FEATURES

22 Oil Around the World
Geotimes examines the latest in oil exploration and production in the standard and not-so-standard oil-producing countries of Norway, Iraq, the South China Sea, India and Libya.
Carolyn Gramling, Megan Sever, Rasoul Sorkhabi and Erin Wayman

32 Africa: A New Frontier in Oil and Gas Exploration
Africa is relatively underexplored for hydrocarbons despite the continent’s rich natural endowments of oil and gas. But new developments are starting to bring these resources online.
Michelle Michot Foss

37 An “Unconventional” Future for Natural Gas in the United States
Unconventional natural gas already accounts for almost a third of the annual domestic natural gas production in the lower 48 states, and estimates suggest that portion is only going to grow as demand for gas grows and traditional sources peter out.
William A. Ambrose, Eric C. Potter and Romulo Briceno

NEWS NOTES

7 NEWS
News Shorts * TB or not TB * Long-lost Siberian crater found? * Federal climate change initiative under the gun * Roo roots * New methane-munching bacteria discovered * Genetics supports one main migration to Americas * Plate tectonics on a planet far, far away * Mica sheets: bed for early life? * Shining light on rogue waves * Still mushy after all these years * More answers — and questions — about carbon storage * Mantle gas points to geothermal energy * Mineral resource of the month: peat

VIEWS

59 A COMMENT ON...
Improving Evolution Education
The United States leads Western nations in ignorance about evolution. One way to remedy this situation is for geologists to get more involved in writing and editing textbooks.
Kevin Padian

60 GEOLOGIC COLUMN
Another One Bites the Dust
Technology is great. But important life skills — such as spelling, doing math and now, giving directions — are being lost as computers, calculators and GPS devices take over. Beware: You may lose your sense of culture.
Lisa A. Rossbacher

DEPARTMENTS

4 FROM THE EDITOR
5 LETTERS: Perspectives from readers
6 WHERE ON EARTH?

42 TRENDS & INNOVATIONS
Miracle Muds
When two mysterious clays appeared to cure disfiguring bacterial ulcers, geologists were called in to figure just how these clays worked, and to see if other clays could cure similar diseases.
Erin Wayman

44 GEOMEDIA
On the Web: A Face for Science: www.SciVee.tv
Books: Author Phillip Manning Details the Finding of Dakota in Grave Secrets of Dinosaurs: Soft Tissue and Hard Science

48 GEOMARKETPLACE
50 CLASSIFIEDS: Career opportunities

56 BENCHMARKS
February 2, 1923: Leaded gasoline goes on sale

57 DOWN TO EARTH WITH...
Geophysicist and Polar Researcher Robin Bell

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