Re: rock-core damage - an
update
Dear Rob,
Well done. You and the GSL deserve great credit. I have come upon
the most appalling drilling- desecration of some classic sites that
have acquired the form of gruyere. The two really dreadful examples of
my experience are the KT boundary along Woodside Creek in the Seaward
Kaikouras, South Island New Zealand, and the beautiful water-polished
bed of the Komati River, Barberton Mountain Land, South Africa but I
have seen many others. Once drilled, it is too late for recriminations
except the probability of being unable to publish the pariah
results. Thank you.
John Dewey
Dear colleagues
Following the discussion point we had
back in June concerning ethical (and especially unethical) rock
sampling, centred on rock-core damage - I'm pleased to
report some progress.
The critical step is that the Geological
Society of London has incorporated sample collection into their code
of ethics for publishing.
As they submit manuscripts, along with
adhering to conventional ethical statements (such as the manuscript
being submitted isn't being considered for publication elsewhere),
potential authors will have to agree that they have adhered the
following:
"5. Sample and data collection
5.1 Samples used for data or
illustrations in articles submitted to the Geological Society of
London must have been collected in a responsible manner in compliance
with the Geologists' Association Geological Fieldwork Code
5.2 Data from Samples that have been
collected without permission from protected sites are not acceptable
and should not be used in any paper submitted to the Geological
Society of London. Where material from protected sites is used,
authors must provide evidence that permission to collect samples was
obtained.".
It's worth pointing out that the
ethical statement relates to sampling anywhere in the world, not just
the UK!
The Geological Society, through their
Publications Committee, are to be commended for acting promptly here.
It is hoped that other publishers will follow suit - and discussions
are already underway across the international science publishing
community to move forward on this.
There's more to be done of course -
but at least this is a start.
Best
wishes
Rob
RWH Butler
Professor of Tectonics
Geology and Petroleum
Geology
School of Geosciences
Meston Building
University of Aberdeen
ABERDEEN AB24 3UE
+44 (0) 1224 273452
[log in to unmask]
Director: Virtual Seismic Atlas
(www.seismicatlas.org)
From: Rob Butler <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Mon, 2 Jun 2014 12:38:48 +0100
To: Tectonics & structural list <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: rock-core damage - call for information
Dear colleagues
I'm calling for information from the
broad community about bad rock coring damage.
Many important sites are being devastated
by this practice and it's bringing our science into disrepute. So
I'm raising this as chair of the Geological Society of London's
Geoconservation Committee - hopefully to guide approaches to reduce
the problem. I know this is not just a UK problem Š. There is
however a spate of this going on in the NW Highlands at the moment. I
also know there's been discussion on this list about bad rock
sampling practice. So let's try to stamp this out
togetherŠ.
I'm sure many of you will be dismayed
to see the attachment here of rock-coring damage to this famous
outcrop of the sub-Torridonian unconformity adjacent to Loch Assynt,
in NW Scotland. This location is visited by many hundreds students
every year and is a key location in the NW Highlands Geopark. The
local officers are dismayed about this. The outcrop is on land owned
by the John Muir trust - a major conservation organisation (http://www.jmt.org/vision.asp).
Doing collecting like this is equivalent
to stealing birds eggs or butterflies. Can you imagine archeologists
being allowed to drill into the megaliths of Stonehenge etc? It's a
question of ethics and must stop. Geologists in general risk
being viewed as having no regard for their environment. So our various
conservation and public awareness campaigns and initiatives may become
less well-regarded or ignored.
Other sites in NW Scotland that have been
attacked in this way include designated Sites of Special Scientific
Interest that are protected by law - so such coring is a criminal act.
Pleading ignorance is no defence! They include a lot of
the classic outcrops of Durness limestone around Durness itself
and eastern Eriboll and the Scourie dykes at Scourie More. Not to
mention virtually every one of the dykes forming part of the Tertiary
swarm at Elgol on Skye.
Don't get me wrong - I'm not against
rock coring itself - but it can be done better - such by excavating
parts of outcrops then recovering them. Even then the holes should be
refilled - and ideally finished off with the outcrop face off-cut of
the core all bonded with a resilient, weather-proof cement - to leave
the least visible trace of the activity. Going after the best, most
visited and previously photogenic sites is reprehensible. There are
plenty of good-practice guides around that could be consultedŠ and
applied (e.g.
www.geologistsassociation.org.uk/downloads/GARockCoringGuide.pdf).
So - what to do? Too often we discuss and
report these as individual incidents. It's time to gather
information more widely. Of course it's not just members of the
tectonics community who are responsible - and so please pass on this
request for information to colleagues.
And send me images (really not at
not too large a file size: to [log in to unmask]) - with
some location specifics. If you can tie these examples of
damage to specific publications that have arisen from them - then you
might like to send me the link to the paper too. Although I'm
specifically interested in auditing the extent of the problem through
the UK - - please also share examples from elsewhere in the
world.
Once we know what's going on, then we
can work out better strategies to educate those who do this kind of
thing - and promote better practice.
Many thanks
Rob
RWH Butler
Professor of Tectonics
Geology and Petroleum
Geology
School of Geosciences
Meston Building
University of Aberdeen
ABERDEEN AB24 3UE
+44 (0) 1224 273452
[log in to unmask]
Director: Virtual Seismic Atlas
(www.seismicatlas.org)
The University of Aberdeen is a charity registered in Scotland, No
SC013683.
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Àir. SC013683.
--
-----------------------------------
Prof. John F. Dewey FRS, M.R.I.A., FAA, Mem. Acad. Eur., Mem.
US Nat. Acad. Sci., Distinguished Emeritus Professor University of
California, Emeritus Professor and Supernumerary Fellow, University
College Oxford.
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