BGS in the media Nov 2011

Under a new government 'licensing round' early next year - the first since 2008 - bids for shale gas exploration licences are expected to surge, industry experts have told The Sunday Telegraph...operations in Lancashire 'triggered' two small earthquakes, one of 2.3 magnitude and the other of 1.5. Fracking has been suspended ever since. However, earthquakes of such magnitude occur in the UK almost every week, with six in the last month alone, according to the British Geological Survey.

Reconnaissance assessments are one of the first steps in identifying new commercial mining projects. Clive Mitchell outlines the British Geological Survey's recent evaluation of high purity limestone deposits worldwide, including in the Middle East...Limestone probably has the largest number of commercial applications of all the industrial minerals. These include construction (aggregate, rail ballast and dimension stone), mineral fillers (in paper, paint, plastic, rubber...

A report this month found it was likely that two earthquakes were triggered in Lancashire earlier this year by the process of 'fracking'. But how regular are earthquakes in Britain and are we in any danger of suffering a large tremor?...There was an earthquake in Scotland in the past few days. And one in Chichester. And another in the West Midlands. That sounds like quite a week. But it's just business as usual for the British Geological Survey.

DUBAI: The UAE is a country that loves its marble, for gleaming stone surfaces in shopping centres, palaces and mosques...The investigation into decorative stones was carried out by the British Geological Survey (BGS) as part of a 10-year, Dh90 million study of the Emirates that began in 2002...Two geologists collected samples from areas in the Hajjar mountains in October last year, taking the stones to be polished and then back to the UK for further tests.

A number of Lincoln's oldest and monumental buildings and areas have been described as deteriorating or at risk by English Heritage...'Historically it has been a problem,' said Dr Graham Lott of the British Geological Survey...'Though it's not all caused by pollution the building work is being affected by rain in its natural state since it's slightly acidic to start with...'

A British report which found that fracking was the 'highly probable' cause of two minor earthquakes in the Blackpool area during the northern hemisphere spring has attracted considerable media attention...Dr Brian Baptie, Head of Earthquake Seismology at the British Geological Survey (BGS), said: 'The Cuadrilla report confirms the initial BGS conclusion that the earthquakes were probably caused by the injection of fluid ('fracking').'

It is 'highly probable' that shale gas test drilling triggered earth tremors in Lancashire, a study has found...The Department of Energy and Climate Change said; 'The implications of this report will be reviewed very carefully - in consultation with the British Geological Survey, independent experts, and the other key regulators, HSE and the Environment Agency - before any decision on the resumption of these hydraulic fracture operations is made.'

It's a popular plot device in disaster movies. Cinema audiences sit munching their popcorn, while the villain plants a bomb (preferably nuclear) somewhere in California and holds the world to ransom with his (or her) threat to generate a mega-earthquake and destroy the world...Decoded Science asked Dr. Roger Musson, of the British Geological Survey. According to Dr. Musson, such a scenario is theoretically possible - but in reality the practicalities are just too problematic.