Abstract

London University geoscientists have been conducting research in SE Asia for a major part of the last thirty years. During this time, both field and laboratory research programmes have been pursued in Indonesia in collaboration with scientists from GRDC, Lemigas and LIPI.

Current areas of activity include the Sumatran forearc and fault zone, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, the Moluccas and the BIRPS deep seismic experiment near Timor. Independently and in collaboration with other international groups, research programmes have included studies which focussed on or integrated results from: foraminiferal, nannofossil and radiolarian micropalaeontology; sedimentology, igneous and metamorphic petrology; major, trace and isotopic geochemistry; isotopic dating and fission track studies; structural geology; palaeomagnetism; seismic interpretation; gravity studies; and, marine geological investigations using GLORIA and other tools.

The SE Asia Research Group is supported by a consortium of oil companies working in the region and by grants from UK universities, research organisations such as the Royal Society and NERC and UK governmental bodies. This support has enabled London University Research to: initiate and develop research programmes, particularly those requiring fieldwork in remote regions; develop long-term programs for the investment of funds and effort; and develop and retain an accumulation of expertise and skilled personnel.

The results include advanced training for Indonesian geoscientists at all levels from technical assistants to Ph.D. students, more than 40 research degree theses, numerous publications and an even larger number of unpublished reports available to the consortium companies and collaborators.

London University Research maintains a large computer-based bibliography, which is continually updated on the geology of the region, and a large, well-curated collection of rocks from field studies. The future is in expanding our traditional base of field and laboratory-based studies, extending our successful collaborations with Indonesian geoscientists in government, industrial and academic organisations and developing and applying new technologies such as in GIS and computer-based plate tectonic reconstructions.