Day 1
On the 10th of April 2021, Philippine Association of Geology Students SEG Student Chapter held an online webinar entitled, “Tutorial Series (Day One): How Wide is the World for a Geologist?” with Dr. Decibel V. Faustino-Eslava as the guest speaker. The webinar was scheduled to run from 2:00 until 3:30pm.
From the webinar, since most of the participants were Geology majors, and some are Highschool students, Dr. Eslava pointed out the works and job opportunities to be considered when taking up geology. Different characters and qualities of geologists, such as being able to adapt to different circumstances, different struggles to be encountered in the field, and even the good thing of being a geologist was shared by the speaker, which was then followed with the further explanation of different disciplines in the geology. The speaker emphasizes that being able to understand different disciplines will help geologists to better understand the physical features of Earth and its processes. These multidisciplinary disciplines include two important and major disciplines such as: 1. Physical Geology, which talks about the Earth materials and processes, as it branches out into different disciplines, such as Resource Geology, Environmental Geology and Hydrogeology, Structural and Engineering Geology, Mineralogy and Petrology, Volcanology, Seismology, Geomorphology and lastly, Planetary Geology. The second major discipline is Historical Geology, which is supported by different geological multi-disciplines such as Paleontology, Stratigraphy and Geochronology, as these disciplines talk about the origin of Earth and its Evolution.
Dr. Eslava also discussed the important Geological equipment used in each discipline, to further discuss their uses in economy, history, finding sustainable energy solutions, environment and especially in relaying important geological information and processes to each community in the aspect of hazard preparations. Environmental studies, risk assessments and environmental laws were also mentioned in the slides, as these factors are very helpful in keeping the community safe from harm, dispute and even to help the attendees grasp the importance of rehabilitation in the industry of mining.
After the presentation, the event host proceeded to the question and answer portion, of which the attendees will have the chance to ask questions to Dr. Eslava and she will answer in return. Questions raised by attendees were about the contribution of new geologists regarding the Philippine Soil Map, Dr. Eslava emphasized that working with this kind of field could be possibly done little by little, and these future geologists will be working with the Department of Agriculture. Second question tackles about the hiring of new geologists during this time of pandemic, and Dr. Eslava revealed that hiring new geologists is still possible today and there are plans for these students to have virtual learning in relation to field works. Another question raised is about taking up law and how to take On the Job Training (OJT) in this time of pandemic, by which Dr. Eslava gave some idea that students can work on research that still lacks in depth study and has not been analyzed sufficiently. Lastly, Dr. Eslava pointed out that the safety of all students is the one we all should have been prioritizing right now.
Day 2
The Role of Geoscientists in Research on Disaster Mitigation and Risk Reduction Efforts of the Government
The Day 2: Tutorial Series of the Philippine Association of Geology Students – SEG Student Chapter entitled “Ang Sangsinukob” was held last April 24, 2021, with the guest speaker Dr. Raymond Patrick R. Maximo, a licensed Geologist with specialization on Volcanoes, Gas and Fluid Chemistry and Isotope Geochemistry. The webinar that commenced tackled an in-depth discussion about Earth Science and the main role of geology in our society.
In his talk, Dr. Maximo discussed about the hazardscape of the Philippines and according to him, there are a lot of potential risk to a particular hazard in our country and these hazards pose threat to our people. He said that the main reason of these risks, as we know, is due to our geologic and geographic setting. Because of this, the government needs an agency that will warn the people and monitor these kinds of situations. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology is one of the government agencies that handles natural disasters like earthquake, volcanic eruption, and tsunamis. In line with this, the PHIVOLCS does a lot of things and one of these are the monitoring and warning, hazards and risk assessment, fault finding and the disaster preparedness and risk reduction.
The monitoring and warning are designed for volcanic activities, earthquakes, and tsunamis in the country. To conduct these, for the volcanic eruptions, PHIVOLCS has six (6) volcanic observatories that are built in the most active volcanoes that we have, namely, Pinatubo, Taal, Isarog, Canlaon, Hibok-hibok, Matutum and Parker. An integrated volcanic monitoring is also done to collect data from different volcanoes in the Philippines. Seismic monitoring networks, on the other hand, are designed for earthquakes and it records the earthquakes throughout the country. Lastly, sea level monitoring is designed for tsunamis, and it is dispatched along the coastline of the Philippines. There are two locations of these monitors, in the West and East part of the country and it records the abnormal sea level rise in coastlines. Aside from that, hazards and risk assessments are also one of the roles of PHIVOLCS and this is what the geologists really do. They study different hazards and risks that goes along with these hazards. Under this, Dr. Maximo talked about how they gather, study and analyzes their data as a researcher. He tackled about mapping, fieldworks in volcanic areas, Physical Volcanology, Lake Geochemistry Studies, Thermal spring surveys, and Drone surveys.
In land-based studies, fault finding is also one of the works of a geologist. As the name itself, fault finders look or find active faults that we have in the Philippines. This is conducted through a method called Paleo Seismology, wherein they study the very first movement of an active fault by digging up land which are called trench preparation, and study the layers of the land. In this case, fault finders are able to count the number of years that the fault will move again. Furthermore, to help the local government units in analyzing the impact of an earthquake, PHIVOLCS created a software called Rapid Earthquake Damage Assessment System (REDAS). Aside from the LGUs, PHIVOLCS also created Hazard Hunter which enables the fault finders to locate the nearest active fault from a specified location or the named barangay and PHIVOLCS Geo-portal, a web-GIS based portal, is also created to aid the public to view and collate hazards and risk maps.
To extend the knowledge of their studies, PHIVOLCS’ peers and colleagues attend conferences or scientific meetings (e.g., formal meetings, technical meetings, and results of research) to present their study and share their research with the people in the scientific field.
Moreover, PHIVOLCS also conducts disaster preparedness and risk reduction in case of unexpected situations. Quick response team, which is composed of all the staffs of the agency that studies and assess the situation, is immediately disseminated. Aside from that, the agency also conducts information dissemination activities in which they communicate with the LGUs to explain the situation. In line with this, PHIVOLCS also perform education, awareness, and preparedness campaign such seminars, drills, press conferences, and media programs for the residents to understand and gain knowledge about the situation and what they should do if an earthquake, volcanic eruption, or tsunami occurs.
As the discussion ends, Dr. Maximo gave an inspiring remark on why we should study geology. According to him, geologists can work in a lot of fields, not only in volcanology and there are also a lot of big opportunities that are given to geologists if they work in government agencies, such as PHIVOLCS.
Day 3
Living Dangerously – Hazards and Benefits from volcanoes
Last 14th of May 2021, the Philippine Association of Geology Students - SEG Student Chapter held a third webinar entitled, PAGS Tutorial Series Day Three: Living Dangerously – Hazards and Benefits from volcanoes. Dr. Sandra Catane, who specialized in volcanology and landslides is the guest speaker for the webinar. After being introduced to the attendees, Dr. Catane started sharing her presentation as she talked about volcanoes and its hazard to the places near them. The purpose of this webinar is to inform the public of the hazards of living near volcanoes and to clear the misconceptions and bad reputation of volcanoes in the eyes of the public.
Dr. Catane discussed the types of volcanic eruption, as she emphasized what happened during the infamous eruption of Mount Pinatubo that caused various effects to the world. Mechanisms of plate tectonics, hotspots and magma, formation of caldera and volcanoes was explained during the webinar. After the explanations, Dr. Catane introduced the hazards of volcanic eruptions to the citizens living near the volcanoes, and of how the government is monitoring different active volcanoes during this time. Lastly, Dr. Catane talked about the good effects of volcanic eruptions, on how the environment, society and even the economy would receive once a volcanic eruption occurs. After all the discussions were made, the attendees were able to raise their questions and clarifications to Dr. Catane. Questions such as the formation of Maar lakes, hotspot origins, effect on agriculture and comparisons between Mt. Taal and Mt. Didicas were raised and were clearly answered by the speaker.
Volcanoes are important to our planet, and everything that happens within these geological formations brings major contributions to how the planet continues to evolve each decade. The webinar achieved its purpose of introducing the volcanoes to the public in such a way that the misconceptions of it were now disclosed, and we are now enlightened and reminded that volcanoes will always be part of our lives as we live and instead of fear, we must also be able to understand that apart from the danger that these volcanoes bring, there is always a beauty that comes before them.
Day 4
Economic Geology: An Exploration Perspective
On the day of the Philippines’ 123rd Independence Day celebration, a webinar was held hosted by the Philippine Association of Geology Students – SEG Student Chapter entitled “Economic Geology: An Exploration Perspective”, the organization’s last episode of the Tutorial Series with the guest speaker Dr. Graciano P. Yumul, Jr. He is a licensed Geologist with specialization in Economic Geology and Geochemistry as well as Igneous Petrology and Tectonics.
During his talk, Dr. Graciano highlighted three (3) different topics for his discussion: the exploration realities in the Philippines, the mineral systems approach and exploration vectoring, and the redox and isotope fundamental. Diving deep into the first topic that Dr. Graciano discussed, he stated that the mining industry is not a sunset industry because the metals and minerals are necessary for the development of one country. Decarbonization, availability of global future resources, circular economy, and safe haven: hedging are the things that are included in the exploration. Aside from that, he also talked about the exploration under deeper cover, in which he stated that one of the greatest challenges among Geologists in the present is that the deposits that are found at the surface have already been discovered. There are things that should be considered in conducting an exploration, such as, it should be deeper, more expensive, should have lower grades, it takes longer time for production, and only few become mines. Furthermore, Dr. Graciano also discussed about the relevant laws that we have in our country. Under the former president Fidel V. Ramos, there are three (3) laws that are signed, the R.A. 076: 1991 Small Scale Mining Act, R.A. 7942: 1995 Philippine Mining Act, and the R.A. 8371: 1997 The Indigenous People’s Right Act. On the other hand, during the former president Benigno Aquino III’s administration, an Executive Order 79 is promulgated because the government thought that they are not getting enough share from the revenues that are being made by the mining companies. So, all the permits are suspended until a new revenue sharing scheme is needed. This executive order is signed on July 6, 2012. Finally, during the current term of Rodrigo Roa Duterte, another Executive Order is signed (EO 130). This is because during this time of pandemic, the government realized that the mining industry is a low-hanging fruit in terms of generating income and revenue. Mining companies can contribute money in the governments copper. Under this order, the prohibition on new mineral agreements is lifted, government revenues and share in production is maximized, the existing revenue and sharing schemes and mechanics are rationalized, and lastly, the mines safety and environmental policies are strictly followed. This EO is signed recently, on April 14, 2021. After this, Dr. Graciano also discussed about Philippines’ operating mines, some of the exploration questions, and the exploration risks.
Moreover, in the mineral systems approach and exploration vectoring, Dr. Graciano talked about a lot of topics which includes the mineral systems itself, the gold deposits and where it is, where to target gold, the settings of porphyry copper, the porphyry copper, the vectors of porphyry copper, alkaline deposits: alterations, the zonations of alkaline deposits, ultramafic rocks as host deposits, the Zambales Listwanites, the green environment, generation of deposits, the plagioclase discrimination, the Atlas PCD: Magnetite Data, and the Paracale: Biotite Chemistry.
Finally, Dr. Graciano discussed his third topic, which is the redox and isotope fundamental. Under this topic, he discussed about the oxygen fugacities of major tectonic settings, the source of the deposits, the delta 34Sulfur, Delta 34S of some Philippine deposits, the delta 18Oxygen and an example of this is the Benguet delta 18Oxygen. He also talked about the Delta Deuterium vs. Delta 18Oxygen, the Lepanto Deuterium – Oxygen, and the other things about Geology such as the Geochronology, fluid inclusions, field surveys, data processing, target selection, financials, report writing, and etc.