More on that, and more, is in the special WA Supplement, which is a special feature of this edition of PESA News Resources.
