Re: rock-core damage

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

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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