How often do geologists bring a helicopter to land these days? How much time do most professional geologists spend in the field? Probably by far not as much as John Cater did in his career.
After spending some initial years in the southeast of Spain that resulted in a PhD degree, John carried out years’ worth of fieldwork in countries such as Turkey, Yemen, Nepal, Syria and Russia. He has now written down his adventures in a book called “The Rock Doctor”.
From mapping new structures using a helicopter in Turkey, via discussing the uplift and origin of the Himalayas whilst ascending one of its peaks to chewing qat in Yemen – which was not a success – John describes his experiences in a typical dry English style.
The book also nicely paints a picture of how in some countries – maybe quite a few actually – the right to access a certain area to do some fieldwork is not granted by the police or the central authorities. It is the local tribes instead.
John describes a situation in the Yemen – Saudi Arabia borderlands where local tribesmen stole oil company vehicles but provided a written receipt in the hope that replacement vehicles would be easier to arrange and be stolen as well. When the Yemeni Army entered the area with Soviet-built tanks, they were met by the locals driving their tanks supplied by the Saudis…
For anyone interested in all aspects that come with being in the field in places far away from Europe, this book is certainly worth a read. It is also well illustrated and contains good insights into the (petroleum) geology of the areas visited as well.
HENK KOMBRINK
