Geology, Policy and Wine – The Intersection of Science and Life

Abstract

A full life can encompass many things including education, teaching, editing, research, government service, policy, and wine. Such a life may not even be restricted to Earth but may extend to investigations of asteroids, the Moon, and other planets, such as Mars. Underlying this broad range of interests, mineral resources are the building blocks of civilisation. Geochemistry helps us understand mineral resources in a fundamental way, ranging from origin, through discovery and utilisation, to disposal and consequences of use. Geochemistry is particularly important in the study of skarn deposits because they are a natural geochemical laboratory for mineral reactions involving hot silicate magmas with cooler carbonate-bearing wall rocks. Skarn deposits can also concentrate gold, a metal that has fascinated humans throughout history. Pre-dating even this, is the human interest in wine, as evidenced by archaeological finds in China, Georgia, Greece, Iran, and Turkey dating back some 9,000 years and by a fully functioning winery established in Armenia more than 6,000 years ago. All of the above are explored in this Geochemical Perspectives issue with an eye towards young scientists who are fashioning their own paths through a world made more chaotic by pandemics and changing social and political attitudes towards truth, facts, and evidence.