Geology News - August 2006

Interesting geology articles and earth science news from around the world. Stories are archived monthly. All links are to external sites.

August 31, 2006

Hazards of the Jamaican coastline
This is the first in a series of articles on hazards of the Jamaican coastline contributed by the Marine Geology Unit, Department of Geography and Geology, University of the West Indies.

August 30, 2006

Protecting the coast, post-Katrina
In the year since the levees broke in New Orleans, scientists and engineers have found a lot of reasons for hope and despair about the future of Louisiana's coast.

Taupo could hold key to discovering life on Mars
Ancient hot springs are believed to have occurred on Mars, and these extreme environments are thought to be a likely place to have hosted microbial life.

August 26, 2006

New bed of precious stones explored in Kashmir
Exploring new areas of immense mineral wealth by Department of Geology and Mining have revealed that the Sapphire Valley of Doda district has vast potential.

August 23, 2006

More than $6.4 billion invested into geology and subsurface use in Kazakhstan
The volume of investments into geology and subsurface use of Kazakhstan in the 1H 2006 amounted to $6 billion 477 million, which is 22% more than during the same period of 2005.

August 21, 2006

Researchers hope 'bugs' can speed up coalbed production
Coalbed methane in the Powder River Basin is produced by microscopic bacteria breaking down organic materials. What if those microbes could be encouraged to make the natural gas faster and for an extended period of time?

August 18, 2006

August's $32M keeps Saskatchewan land sales at record pace
Oil and gas companies continued to snap up drilling rights in Saskatchewan, with August's land sale garnering $32.1 million in revenue for the province.

August 17, 2006

B.C. mining company wins right to explore disputed Arctic island
Canada's Department of Indian and Northern Affairs issued the approval despite the fact that Denmark also lays claim to the three-kilometre-long, boulder-strewn piece of rock jutting out of the Atlantic Ocean since the 1970s.

August 10, 2006

Surveys to try and identify Timor Sea diamond fields
Oil companies working in the Timor Sea have discovered there may be diamonds on the Tiwi Islands in Australia.

August 7, 2006

Ottawa ready to kick-start NWT gas hunt
The hunt for natural gas could resume in the Fort Liard area of the Northwest Territories as the federal government prepares to open land for exploration for the first time in a decade.

August 3, 2006

3.8 earthquake shakes Portland area
According to the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries, the earthquake hit in an area with no known fault lines.

August 2, 2006

Fossil bone marrow found
The finding could suggest that marrow is more widely preserved than has been assumed.

Radioactive thorium in monazite can be used to date rock formations
Reddish-brown crystals of a radioactive mineral called monazite can act as microscopic clocks that allow geologists to date rock formations that have been altered by the action of high-temperature fluids, a process that frequently leads to the formation of rich ore deposits.

August 1, 2006

At an underwater volcano, evidence of man's environmental impact
A University of Florida geologist is among a team of geologists that is the first to observe "anthropogenic influence" in hydrothermal deposits.