Celebrating Geology

Will Durant, American writer, historian and philosopher, once wrote: "Civilization exists by geological consent, subject to change without notice." No quote could be better adapted to our Geology Talk of October 27, and no one better to explain it all than Mr. Leo Koot, petroleum engineer, business manager, and enthusiastic teacher for this topic. And what a desert it was! After lunch time CAISL MS students gathered in the theater to share a full hour of science, technology, and even adventure with Mr. Koot.. From south Caribbean islands geologic research to northern England oil exploration, from Lithium extraction techniques to torpedoes side-by-side with pipelines, we had it all. Showing our MS students the importance of Geology in supporting modern every-day-life, Mr. Koot led our students to understand the importance of the Mesozoic in oil production and the impact of some new technologies on the safety and success of extraction processes, being even able to show some amazing images and science behind the relatively new (large scale) Lithium extraction, showing what can be the future in this area. We even had the chance of smelling pure oil as it comes out of the rocks where it is found, analyze rock corers, and examine in detail drilling samples, layer by layer. In summary, a fun and exciting early-afternoon that brought up the importance of an amazing but sometimes overlooked science – Geology.

Text: Mr. José Rocha, Science teacher