We all know what stereotypical scientists look like. They’re clad in white lab coats and safety glasses, stirring a bubbling beaker or transferring something from one test tube to another using one of those squeezy things, but not all scientist look like these guys and – gasp – not all of them work in a lab.

Yes, we’re talking about geologists. The scientists that come home after a field trip in the same outfit they left in, having not washed for days and covered in dirt.

These lovely, albeit somewhat smelly, scientists were kind enough to take some footage of their lab – the outback.

The team of three travelled a total of 5000km to the Hamersley Basin in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, where they conducted a survey of volcanic rocks in the region.

Iron ore is prolific in these parts and the chemistry of the rocks underneath the iron ore can tell them a lot.

They were looking at the rocks’ chemistry in order to form a baseline of information, which will allow them to better identify anomalies associated with the presence of iron ore, gold and other minerals in volcanic areas.

Video transcript available here