Hiking trips drive Foley’s geological journey
UNCOVERING the mysteries of how the world around us formed is what drives Elliot Foley on his journey of geological discovery.
Born in Perth and raised in Ireland, the James Cook University Geoscience PHD Candidate has long held a fascination for geology thanks to school and family hiking trips in Ireland growing up.
“I’ve always been someone who enjoys the outdoors,” he said.
“Whenever I went hiking or camping, I was curious about how the hills and mountains we were walking on were formed.
“I distinctly remember a family trip to the Burren in County Clare and seeing these limestone pavements with fossils embedded in them. “It just intrigued me. How did these things get here? How did they form? What did the world look like when these creatures were swimming around?”
Elliot’s passion eventually took him to University College Cork, where he studied a Bachelor of Geology and undertook a five-month exchange at the University of Montana in the United States.
“I was able to see places like the famous Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks,” he said.
“Later, I also had the chance to visit Utah and Arizona and see many of the beautiful landscapes they are known for.”
Upon completing a Masters of Sciences of Petroleum Geoscience at the University of Aberdeen, Elliot found himself back in Australia when he took up a PHD candidacy as part of an exciting new project at JCU – one which would lead to an incredible discovery.
Working with researchers from the University of Adelaide and the University of Western Australia, Elliot’s team found new evidence suggesting the Whitsunday Islands were once part of an ancient chain of volcanoes connected to the mainland.
The three-year project involved analysing sandstone samples taken from the Great Artesian Basin of eastern Australia, which revealed specimens of the radioactive mineral zircon that were as old and even older than volcanic rocks found on the Whitsunday Islands.
That pointed to a massive series of volcanic eruptions in which zircon was carried over great distances in ashfall.
“The Jurassic Arc project has helped to reconstruct what eastern Australia looked like when the dinosaurs were alive,” Elliot said.
“Today, the Great Artesian Basin houses some of our most critical groundwater and gas resources, and yet there still remains an enormous amount of work to be done on the rocks that host them.
“What keeps me invested in the project is both the academic curiosity and the applicability of it.
“We’re actually pursuing research with real-world impact to try and improve people’s lives.”
Geology at JCU can offer students several different career pathways, but Elliot said future geologists needed to be adaptable.
“Resilience is vital, as is realising that a career in geology gives you a lot of transferable skills which are beneficial across a variety of industries,” he said.
“JCU Geosciences is home to very innovative people who work hard and produce a lot of high-impact research given our size, which has done a lot of good for North Queensland and its economy.
“We possess a swath of analytical equipment that many larger universities do not.
“JCU is very well positioned to take advantage of that by continuing to produce high-quality research that benefits the region.”