I Love Lusi: History of a Mud Volcano

Thursday 2nd April 2026 at 7:00 pm

Mawson Lecture Theatre,
Department of Earth Sciences,
Adelaide University

David Grybowski
Field Geology Club of South Australia

 
Born 29 May 2006 and not dead yet. Volcanoes are no strangers to Indonesia and Lusi is the biggest mud volcano in the world. It has swallowed up 13 villages and caused the displacement of 50,000 people. Farmland has been laid waste and houses submerged to the rooftops. A perimeter levee of 4 m height surrounds an area of 8.2 km2 - that alone contains 206 million barrels of mud. But that’s not all. Mud initially flowed way beyond the containment levee, there has been subsidence of 7 to 25 m, and mud has periodically been released down the Porong River.

There are two Adelaide connections to the catastrophe. Firstly, the Paper War. Dr Mark Tingay was a lecturer at the University of Adelaide when the disaster struck. He was an early responder to Dr Adriano Mazzini et al’s assertion that the mud volcano was due to an earthquake. Dr Tingay et al fired back with the explanation that the culprit was a nearby well being drilled at the time. The Paper War persisted for 12 years and was still being commented on in 2020. Secondly, Santos had an 18% interest in the well which was operated by an Indonesian family company. 

Who won the Paper War in the judgement of the Indonesian Supreme Court? How was Santos able to mysteriously dispose of its 18% interest and contribute almost nothing to the cleanup? Were there any operational irregularities that could lead to a blowout? David will answer these vital questions and many more with irony and delightful wit and wisdom in this thrilling Field Geology talk. 
 
David’s 35 years in petroleum geology have given him ample opportunity to ponder where things might have gone wrong.

University policy is to close doors at 7.00 pm, so be sure to arrive punctually! If you are late you may call the number affixed to the door. However this will only be available until the main lecture starts (around 7.10 to 7.15 pm). 
Refreshments will be served in the tea room following the meeting.
   The meeting will be zoomed. The link will be distributed to members by email a day or two before the meeting,



 

Tutorial: Deposition



This is the third in the series of tutorials that looks at the forming of a sedimentary rock.
Following on from the second stage of transport, this tutorial will focus on the wide variety of sites that the sediment is deposited in by various transporting agents.  

We meet in the Mawson Lecture Theatre and start at 6:40. For those who would like to attend the tutorial, try to arrive before 6:40 and sit more towards the left-hand side of the theatre (as viewed from an audience perspective). 

Kym Dixon