Dr Mark Tingay – Geoscience and Petroleum Engineering
Senior lecturer at the Australian School of Petroleum, University of Adelaide
Mark’s research examines stresses in the Earth’s crust caused by movements of its tectonic plates. In particular he investigates how rocks buckle and break under natural processes (e.g. formation of mountains, generation of earthquakes) and man-made influences (e.g. tunnels, mines). Mark also studies how oil wells are drilled to avoid and control disasters that cause oil spills. These two research areas came together in Mark’s study of the 2006 Lusi mud flow disaster in Java, Indonesia which flooded ten square kilometres of the city of Sidoarjo with hot mud. While debate has raged over the cause of this disaster Mark’s studies show that it was triggered by a nearby drilling accident.