KARIN EXPLORES THE KAROO STRATIGRAPHY

AN ACADEMIC CONTRIBUTION TO SECURE SOUTH AFRICA’S FUTURE SUSTAINABLE ENERGY MIX

An academic contribution to SA’s ACADEMIC RESEARCH GeAN ACADEMIC CONTRIBUTION TO SA’S ACADEMIC RESEARCH Geoscientists from six of South Africa’s leading universities and the Council for Geoscience have undertaken to focus their joint research efforts in a coordinated, multi-disciplinary project called the Karoo Research Initiative (KARIN). Karoo Research Initiative (KARIN).Karoo Research Initiative (KARIN).

 
 

AN ACADEMIC CONTRIBUTION TO SA’S ACADEMIC RESEARCH Geoscientists from six of South Africa’s leading universities and the Council for Geoscience have undertaken to focus their joint research efforts in a coordinated, multi-disciplinary project called the Karoo Research Initiative (KARIN).

KARIN is incorporated under CIMERA and started detailed planning of drilling of three, 2-km deep cores to obtain a full stratigraphic section through the southern and south-western parts of the basin, as well as a reflection seismic experiment to test new technology and imaging techniques aimed at academic understanding of the deep structure of the Karoo Basin at a meeting held at Rhodes University on the 13th October, 2014. 

KARIN aims to explore all aspects of the southern and south-western Karoo Basin by investigating the sedimentary environments. Also, the subsequent thermal and structural history and the present physical nature of the potential source rocks will be studied, and an environmental analysis undertaken.

KARIN also aims to equip South African postgraduate students with the necessary high-level skills to pursue research, and ultimately careers, in relevant fields. Such capacity-building represents a fundamental shift to expand the expertise of South African graduates beyond the traditional national strengths, be these in the Karoo Basin or elsewhere. As the leading trainer of geoscientists on the continent, South Africa’s universities are ideally suited to assist in the development of graduates working regionally and across the continent.

Participants in the KARIN meeting at Rhodes University on the 13th October 2014 (from left): Susan Webb, Musa Manzi, Stefan Cramer, Aleck Birch, Darren Burrows, Niall Kramer, Hermann Läuferts (back), Doug Cole (front), Andrew Dallas (back), Nic Beukes, Annette E. Götz, Stuart Campbell, Peter Price.