Geologists Get Down and Dirty on Santa Susana Field Trip

It can be a rocky road for office-bound geologists, so Shell Oil Co. sponsors outings to keep its experts up to date. This week, 32 geologists from Shell and its subsidiaries throughout the country visited the Santa Susana Mountains to brush up on field work. Armed with rock hammers and grid sheets, the geologists endeavor to “keep up with the state of the art and the interpretation and analysis of geological techniques,” said Shell spokesman John Wright. Similar field trips are held annually in areas of the country that are blessed with “interesting geology” and other earthy delights, Wright said. This trip took the geologists from San Diego to Ventura over a span of 10 days. “They pick an area of interesting geology and look at the characteristics of land formation, rocks, natural geology and outcroppings, and go out into the field to keep themselves up to date and aware of new knowledge and techniques in the field,” Wright said. The men and women who found themselves peering at the Santa Susanas’ outcroppings were from Shell offices in Houston and New Orleans, and from some drilling sites off the coast of California. Robert Strauss (holding hammer), one of those scrambling over the rocks above Chatsworth on Wednesday, said the geologists were divided into small groups that studied the hillsides and soil, analyzing the sediment to determine its origin.

FO