Geology News - March 2008

Geology articles, earth science news and blogs from around the world. Stories are archived monthly. All links are to external sites and linking does not mean the site or opinions are endorsed by AGS. If links are broken, it is because the news source has removed it from its website.

March 28, 2008

British Columbia says energy lease sales at record
The province said sales for the fiscal year ending March 31 more than doubled the previous record of C$625.7 million, set in 2003-2004.

Geologists investigate Titan river formation
A three-year project to duplicate and analyze the minus 180 degrees Celsius environment of Titan, Saturn's largest moon.

Major quake may hit Kashmir
Geologists have cautioned that a major earthquake may hit the Himalayan segment of Kashmir anytime.

UK's biggest meteorite impact rocked Scotland
It's lucky for the good burghers of Ullapool in Scotland that they weren't around 1.2 billion years ago, because it was around then that the biggest meteorite ever to hit the British Isles would have made a bit of a dent in local house prices.

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Hall of Geological Wonders will be complete in 2009
The San Bernardino County Museum's Hall of Geological Wonders is well on its way to becoming a full-fledged building and, according to the contractor, will be completed in 100 days.

Mangalore loses as illegal sand mining thrives
Loopholes in the rules and lack of proper administrative mechanism has allowed illegal sand mining and transportation to thrive in the district.

March 20, 2008

EnCana donates $7.5 million to the University of Alberta
The gift includes $3 million each for two new research chairs focused on water resources and environmental engineering.

Critics pan Alberta nuke plan
Bruce Power's ambitious plan to build nuclear reactors in Alberta is unlikely to find the customers it needs in the province's booming oil sands sector, critics say.

Valuable gems, stones swiped from university display cases
University of Michigan campus police are investigating the theft of tens of thousands of dollars worth of semi-precious gems and minerals from several geology department display cases.

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University of Wisconsin-Madison geology museum receives more than $100,000 in minerals
With 684 specimens and an appraised value in excess of $115,000, the R.A. Greiner Mineral Collection is the most impressive set of minerals the museum has ever received.

March 19, 2008

South Australia and Canada to share uranium knowledge
The Primary Industries Department says the proposed collaboration is with Saskatchewan, which has a similar geology to South Australia.

Brock University research project trying to get to the core of oil sands
With an impending energy crisis, it could be Canada's most important question: how did the Alberta oil sands get there, and how can we extract every possible drop of oil from them?

Jobs galore in mining industry
Brittan Jones passed up a $100,000-a-year job at a mining company last December when he finished his degree in geology. The 24-year-old said he's confident he'll get a better offer.

South Australia could become 'Saudi Arabia of energy'
South Australia could become the Saudi Arabia of the energy world with a cradle-to-grave uranium industry, a geology professor says.

March 14, 2008

Nova Scotia tempts offshore explorers with new digital data
The potential of Nova Scotia's offshore geology has never been clearer. For the first time, 3-D digital seismic data taken from the Sable Island area is available over the Internet, for free.

Rare fossil found at Bosque del Apache
Two geologists from the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources discovered a fossil embedded in a rock face.

March 12, 2008

Annual survey of mining companies released
Fraser Institute releases its annual survey of metal mining and exploration companies to assess how mineral endowments and public policy factors such as taxation and regulation affect exploration investment.

March 11, 2008

Utah crater mystery cracked
One of the longest-running mysteries in the U.S. National Parks has been solved: The crater-like Upheaval Dome in Utah's Canyonlands National Park was caused by a meteor impact, say German researchers.

10 million-year-old fossil found in Socorro refuge
A geological mapping project led to the finding of a 10 million-year-old fossil that's now being studied at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science

Carbon-capture technology offers a new use for old assets
Once the world's sixth-biggest producer of oil and gas, Britain's bit of the North Sea is in terminal decline. Carbon capture and storage offers several advantages.

Mega-quake study offers good news (and bad)
Now it looks like any place where one plate of the Earth is being actively shoved under another can experience a catastrophic magnitude 9 earthquake.

March 10, 2008

Dry debris, not water, caused recent flows on Mars
A dry landslide—not liquid water—is the most likely explanation for at least one of the bright streaks seen recently on Mars, a new study concludes.