New drilling project in Barberton launched to uncover the history of Earth
An exciting operation has recently started in town, called the Moodies-Barberton Archean Surface Environments (BASE) Drilling Project, in a bid to learn more about the early Earth and the beginnings of life.
This scientific undertaking intends to teach people about the Earth’s history recorded in Barberton’s ancient rocks.
According to a statement, this new endeavour will also provide the basis for scientific exhibitions to support tourism, visitor awareness and education locally, nationally and internationally.
The project is a fitting event to mark the international recognition of the value of the Barberton Makhonjwa Mountains, which were proclaimed a Unesco World Heritage Site (WHS) in July 2018.
It has been carefully planned for over five years, by dozens of acclaimed geologists from many countries, led by Prof Christoph Heubeck of the Jena University in Germany.
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The operation started in late November and now has two drill rigs producing underground rock samples that are being recorded and temporarily stored in the Barberton Iron And Steel (BIAS) hall of the Barberton Museum.
Over the next four months, about four kilometres of drill core is expected from eight holes, providing fresh rock samples to research labs in over a dozen countries. The project will ultimately produce a series of research papers over the next few years. These will help explain our planet’s earliest history, the origins of life on Earth and, by extension, on other planets, too.
The statement said the Barberton WHS is the preferred global location to search for these answers and is one of the main reasons for it being proclaimed a World Heritage Site.
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“This project will significantly expand our knowledge of events recorded in our uniquely ancient rocks. It will also provide, in Barberton Museum’s BIAS building, the basis for a permanent physical display of ‘big science in action’ that will create awareness locally and internationally,” said the statement.
It added that visits to drill sites may be organised by sending an email to moodiesbaseproject@gmail.com, and project updates can be found on Moodies-BASE Project on Facebook.
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