Geology News - November 2006

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

November 30, 2006

Burying greenhouse gas
Two teams of scientists in the U.S. report promising results for one unique solution: burying carbon dioxide underground.

November 22, 2006

University masters oil extraction
Pulling crude out of the ground is an increasingly challenging process and a multi-disciplinary degree launched by the University of Calgary aims to be the answer.

Ancient oil droplet holds key to origins
Colorado State University geologist John Ridley is looking for really ancient, billion-year-old oil to serve not as fuel, but rather as a key to reveal the story of the creation of life on Earth.

November 21, 2006

Australia's Uranium Mining, Processing and Nuclear Energy Review's draft report released
25 nuclear reactors could produce over a third of Australia's electricity by 2050. And nuclear power would cost 20 to 50 per cent more to produce than coal or gas-fired power.

November 20, 2006

Peak oil: Even if the optimists are right, time is getting tight
Peak oil proponents and sceptics agree that world production will eventually crest. Also, both sides of this debate accept that the decline curve will be gradual rather than sudden.

Airships emerge as new weapon to lift diamond detection rate
Modern airships packed with equally modern exploration technology are turning the tide for the world's largest diamond-miner and trader in helping identify new targets for drilling.

November 17, 2006

New approach helps expand study of living fossils
A new article published in the November issue of Geology reveals how Dr. Miriam Andres' stromatolite investigation – the first of its kind – has begun to "fingerprint" ancient microbial pathways, increasing the understanding of how these reef-like structures form.

November 16, 2006

Calgary-based engineering team invents early-warning landslide system
The townsfolk of Hillcrest in southern Alberta can thank a Calgary-based engineering team for an early-warning landslide system that could one day save their lives. The Alberta Geological Survey are responsible for monitoring the system.

November 15, 2006

Sensor system warns of coming rockslides
"As a province, we need to know when something is going to happen and prepare for that and respond," Corey Froese of the Alberta Geological Survey told CBC News.

November 14, 2006

Professors lead Antarctic research projects
Two Portland State University glacier research teams have left for Antarctica in the last three weeks.

November 13, 2006

Only 40 pct of gold reserves identified in China's Guizhou province
'We believe we have 500 tons of gold reserves, but we've only identified 200 tons to date,' said Deng Shaoqing, director, Guizhou province Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources.

Gran's canyon is a net sensation
The Google Earth spotter who discovered the intriguing rock formation that looks like an iPod-wearing native American, turns out to be an Australian granny living in a small Canadian prairie town.

November 10, 2006

Scientists 'fingerprint' climate change villain
Scientists from the University of Calgary and the Alberta Research Council have successfully tested a new method for "fingerprinting" and tracking carbon dioxide (CO2) pumped deep underground.

November 9, 2006

Mars rover may get one-way ticket
The chief scientist on Nasa's Mars rover mission is contemplating whether to send Opportunity into a large crater with no means of getting back out.

Earthquake trouble spots identified
A new technique, LiDAR, has enabled scientists to better identify earthquake fault lines that are hidden by forest cover and have therefore never been seen before.

Related story

Big salaries fail to attract geology students in Australia
At the same time that a mining industry desperate for the expertise of geologists has allowed some graduates to push their starting salaries beyond $100,000, university geology departments are cutting staff and subjects or closing altogether.

November 7, 2006

3.9 billion-year-old rock given to Appalachian’s Geology Teaching Museum
The amateur geologist and retired Tennessee Eastman Co. chemical engineer from Kingsport, Tenn., traveled thousands of miles by vehicle and float plane to collect samples of the oldest rocks on earth, located in Canada’s Northwest Territory along the Acasta River.

Third southeast Portland earthquake poses puzzle for experts
Scientists are especially puzzled as to why the relatively weak earthquakes produced shaking 30 miles away. Usually, quakes at a magnitude 3 and under are not widely felt.

Firestone Ventures advances Alberta Sun uranium project
The uranium potential of southern Alberta was first suggested in Alberta Geological Survey Open File Report 1994-08.

November 6, 2006

High-tech system detects rock slides
A high-tech early warning system that measures surface and subsurface activity and even uses satellite technology for monitoring is now in place on Turtle Mountain in the Crowsnest Pass.

November 5, 2006

Montana aquifer beginning to replenish with rain
After years of drought, recent rains are beginning to recharge the Madison aquifer again.

November 2, 2006

In the land of death, scientists witness the birth of a new ocean
In Ethiopia's arid Afar region eruptions and earthquakes have created an open-air laboratory.

NASA Mars orbiter to search for lost probes
Cameras need good light to take good pictures and that is why NASA's super-powerful Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is waiting for a better angle and clear air to begin a photographic search for two Mars probes that disappeared, but are not forgotten.