Year 8s visit Joint Geophysical Research Station 

On Tuesday the 28th of February, Mrs Herbert and our Year 8 class decided to go on a short excursion to the JGGRS, (Joint Geophysical Research Station). In our geography class, we were learning about the true wonders of the world and decided to take a closer look into tectonic plates and natural disasters. The perfect place to find out more about these natural events is the JGGRS! So, we went on a distant 5-minute walk to the Joint Geophysical Research Station. 

The JGGRS is a research station located just in front of St Philip's that monitors earthquakes, create tsunami warning systems, and does nuclear test ban treaty monitoring, with a whole lot of paperwork! Other than Australia, they also deal with natural disasters from around the world. For earthquakes, in particular, they use an instrument called a seismometer that responds to vibrations coming from the ground. If you take a closer look into places like Bond Springs or the Undoolya Cattle Station, you may even spot one!   

But why do we have this place? Why here? You may be asking yourself, out of all places in the whole entire world why would they choose here!? Well, the answer is quite simple. In 1955, when the station was first created, they needed, and still do, a quiet place with few distractions. If you haven’t noticed already, Alice Springs is surrounded by hectares of untouched desert. Knowing this, the then American organisation chose that Alice Springs was a perfect place.

Something I found interesting personally, was that they are one of the largest international research and monitoring stations of nuclear tests in the entire world! JGGRS beats other major research stations, and helps others deal with the way of the world. 

~ Lydia Walsh

Year 8 Student