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Array of hope: Andrew Nyblade (centre) wants more African geophysicists. Credit: A. M. LARSON

Geophysicists are joining forces behind a programme called AfricaArray, which they hope will spread the training and practice of geophysics throughout Africa.

Many African economies are heavily dependent on oil and mineral extraction — ensuring that skills in geophysics are in strong demand. Yet young, trained geophysicists remain in short supply across the continent, say companies invloved in energy and mining.

That is one reason why Andrew Nyblade, a geophysicist at Pennsylvania State University, University Park, decided to initiate AfricaArray. The project plans to channel funds from the public and private sectors into research and education in geophysics.

Nyblade, who was born in Tanzania, says the idea is to combine first-rate research, backed by top agencies such as the US National Science Foundation, with training for local specialists who will stay and work in Africa. “The brain drain is a big issue,” he says.

The programme — established as a partnership between Pennsylvania State University, the South African Council for Geoscience in Pretoria and the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg — has so far attracted more than US$600,000 of the $2.7 million that it hopes to raise.

AfricaArray researchers will focus on important seismological and volcanic activity in Africa. For example, a network of seismometers will be deployed to examine the structure of the superplume of magma beneath the continent.

A boom in the price of rare mineral commodities, including gold, is currently fuelling demand for trained Earth scientists in Africa. “The Earth sciences play major roles in the mapping of important minerals,” says Gerhard Graham, head of scientific services at the Council for Geoscience. “But lack of basic geological knowledge limits development in large parts of our mineral-rich continent.”

Graham says he hopes that AfricaArray “can become a driving force, in particular for countries in eastern and southern Africa to participate in the development of Earth sciences within their own countries.”

Paul Dirks, head of geosciences at Witwatersrand, says that more global cooperation is needed. “Geophysical training programmes in Africa are not widespread or strong,” says Dirks. “We have to go international to make them sustainable.”

Dirks and Nyblade have just completed a round of US visits to multinational corporations, including ChevronTexaco, ExxonMobil and Schlumberger, to seek more support for AfricaArray.

Nyblade is already using a $165,000 grant from the South African government to rework an existing net of 11 seismometers. With 21 additions, this will be used to determine the depth of the superplume and study its role in heat convection from the inner Earth. “To me, this is the big research prize,” says Nyblade.

Mark van der Meijde, a geophysicist at the International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation in Enschede, the Netherlands, says that AfricaArray will “open up unprecedented possibilities for starting new projects”.

Geophysicists will hold a workshop in Palmanova, Italy, on 26–27 February, to refine their plans for the programme.

Additional reporting by Quirin Schiermeier in Munich.

→ http://africaarray.psu.edu