Long time no Post...
Goin on 10 days straight of field work and lookin at 8 more minimum; but our seismic crew is mobilizing early which may mean that I have to stay and map the profile swaths with Kurt with no return to UB...Awesome!
Sorry no pics this time, the satellite connection is based on bytes sent and gets pricey with photos. :((
I'm lovin the field life and every time these guys speak, I learn. It is absolutely amazing to witness how much information can actually be observed from an outcrop when you have the experience they have, truly the sort of detail you could never gain in school... intuition is an amazing tool. For sure, my bar has been raised and my brain turned to sponge - best way to be I say :)
I will post some amazing photos and stories whence I return to the city, but for now I'll have to be minimalistic in my communicae.
Brando is lovin life, gettin worked by the 10-15 hour hikes and eating mutton and beef scraps like it's his job!!! The Mongolians really take to him once they realize how docile he is and continually call him over just to giggle while he eats out of their hands :)
Latest coordinates are (in decimal degrees, which you should be able to just type into google earth):
N 45.43628
E 101.82476
we are just north of a large rectangular looking basement block that is bounded by two significant east-west trending sinistral strike-slip faults. We found several hundred meters of lacustrine oil shale today (think Green River Formation), which we will formally measure tomorrow! now we cross our fingers and hope that the seismic results show it at depth in the basins within our block....lots of work yet to do!
Hope all's well and that the great blue sky shines over your heads,
Ciao!
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Friday, June 11, 2010
Gearin up
Next trip to the field is on the horizon. There will be many of us out there this time. Four of us from Petro Matad, two consulting PhDs from the US and UK, a seasoned PhD from here in Mongolia and our support crew. This is going to be outrageous. We are headed to the Gobi-Altai from June 19-July 4th and will cover a much larger area than I did a few weeks ago. We will be conducting a series of stratigraphic studies and collecting various types of samples to help refine our chronologic understanding of the Permian through Neogene rocks in these basins. Further, we will be investigating the detailed geology along several proposed seismic lines (the first to ever be conducted in this region). The caliber of academic fire-power converging on this effort is incredible, many of these guys have each spent more time mapping geology than I've spent breathing.
...I wonder if saplings in a forest feel small.
...I wonder if saplings in a forest feel small.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
OMG
Until this last trip, my only experience in the desert was throughout the southwest US. And there, my immediate and recurring attraction to such an environment has always been the natural separation from the "real" world. The complete loss of industrial timescales, a sense of place within the order of your surroundings and the fantastical perceptions thereof; driven by heat, exertion/dehydration, silence, sun and, of course, dramatic natural landscapes... (Chemicals need not be included). The Gobi has proved to fulfill all those attributes, multiplied twice over.
We began in an area on the southeast side of Zuun Bogd Uul (East King Mountain). We were searching for a reported occurrence of Bitumen (Dead oil) trapped in a Cretaceous lava flow... (oil in volcanics, as you might imagine, is quite uncommon). We did find something that appeared to fill old gas vesicles in the basalt with a black plastic luster and concoidal fracturing (maybe gilsonite would be a better term). But, it is very very hard (Bitumen should be at least quasi pliable) and not affected by attempts to heat it over a flame... However, it was the only thing in the reported area that even closely resembled an organic origin. Such is the way of field checking old work, never know what you'll find, more detailed testing of the samples is yet to be done, confirming/denying the organic origin.
The Eastern King
This little guy is happily posing for a photo in the sun and by chance offering scale
for one of these "bitumen" occurrences (just right of his left arm). I'll also note
that Brando has taken a wild fascination in these animals... and while they are quick,
he is quite good at catching them.
Brando, packin' samples... :))
From there we headed off to walk some of the sedimentary section and look for organic source rocks of the oil we'll be exploring.
Top, Zia (Mongolian Geologist/guide) and I; Bottom, Me and Dashka (driver/cook/mechanic/Dog spoiler)
He fed Brando so much mutton and beef I barely used any dog food the whole trip...
Pictures are worth a thousand words I hear:
Admire the similarity... (Sorry for the structure pun)
All deserts have water, this is a nice obstacle to try and cross in a Land Cruiser...
B-dog sniffin out a potential source rock
B-dog sniffin out a lil'...well, you get the joke. lol
Drinking water anyone?
Maybe not, on to the next well.
But where is the next well? We went on to Zia's grandmother's ger to ask where a good drinking water well might be. He had not visited her in over 3 years. This was my first experience at a true countryside family dwelling, unfortunately I was so focused on observing the surroundings and tasting the customary dairy treats offered to travelers, I didn't take any photos. We got directions and handed off some apples and juice (things not found easily for them) and continued on.
To catalog the entirety of the past week would require more time and skill than I have. I can only dream of what will be made of the much longer and detailed field sessions to come. I am slowly building a Mongolian vocabulary, spending long hours in the field with a Mongolian is a good way to build that arsenal. Maybe by year's end I'll be able to order my own food or direct a taxi, but for now it's pointing at the menu pictures and walking long ways with my best friend.
Goodnight.
We began in an area on the southeast side of Zuun Bogd Uul (East King Mountain). We were searching for a reported occurrence of Bitumen (Dead oil) trapped in a Cretaceous lava flow... (oil in volcanics, as you might imagine, is quite uncommon). We did find something that appeared to fill old gas vesicles in the basalt with a black plastic luster and concoidal fracturing (maybe gilsonite would be a better term). But, it is very very hard (Bitumen should be at least quasi pliable) and not affected by attempts to heat it over a flame... However, it was the only thing in the reported area that even closely resembled an organic origin. Such is the way of field checking old work, never know what you'll find, more detailed testing of the samples is yet to be done, confirming/denying the organic origin.
The Eastern King
This little guy is happily posing for a photo in the sun and by chance offering scale
for one of these "bitumen" occurrences (just right of his left arm). I'll also note
that Brando has taken a wild fascination in these animals... and while they are quick,
he is quite good at catching them.
Brando, packin' samples... :))
From there we headed off to walk some of the sedimentary section and look for organic source rocks of the oil we'll be exploring.
Top, Zia (Mongolian Geologist/guide) and I; Bottom, Me and Dashka (driver/cook/mechanic/Dog spoiler)
He fed Brando so much mutton and beef I barely used any dog food the whole trip...
Pictures are worth a thousand words I hear:
Admire the similarity... (Sorry for the structure pun)
All deserts have water, this is a nice obstacle to try and cross in a Land Cruiser...
B-dog sniffin out a potential source rock
B-dog sniffin out a lil'...well, you get the joke. lol
Drinking water anyone?
Maybe not, on to the next well.
But where is the next well? We went on to Zia's grandmother's ger to ask where a good drinking water well might be. He had not visited her in over 3 years. This was my first experience at a true countryside family dwelling, unfortunately I was so focused on observing the surroundings and tasting the customary dairy treats offered to travelers, I didn't take any photos. We got directions and handed off some apples and juice (things not found easily for them) and continued on.
To catalog the entirety of the past week would require more time and skill than I have. I can only dream of what will be made of the much longer and detailed field sessions to come. I am slowly building a Mongolian vocabulary, spending long hours in the field with a Mongolian is a good way to build that arsenal. Maybe by year's end I'll be able to order my own food or direct a taxi, but for now it's pointing at the menu pictures and walking long ways with my best friend.
Goodnight.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)