Moodies-BASE Project

16/10/2025

Well done to the BASE team for successfully completing another sampling workshop!

The event started off with poster-viewing and brief research updates, later transitioning into sampling and archiving days. The evening social program fostered in-depth discussions and the forging of future collaborations.

Thank you to all participants who served in various ways. We look forward to sharing the final findings of your work on surface environments in which Barberton rocks formed, 3.2 billion years ago!

17/03/2024

https://www.citizen.co.za/lowvelder/news-headlines/local-news/2024/03/07/new-room-at-barberton-museum-explains-early-life-on-planet-earth/amp

A new room of the Barberton Regional Museum, dedicated to the investigation of early Earth, was officially handed over to the community on Thursday February 29.

16/03/2024

25/02/2024

Reminder: Come learn more about your hometown this Wednesday!

Don't miss an opportunity to interact directly with a top scientist as he unpacks the world-class research linked to the rocks of our mountains.

In the audience there will be Swati, English and Afrikaans-speaking scientists in attendance so your questions can be addressed in your own language.

See caption of first figure for the location.

We look forward to seeing you!

10/02/2024

Don't Miss It!

📢Talk Coming Soon📢

https://www.gssa.org.za/wp-content/uploads/Alex-du-toit-lectures.pdf

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30/03/2023

Great thanks to the Geological Society of South Africa for honoring the memory our previous project manager, the late Professor Nic Beukes in their latest Geobulletin (page 34-45).

We hope this inspires you to live a full life that uplifts those around you.

The obituary authored by members of the UJ Geology department can be accessed at https://gssa.pub/gb/content/issue.php?gb_v66n1_march-2023

27/02/2023

A big 'Thank you' to the German Federal Agency for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) for featuring an update on the Moodies-BASE Project on their home page! See first picture for link.

18/01/2023

It is with great sadness that we, members of the Moodies-BASE Project bid farewell to our knowledgeable, caring and decisive project manager, Professor Nic Beukes who recently passed on. His example of a life well-lived inspires many in South Africa and abroad. May all the people whose lives he impacted as a mentor, colleague and family member pay it forward.

Linked below is an example of how even key institutions from abroad acknowleged his academic excellence while he was still alive. Well done to South African entities such as the Council for Geoscience for honoring him with a lifetime achievement award in late 2022, as well as the KLCBT and UJ Geology/Science Faculty shortly thereafter for acknowledging the geotourism and educational impact the Moodies-BASE Project he managed had on the Barberton region.

Watch and enjoy his summary of the significance of his work, and of this final successful drilling project he managed.

A proud moment for South Africa as the University of Johannesburg's Geology Professor Nic Beukes has been elected to the United States National Academy of Sc...

28/10/2022

Congratulations to the Moodies-BASE Project Team for successfully running a scientific drilling project that produced samples to be studied for answers about the early history of our planet! All this was done while running an outreach exhibition that offered tourists and locals a different kind of geotourism!

Tonight the Project's success was acknowledged through the Kruger Lowveld Chamber of Business and Tourism (KLCBT)'s innovation award!

To the project management, Prof.s Nicolas Beukes ( - DSI -NRF , UJ Geology) and Prof. Christoph Heubeck (-Schiller Universität Jena) , WELL DONE!

24/07/2022

📢Announcement📢: Unique opportunity to attend a talk by an acclaimed scientist who studies rocks from Earth and Mars.

When? : Tuesday, 26 July 2022 at 18:00

Where? : Barberton MoTH Club, Cnr. Nourse & Adams & Graumann Streets

Why? : Find out directly from a visiting NASA-affiliated researcher, Associate Professor Mike Tice (see link for profile) and his team, based at Texas A & M University, USA, about the
exciting specialist fields of astrobiology and geobiology.

His talk will also touch on what he hopes to learn about the early life forms and surface environments of our planet from studying Moodies-BASE Project drilling samples from the 3.2 billion-year-old rock sequences preserved in the Barberton-Makhonjwa Mountains, South Africa's 10th UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Please confirm attendance at [email protected]

See you there!

https://geogeo.tamu.edu/people/profiles/faculty/ticemichael.html