Society of Economic Geology

Geology, as you know, is the science that addresses how the earth’s physical attributes or structures have evolved throughout history and the specific processes that impacted it. A great and seemingly more important aspect of structure is the substances that make it up.

Minerals are natural, inorganic solids that were developed through a specific chemical formula. Some common examples are limestone, diamond and granite.  Petroleum is not considered a mineral because it is an organic natural substance. Mineral wealth is the natural formation or occurrence of rocks, minerals and chemical compounds that are viable for economic exploitation. Some examples include oil, gas, coal, salt, and precious stones.

Today, the basis of geology depends heavily on the world’s demand for energy. This energy supply is directly controlled by the abundance of mineral wealth needed to accommodate demand. The commercial demand for precious stones and metals has also impacted the world of geology. Therefore, let’s look at the growth of the economy and its affluent industries, and how exactly mineral wealth and innovations in geology support the two.

Geology uses a number of methods to study the earth and the minerals that lie within it. Some methods include seismic surveys, geological mapping, and stratigraphy. These methods help to locate hydrocarbons, ground water and biochemical pathways. More innovations in geology would allow for greater accuracy in locating minerals thus higher production levels that give wealth to economies.

I would say the oil industry has the closest relationship to geology. The industry factors are due to the very nature of oil exploration and the fact that petroleum is stored within the earth’s surface. Therefore, the industry depends on geological data to locate petroleum deposits, pipeline networks and field maintenance.

Oil exploration utilizes a wide range of geological innovations. The basic terms used in petroleum evaluation are gross rock volume, porosity, hydrocarbon saturation and a long list of others. All these factors are determined and monitored by petroleum geologists, thus you can understand the importance of geology in oil exploration.

Pipeline networks and field maintenance mainly utilizes geographical information science. GIS is a system designed to capture, store, analyze, manage and present geological data .This data is used to make informed decisions on day by day basis. Underground pipelines demand accurate and precise information thus the industry standard is to rely on enterprise GIS. A new standard is the use of mobile GIS that further allows the management of enterprise databases within an organization. The mobile GIS integrate the global navigation satellite system, hand held computers (field workers) and GIS software.

Now let me demonstrate the importance of GIS and mineral wealth to economies. Australian iron exports account for 15% of GDP - some 30 billion dollars. The force that pulled Australia out of the recession was the export of iron (base constituent of steel) for the production of cars.  A great number of studies and geological assessments were carried out to determine the vitality of the industry. One hundred thousand tons is pulled from the earth daily. It was found that the supply of iron ore can last for 40 years at this staggering pace. Obviously the studies and measuring of the earth’s surface needs some crazy equipment. These types of situations push geological innovation whilst also helping industries.

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