Isle of Skye 1972-74

A few years ago Leicester University rationalised its storage space and returned archived undergraduate mapping projects to their owners. The project was to map an area 3 x 3 miles during 3 separate visist of 1 month each.

My project was in SW Strath, Isle of Skye and I visited during Summer 1972, Easter 1973 (it was cold) and Summer 1973. I used the 2nd class rail fare travel allowance and 1Pound B&B allowance to buy an ex-GPO Morris1000 van (post office red) and drove and camped.

The geology was fascinating (Red Hills granites and rhyolites to the north, Beinn An Dubhaich granite intruding Cambrian limestones in north-centre and Mesozoic sediments to the south, all intruded by Tertiary dyke swarms) and the task of recording and interpreting it was challenging but rewarding. It probably set some of my characteristics that have borne me well throughout my chequered career.

The mapping was caried by pace-and-compass using a 6" topographic map as a base. It would be fascinating to repeat the excercise after 30 years of field and office studies and using modern day GPS and digital map facilities. Perhaps one day!

Wadi Hitan

Wadi Hitan is about 3 hours drive southwest of Cairo on the fringe of the Western Desert. It is an amazing place and once there it is easy to forget the hustle and bustle of Cairo. We left Cairo about noon and after a leisurely trip arrived as the desert heat was dropping with the sun. We wandered around the Miocene graveyard littered with monstrous bones of distinctly recognizable whales. We did not see many of the relic hind limbs which suggests these mammals returned to the waters. But don't read about it here, Google a little more information and go there to see it first hand . It is well worth it. We camped on site and explored a little more in the soft dawn light and then headed off to the nearby Roman ruins.

http://www.google.com.au/search?q=wadi+hitan&hl=en&site=webhp&prmd=ivns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=993WTe6eG46gvgOqp9G7Bw&sqi=2&ved=0CEAQsAQ&biw=1904&bih=823

Victorian Bushfires 2009

Monday 16th February 2009:

Last night I was on the fire front just 3 km from our community (and luckily it was not up-wind)… some arsonist set fire to the National State Park Forest…. We attacked it with 20 CFA fire tankers, 1 DSE (like Forests Commission) tanker and 2 heliborne water bombers supported by a spotter chopper and an aerial coordinator working in conjunction with the ground controllers. It tok over 2 hours to hold a line and stop the fire advance.

http://www.theage.com.au/national/fresh-burn-in-belgrave-underscores-ongoing-fire-risk-20090215-8865.html

http://www.abc.net.au/news/video/2009/02/16/2492230.htm

I am a volunteer member of the CFA Country Fire Authority… a well regimented organisation .. I did the 6 month training course in 2006 and this summer I have taken part in 2 Strike Team campaigns which were mobilised up into the Kinglake area to put out fires and to provide asset protection to communities up there… On the one hand it is nice to know all the school theory works but on the other I would rather not have to apply it.. Each Strike Team consists of 6 fire tankers each manned by 5 firefighters. Strike Teams generally operate in pairs (60 men) and on any one day there must have been about 125 strike teams out .. news reports say there are 4000 volunteer firefighters out… however since there are 12 hours day and night shifts and since we go out only every 24-36 hours ( to recuperate fully in between) there must be some 12,000 to 15,000 volunteers… older men like myself, university students , men and women, blue collar workers, city slickers. farmers, plumbers … the works.. It is really an impressive effort

Some 500,000 hectares have burned this summer… that’s an area of something like East Anglia in the UK…189 dead, 2000 homes burned and many many more temporarily evacuated.

Needless to say the whole State is in a state of anxiety and alertness

Salajit

Salajit

Introduction

Salajit from the Northern Areas of Pakistan has been extracted, processed and distributed as a ‘wonder cure’ for time immemorial. It is also claimed that Salajit is a powerful aphrodisiac. It is collected by notorious Salajit Hunters who describes its origin as being high in the mountains necessitating long trekking hours, precarious rock climbing and dangerous rope work to reach it. Salajit is described as being exuded or ejected from rock and fissures during hot weather at altitudes of 2500-4000 mamsl and is said to occur as four varieties; gold, silver, copper and iron. Numerous chemicall analysis indicate wide ranging compositions including plant waxes, oils and acids, organic matter, minerals (including silica, nitrogen, iron, alumina, potash, and chloride) and vegetable fibres. The substance is resinous in nature, is soluble in water and burns. It has been described as a petroleum hydrocarbon and is also observed to be associated with the habitat of rare mammals ( Woolly Flying Squirrel in NWFP)

The medicinal benefits of Salajit are widely claimed and may be studied at various websites

My Research & Results

I spent several months researching and tracking salajit to get to the source in the mountains in Pakistan. The main problem was that street vendors invariably did not know the source of their product as it had been traded down the Karakoram Highway. After much deliberation I mapped and found source localities in the Nanga Parbat, Passu and Shimshall areas. I have collected approximately 20 kgs of salajit and my examination of the samples and their habitat leads me to conclude that salajit is a biological product, probably faeces, from various nocturnal and timid mammals including the Giant Woolly Flying Squirrel and Afghan Pikkas.

References.

http://salajitstudies.blogspot.com/

Dr George Carman

Oil Patch Map

Geodirect Office Facilities

Geodirect operates from a home office located in the Dandenong Ranges east of Melbourne city. With modern telecommunications clients needs are met via telephone, email and ftp facilities.

Being located in AEST time-zone (GMT+10 hours) Geodirect can offer European and Middle East clients a rapid turn-around on enquiries.


In additional to excellent University facilities nearby, the office includes an extensive hard-copy data base which Geodirect can draw on for resources and consequently is well resourced to tackle any project internationally. Furthermore, Melbourne was once the oil capital of Australia and the city in which many Australian geoscientists learnt their business (with Bass Strait operators). Many of these seasoned oil hands are now taking up part-time retirement back at their home base and using its extensive networks Geodirect can tap into this experienced human resource for almost any discipline related to most petroleum basins around the world.


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Dr George J Carman

GeoDirect Resources Pty Ltd

Aus Mob +61 423326921

Home Office + 613 9755 2870 OR +613 9372 3446

Email: Geodirect@optusnet.com.au

Summary

Petroleum geologist with 35+ years experience in the international petroleum industry in Senior Management and Executive positions and as a Consultant, with significant international experience in E&P projects in Middle East, India, Pakistan, Kuwait, UAE, Jordan, Namibia, North Sea, Alaska, Australia, Papua New Guinea and Central Europe Alp-Carpathian (Bavaria, Romania, Ukraine) presenting a wide variety of operational exploration and field development environments.

These range from tropical to desert, in both offshore and onshore projects. As Geologist, Geological Specialist, Exploration Manager and Asst. Country Manager George Carman has represented Multinationals (BP, AGIP, Shell) and State-Owned Government organisations (KOC), medium-scale E&P's listed on the UK and Australian stock exchanges (Hardy Oil & Gas, British Borneo, Tullow plc, Austin Oil NL) and family-owned businesses (Kugler-Newberry-Graham, Southeastern Oil & Gas PL, Geodirect, Paige/Nativus, Annmar-Resources / Dr Basodan, Moravske naftove doly a.s. / Komarek family, Vinay Maloo- Enso Ltd).

Technical Editor for GeoArabia 1994-1999. Dr George Carman holds a BSc (Honours) in Geology from Leicester University UK, was conferred with a PhD by Monash University, Australia 1994 and was the Exploration Director of the ASX listed Austin Oil NL 1987-1995. Services to E&P industry currently provided via Melbourne based GeoDirect Resource Pty Ltd consulting company of which Dr George Carman is the Director

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