This Month's Explorer Articles

The Chixchulub crater on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula was long believed to be the result of volcanic activity, until one young geologist with a No. 2 pencil, some drafting triangles and a calculator made an earth-shattering discovery.

Today’s world runs on technology and its rapid advances affect every aspect of human life. Science plays a pivotal role in developing technologies that change the way we live, work and play. The field of geosciences is no exception, and each day new technologies like big data, deep learning and robotics are changing geoscientists’ role in society.

"The industry, according to Alec Walker, is stuck in its sepia-toned past, especially during the down times, and he thinks it’s past time to move on."

Though machine learning techniques promise capabilities to sift through “big” data, interactive visualization of the generated attributes that make an effective use of color continue to be lacking. In order to effectively visualize seismic data/attributes in color, we need first to understand how color is perceived by the human eye and then how such colors are rendered on workstation monitors.

Five internationally acclaimed geoscientists have been named for this season’s AAPG Distinguished Lecture program, the Association’s flagship offering of cutting-edge geoscience excellence that once again will be accessible to everyone, everywhere, at any time.

Since its inception in 1967, the AAPG Foundation has been committed to building a legacy of support for the geosciences. It does so through the generous support of individuals and companies who together are committed to the science of petroleum geology, energy minerals and environmental geology and seeing it continue far into the future.

In order to support our modern society in an ever- growing global population, energy supplies must converge to meet that growing demand.

AAPG functions because of you, the members, and there are many different ways for you to get involved in your organization. Some choose to start in their local affiliated society, working on committees and holding offices within them. Others get involved through leadership and organizing events within the sections and regions. These are the grassroots of our membership, and AAPG leadership is working to strengthen these roots.

For many of us, December truly is the most wonderful time of the year – a chance to pause, catch our breath and reflect on the year that’s about to end. This year, the AAPG Foundation’s Board of Trustees and Trustee Associates officers are looking back with gratitude for the generous, ongoing gifts so many have given to help make a brighter tomorrow for our Foundation, our Association, our profession and our future.

AAPG offers a special benefit for members who are 65 years of age or older and have 30 or more years of cumulative membership: You can request to be reclassified as an Emeritus Member. Find out today if you qualify by contacting our Customer Experience Team, which stands ready to assist with your reclassification.

Necessity may be the mother of invention. But sometimes it’s just all the mosquitos. Leila Donn, a doctoral student at the University of Texas at Austin studying environmental geoscience, wasn’t necessarily looking for a computer model to help her find the location of ancient Mayan caves last year. Mostly, she just was hot and tired and the work was going slowly.