Every geoscientist in North America has a preferred story of eggbeater , bear , or both , but these epic field stories take it up a notch to nearly unbelievable .
They also highlight how much theater safety has improved in just a generation .
Any time your pilot is leaning out the threshold to see the trees through the murkiness should probably be a weather sidereal day . mental image cite : Mika McKinnon
modernistic fieldwork is influence by a culture of safety where clique meetings give pro summit on how to avert slips , trips , and falls while scrambling over rocky terrain and every theatre hired man carries at least a basic first aid credential , but it was n’t always that mode . Industry veteranRob McLeodrecounted his memory of a rougher , Thornton Wilder prison term in mineral exploration , and his story make me flabbergast that any geologist survived long enough to file away their reports .
whirlybird condom is a big freaking sight : we ’re learn to keep our heads low , approach from the front , minimize toe - in landing , and that our gear wheel may be sitting for days instead of risking a slingload in poor visibility . The idea that either pilot or rider would crazy enough to ride a eggbeater ’s dangling longline is surreally impossible , yet McLeod has photographic grounds that it happened at least once . By comparing , that he ’s walked aside from a eggbeater crash seems almost mild .
A geologist dangling from a helicopter ’s longline during a mountain survey . Image credit : Rob McLeod
But the bear stories are where affair get downright terrifying . As a field geophysicist in Canada , I have my own stories of bear : stick out monitors following me around to chase away stalk bears , have the radio controller mishear my complaint a black bear was “ mucking about ” on my survey lines as something far more work - unfitting , and my crew chief calmly calling in bears meet on his location from all directions . My absolutely favourite bear account involvesa territory disagreement with a grizzlywhere as part of our escalating interactions , I ultimately call in a eggbeater to send it lumbering down the railway line away from my survey emplacement .
That clip a guy cable was devote to follow me around with a gun to chase off bear while I lead a resistivity sketch in the snow was pretty good , except the part where my gear maintain getting too moth-eaten to function properly . Image course credit : Alyssa Hooge
But absolutely none of them comeanywhere close to anything McLeod gathered in his casual story - telling on the risk of mineral exploration . In a mess of too many story of maulings , chomp , close encounter , and escapes , one in exceptional remain firm out for the gauzy commitment of this scientist to her work :
[ USGS geologist Cynthia Dusel - Bacon ] was attacked and had both blazonry ripped off by a bear , and bring off to outlive until helper arrive . As a testament to the incredible will and strength of this womanhood , she continued to puzzle out for another three ten in the field using prosthetics , study the regional plate tectonic theory and metallogeny of Alaska .
After hearing the tarradiddle of how things used to be even a generation earlier in exploration , I ’m suddenly very , very grateful for the rampant culture of refuge that shapes innovative fieldwork . Fieldwork is inherently severe , and every year , people get hurt , go absent , and even die . I may giggle over the unneeded endangerment of drive windy cliff - side crushed rock roads in the snow to go to a pre - dawn guard meting , but I have never been in imminent danger of losing a limb to wildlife or climbed into a eggbeater with a pilot reeking of strong drink and cringing from a hangover . To all the geoscientists who come before : I drink your fearlessness and badassery , but I am so happy that fieldwork has alter to prioritize safety and , hopefully , be a bit less crazy .
Read the sleep of McLeod ’s fieldwork adventures in99 way To Die In Mineral Exploration .
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