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The article focuses on the 13th-century Persian allegory "Conference of the Birds," by Persian poet Attar. It says that Mantiq al-Tayr (Speech of the Birds), often translated into English as "Conference of the Birds," is the best known work of Attar. It mentions that Attar's "Conference of the Birds" served as a forerunner of various similar European allegorical works such as Teresa of Avila's "Interior Castle" and John Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress."

The article offers the author's insights regarding the use of poetry as a meditation practice. The author states that poetry is an ancient and powerful form of meditation, which is needed in a broad scope and various forms. He relates that poetry is the language of the heart as well as the creativity of the soul in words and sounds. He notes that the selection of the right poem is the primary step in poetry meditation.

The article focuses on the current position of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the role it will play after its 50th year of existence. An overview of the organization's history is provided. OPEC makes policy decisions such as allocating production quotas to member countries so as to keep international oil prices stable. The position of OPEC is predicted to remain strong in the coming years owing to the world's dependence on its rich oil reserves.

44 TPG • Apr.May.Jun 2020 www.aipg.org EDUCATOR'S CORNER Professional societies in science play an important role in community support and organization, dissemination of research work, and advancement of knowledge. National Earth Science Teachers Association (NESTA) Website: www.nestanet.org Founded in 1985, NESTA's purpose is to advance, stimulate, improve and coordinate Earth science education. Some of those in the USA include: National Science Teachers Association (NSTA, founded in 1944, website: https://www.nsta.org/); Society for College Science Teachers (SCST, founded in 1979, website: https://www.scst.org/); Association for Multicultural Science Education (AMSE, founded in 1989, website: http://amsek16.org/); Association for Science Teacher Education (ASTE, founded in 1930, website: https://theaste.org/); Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC, founded in 1973, website: https://www.astc.org/); National Science Education Leadership Association (NSELA, founded in 1960, website: https://www.nsela.org). [Extracted from the article]

The term "documentary film" was coined by the Scottish filmmaker John Grierson in 1926 in his review of Robert Flaherty's film Moana (showing the traditional life of people in Samoa). 44 TPG • Jan.Feb.Mar 2020 www.aipg.org EDUCATOR'S CORNER Short non-fiction films were initially called "actuality" films. The first film was a two-hour special exploring the geological history of the Documentary Films in Geology Education Rasoul Sorkhabi, Ph.D., CPG-11981 Dr. Rasoul Sorkhabi is a professor at the University of Utah's Energy & Geoscience Institute, Salt Lake City. [Extracted from the article]

A fission-track (FT) analysis of zircons has been performed to clarify tectonic history of the Tertiary granitic bodies in the northern part of the Izu—Bonin arc and the South Fossa Magna region of central Japan. A total of 30 FT ages was obtained from the Kaikoma, Tsuburai, Ashigawa, Tokuwa and Tanzawa granitic bodies. Confined FT lengths were also measured on 11 zircon samples from the granitic rocks to obtain more information on the thermal history of the region. The FT ages and confined FT length data from the Kaikoma indicate that this granitic body cooled below the isotherm of zircon (240 °C) at 9.4± 0.4 Ma (2 σ). The Tsuburai, Ashigawa, Tokuwa and Tanzawa granitic bodies, which have a similar lithology and tectonic setting, lie from northwest to southeast, respectively. The FT ages for these bodies are: 15.0 ± 0.6Ma for the Tsuburai; 11.9 ± 0.4 Ma for the Ashigawa; 12.5 ± 1.4 Ma for the Tokuwa (which is comparable with the FT age of the Ashigawa); 7.1 ± 2.0 Ma for the Tanzawa (which is the youngest). The data indicate a differential uplift of the granitic bodies in the South Fossa Magna region. In general, the FT ages become younger as one proceeds southeastwards approaching the Izu-Bonin arc. The FT age data provide constraints on the tectonic effects of the collision of the Izu-Bonin arc with the central Honshu of the Japan arc.

In order to document quantitatively the cooling and denudation history of the Higher Himalayan granites bordering the Tethyan sedimentary zone, fission-track (FT) apatite and 40Ar39Armica ages have been determined on the Gangotri leucogranites and biotite granites in the Garhwal region of India. Gangotri is the source area of the Ganges River and lies in the midst of the highest Himalayan peaks in India. A total of 15 apatite ages from a vertical profile (2580–4370 m) on the Gangotri granites yields FT ages in the range of 1.5 ± 0.6 to 2.4 ± 0.5 Ma, indicating that the rock column with a relief of ∼1800 m cooled through 130 ± 10°C within only ∼1 million years during the Late Pliocene. An average denudation rate of ∼2 mm/yr is estimated for the past 2.4 million years. From the Gangotri granites, we also report a muscovite 40Ar39Arage of 17.9 ± 0.1 Ma and a biotite age of 18.0 ± 0.1 Ma. These reflect cooling of the rocks through 300–350°C, probably related to an Early Miocene pulse of denudation caused by a basement-cover detachment (the Martoli Normal Fault) above the leucogranites. Time-temperature pathways indicate that the cooling of the rocks in the Late Pliocene-Quaternary was five to six times the magnitude of cooling between 18 and 2 Ma, indicating a distinct pulse of rapid denudation in the Late Pliocene-Quaternary. We interpret these young apatite ages and fast denudation as a geomorphic response (increased erosion and cooling) of the rocks to a major pulse of tectonic uplift in the Higher Himalaya shortly before 2.4 Ma. The effect of climatic cooling on this denudation is considered secondary to the role of tectonic forcing, and indeed produced a positive feedback to the primary cause. Although our study is confined to the Garhwal region, it is probable that other granitic bodies of the Higher Himalaya bordering the Tethyan sedimentary rocks, and forming the loftiest summits in the Himalaya, have also experienced episodic denudation — one major pulse in the Early Miocene, which was mainly tectonic denudation, and another in the Late Pliocene-Quaternary, which was mainly erosional. The latter is well recorded by apatite FT data, and is consistent with the hypothesis that rapid uplift and denudation of the Himalayan rocks may have influenced the initiation of the ice ages in the northern hemisphere.

The article offers information on Darashaw Nosherwan (D.N.) Wadia, an eminent Himalayan geologist and the father of geology in independent India. It furthe discusses his book "Geology of India" first published in 1919; views of William D. West, the last British director of the Geological Survey of India, on work of Wadia; and also mentions that he serve as geological advisor for the government of independent India under India's first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.

An essay is presented on essayist Loren Eiseley. It offers a brief biography of Eiseley and mentions accolades received by her. The author gives his own views regarding the writings of Eiseley including the collections of essays "The Immense Journey" and "Darwin's Century" and the essay "Science and the Sense of Holy."

In this article, the author focuses on the concept of planet Earth and geoscience, while mentioning the working in the geology and geophysics and earth and environmental science.

The article discusses the features of the literary works of 1913 Nobel Prize in literature laureate and Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore with his sensitive and beautiful poetic verses.

The article reflects on the conferences of two petroleum societies held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 2013 which both address issues of the U.S. shale gas industry. It highlights the state-based Marcellus Shale which is abundant in coal deposits and contains an estimated 410 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas. It also outlines some major challenges for the country's oil industry including hydraulic fracturing of shale, designing drilling strategies and environmental regulations.

The author comments on the destruction of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, northeast of Tokyo, Japan, caused by the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in March 2011. The author points out that every energy technology has its own potential hazards and that nuclear power is still not disaster-proof as shown by this nuclear accident. The problems at Fukushima raised issues, including the capacity to produce nuclear energy without running the risk of irradiating people, and the construction of nuclear plants that are safe from natural hazards.

In this article the author discusses the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) created in 2001. He believes that the European Union views GECF warily because it imports much of their gas from Russia and that countries would suffer from any gas cutoff from them over price issues or pipeline damages. Also investigated is the possible influence of GECF on oil prices and regulation.

This article presents terms being used in geoscience and their definitions. The term "glacier" refers to ice caps found on mountains and ice sheets on the sea. The term "cementation" is a process which transforms loose sediments into sedimentary rocks. The Earth has different types of basins, such as oceanic and tectonic basins.

The article focuses on anthropomorphizing in the field of geoscience. James Hutton, father of modern geology, recognized anthropomorphizing when he described the Earth as a super-organism in the late 18th century. It is noted that various geoscience words describe the features and processes of the Earth in terms of the human body and human behavior. Such terms include birth for mountains, Earth's smooth skin to refer to the crust, and the varying cleavage of minerals.

The author shares how concepts in Earth science could offer insights and inspirations for human culture and way of life. The concept of deep time illustrates how the Earth has grown as a living planet. The concept of evolution indicates that all life forms genetically and geologically belong to the same life tree. Meanwhile, the concept of resource cycles illustrate how systems in the Earth are great recyclers and the Earth cannot run out of elements such as water, air, soil, plants and animals.

The article reviews the documentary film "The Valley That Changed the World."

The author reflects in the importance of addressing energy issues in the U.S. He states that the problem must be tackled first because it is the basis of the modern life. He adds that people should diverse the energy resources, as well as develop energy-efficient lifestyles and ways of transportation in order to help in resolving these issues. He believes that the economy is always associated with the energy.

Relates the history of oil production and consumption in an aim to identify factors that might contribute to its demise. History of humans' use of energy and mineral resources; Impact of development on oil production; Predictions of the oil peak.