Importance of geological information

Our predecessors have found georesources and exploited them. They were aware that these resources have geologic limits, and they knew that someday these resources would be depleted. Depletion was a matter of concern for people, for communities, and sometimes for the entire nation. Now, from vantage points in space and in history, we have begun to see the actual dimensions of the earth and its resources and we have begun to realise how badly we have misused these resources. In the remains of the gold-silver workings at Cassandra in Greece, there is evidence that people dug in search of faulted vein segments at some time prior to 300 BC. Their Athenian contemporaries, faced with the depletion of silver and lead ore at Laurium, recognised the favourability of marble near a schist contact and sunk more than 1000 shafts through barren rock, some to depths of 100m, in search of hidden ore bodies.

During the sixteenth century, Georgius Agricola, a physician of Chemnitz, Saxony (Germany), published several essays on prospecting, mining, and metallurgy that dominated geologic thought for two centuries. Oil and gas exploration is also a very old pursuit. The Bible contains many references to the use of pitch or asphalt collected from the natural seepages with which the Middle East abounds. Herodotus, writing in about 450 B.C., described oil seeps in Carthage (Tunisia), and the Greek island Zachynthus. He gave details of oil extraction from wells near Ardericca in modern Iran. Oil, salt, and bitumen were produced simultaneously from these wells. The first well in the Western world specifically sunk to search for oil appears to have been at Pechelbronn, France, in 1745. Oil and gas production in Illinois, USA began in 1853 when marsh or drift gas was produced from two wells drilled near Champaign. This gas came from rotting vegetation buried in the glacial deposits.

At the time, people knew little about where gas or oil came from, or how to search for it. Nevertheless, the control on the search, exploitation and development of these valuable resources has never gone to any one outside the region. They have developed themselves in every aspect of exploration, exploitation and development ensuring interests and benefits of the nations. Bangladesh, geographically, is one of the smallest countries in the world. In contrary, it is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. Nonetheless, it is blessed with geologically occurring potential resources like coal, building stones including hard rocks, boulders, gravels, and gas in economically exploitable form. In addition, white clay, glass sand, beach sand containing heavy minerals, and oil have also been found signifying their potential prospects.

The economic deposits of coal in Bangladesh became certain when the then Geological Survey of Pakistan (GSP), now Geological Survey of Bangladesh (GSB), first drilled exploratory wells in Jaipurhat in the year 1962. Subsequently, more discoveries of coal deposits were made by GSB at Boropukuria, Khalaspir, and Dighipara in 1985, 1989, and 1995 respectively. Phulbari coal deposit was discovered by BHP, a foreign mining company, in 1999. Much talked about oil and gas exploration activities for its finding begun as early as 1910. The first phase of the activities continued until 1933 during British colonial rule in India without any success. After the Second World War, the activities for finding oil begun in 1951 by major international oil companies like Shell, Stanvac, Pakistan Petroleum Limited, and by the national Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC) and continued until 1971. Most of the gas discoveries were made during this phase. Coal, oil, and gas play the prime role in meeting nation's energy demand and industrial development.

The oil and gas discovery activities in Bangladesh gained momentum in the early Nineties. However, very little and insignificant gas discovery, except the Bibiana discovery, was made in this phase of the venture. Currently, nation's entire gas resource is in the hands of foreign investors. The coal resource of the country is also on the verge of going to the hands of foreign investors. We are virtually ignoring the local investors and local geo-resource personnel defying the nation's interests. Our own discovered Jalalabad gas field has been gifted away disregarding billions of dollar revenue earning for the nation. Can we justify throwing away Moulvibazar, Feni and Chatak gas fields defying minimum interest of the nation? Even before the gas controversy is over, the coal drama has emerged. The country will loose about US$37 billion if both Phulbaria and Boropukuria coalfields are given to foreign investors for open-pit venture. Unless, a nation has a very transparent policy and honest vision, it is very unlikely that geo-resources would ever contribute to nation building.

Contrary to geo-resources, geo-hazards can bring an absolute misery to the society and nation. Earthquake is one of the major geo-hazards threatening life, property, and economic well-being of many nations. Death tolls from major earthquakes in recent time are 255,000 in Tang Shan, China in 1976; 10,000 in Mexico City in 1985; 9,783 in Latur, India in 1993; 13805 died and 167000 were injured in Bhuj, India in 2001. South Asia Quake in Pakistan claimed nearly hundred thousand lives ruining billions of dollars investment in a small region. The Asian tsunami, which was the result of a great earthquake has taken more than four hundred thousand lives and ruined billions of dollars investment. The economic loss in the 1995 Kobe (Japan) earthquake was more than U.S. $100 billion. Nations striving for full economic development may find the investments and progress of decades wiped out in a moment. Any physical phenomenon associated with an earthquake that may produce adverse effects on human activities is termed as earthquake hazard. This includes surface faulting, ground shaking, landslides, liquefaction, tectonic deformation, tsunami, and their effects on land use, man-made structures, and socio-economic systems. Land losses and riverbank erosions are the results of continuous changes in the destructive geological processes. Water resource depletion and groundwater contamination are the outcome of adverse geoenvironment regulated by geological processes. Lack of proper understanding and education of or ignorance about geology and geological processes may bring misery to the society and nation.

Dr. Aftab Alam Khan is Professor, Dhaka University and Vice President, Bangladesh Earthquake Society.