THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
The Department of Geosciences
KUDOS TO
JAY MELOSH
AGU Bucher Medal
JOHN GUILBERT
AIME Daniel Jackling Award
PAUL MARTIN
Honorary Member, American Society
of Mammalogists
AMQUA Award
RICHARD HAY (Adjunct Professor)
GSA Rip Rapp Award
JACK WOLFE (Adjunct Professor)
Paleontological Society Medal
INSIDE
3 News Around the Department
4 Geostructure Partnership
5 First Coney Fellowship Awarded
6 Global Lakes Drilling System
8 Alumni News
11 The Sinking of the Kursk
12 SEG New Zealand Field Trip
14 Staff News
15 Spring 2000 Degrees
Fall 2000
®
Volume 6, Number 1
Letter from the Chair
Joaquin Ruiz
T
he big news in the department is that George Davis has recently been named
Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, Randy Richardson has
been named acting Vice President for Undergraduate Education, I was named
Dean of the College of Science and Sue Beck has been elected by the department to be
its Head. All of these changes simply underscore the high visibility our department has
at the UA. We have always been recognized as a unit that effectively, and with
distinction, combines the teaching, research and service mission of the University.
During the past five years, the department has seen many changes. These include a
significant turnover of the faculty—if you recall, the last newsletter highlighted four
new faculty hired in the past couple of years. These changes are always invigorating to a
department and help maintain a dynamic and exciting ambiance. As in the past, we
have been careful to hire colleagues who are not only the best in their field, but good
citizens since we greatly value the spirit of collaboration that exists in our department.
Our superb graduate program has grown even better with graduate students that are the
envy of Geoscience departments around the country. Our undergraduate students are
becoming more engaged in the research of our faculty and, through the organizational
efforts of George Gehrels, Bob Downs and Sue Beck, will likely be even more integrated
into research in the near future. We also now have many more research scientists who
help to elevate our research stature. Finally, I cannot say enough of the staff of our
department. They are all the best at what they do and help create an environment that
facilitates our research and teaching.
Another significant change in the past five years has been the creation of our
Advisory Board. The members of the Board have given freely of their time, advice, and
resources—making an enormous difference in the department. Each member of the
Board has supported us in different and innovative ways. Chuck Kluth has given us
short courses; Kerry Inman has worked very hard at fully funding an endowment for a
graduate fellowship in the name of Peter Coney; David Lowell has generously funded a
Chair in Economic Geology and a graduate scholarship.
This newsletter itself is a reflection of the changes of the past five years. As with our
previous newsletters, we highlight some of the amazing science done in the
department, which includes the innovative use of seismic data in determining what
happened to the Russian submarine that recently sank in the Barents Sea. The Alumni
News section keeps us all informed of what our friends are doing. The newsletter also
allows us to congratulate the accomplishments of our colleagues—in particular, John
Guilbert, Richard Hay, Paul Martin, Jay Melosh and Jack Wolfe.
Although I will certainly be busy with my responsibilities as Dean of the College of
Science, you won’t hear me say that I will miss the Geosciences—because I plan to
continue teaching and doing research with the wonderful colleagues of this fine
department.
UA Geosciences
NEWSLETTER
Fall 2000
DONORS
Department of Geosciences
The Department of Geosciences expresses its gratitude to alumni and friends
who continue their support of the department through their generous
contributions.
GEOSCIENCES
ADVISORY BOARD
Steven R. Bohlen, USGS
Regina M. Capuano, Univ. of Houston
Kerry F. Inman, Consultant
Charles F. Kluth, Chevron
Robert W. Krantz, Phillips
David J. Lofquist, EXXON Mobil
J. David Lowell, Consultant
Stephen J. Naruk, Shell
David K. Rea, Univ. of Michigan
Joe Chmielowski (MS ‘99), Dennis Yanchak, and Jay Nania present the department
with a $5000 contribution from the BP Amoco Foundation to the Peter J. Coney
Fellowship endowment.
David Stephenson, SSPA, Inc.
William H. Wilkinson (Chair), Phelps-Dodge
•
The UA Geosciences Newsletter is
published twice a year by the
Department of Geosciences
PO Box 210077
The University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721-0077
•
Boleyn E. Baylor, editor
520-621-4060
bbaylor@geo.arizona.edu
•
http://www.geo.arizona.edu
page 2
BERT S. BUTLER SCHOLARSHIP
Robert H. Weber
•
PETER J. CONEY
FELLOWSHIP
BP Amoco
Boleyn Baylor
George and Merrily Davis
Estate of Harry D. Goode
Joaquin and Bernadette Ruiz
•
DIANE FERRIS SCHOLARSHIP
Suzanne P. Cash
•
H. WESLEY PEIRCE SCHOLARSHIP
Neal E. McClymonds
Maxine Peirce
•
MAXWELL N. SHORT SCHOLARSHIP
Robert H. Weber
•
JOHN AND NANCY SUMNER
SCHOLARSHIP
Lynn Strickland
Conoco Matching Gift Program
•
ECONOMIC GEOLOGY
Philip Giudice
Bruce E. Myers
•
UNRESTRICTED
Mary Lin Windes
•
SUPPORTING ORGANIZATIONS
Tucson Gem and Mineral Society
•
CORPORATE DONORS
BP Amoco
Chevron
Exxon Mobil
•
CHARITABLE REMAINDER TRUST
Dr. and Mrs. Bernard Pipkin
•
The University of Arizona/Geosciences Newsletter • Fall 2000
News
Around the
Department
George Davis and
Joaquin Ruiz Named to
Top UA Posts
E
George Davis
Joaquin Ruiz
ffective this past July, two Geosciences faculty assumed top
administrative posts at the UA. George Davis was appointed
Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, and
Joaquin Ruiz was appointed Dean of the College of Science—
quite a coup for the geologists.
George has spent 27 years out of a 30-year career at the UA,
joining the faculty as Asst. Professor in 1970, becoming full
Professor in 1982, and named Regents Professor in 1998. In
1982 he chaired the department and by 1986 he was named
Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, and interim Vice President for
Business Affairs three years later. In 1990, George left to become
President of the Univ. of Vermont, returning to the faculty at
UA in 1993.
Joaquin, who has headed the department since 1995, came
to the UA in 1983 as Asst. Professor and became full Professor a
decade later. He has served on numerous influential university
committees and has been instrumental in spear-heading the
department’s fund-raising activities.
Joaquin and George have maintained vigorous teaching
and research programs in conjunction with their administrative
careers—Joaquin in Geochemistry and George in Structural
Geology.
Both earned high praise from UA President Peter Likins.
“George Davis has earned universal respect for his scholarly
distinction as a geoscientist and for his superb teaching, but
equally importantly he has earned the personal trust and
affection of the students, faculty and staff who know him best.”
“Joaquin has a leadership style that tends to build
concensus,” said Likins. “His training and academic career have
been interdisciplinary. That makes him well suited to the culture
on the Arizona campus, and particularly in the sciences where
some of our greatests strengths come from interdisciplinary
approaches.”
George and Joaquin state as a top priority the recruitment
and retention of high-quality faculty—and both are excited
about the challenges ahead.
Two other Geosciences faculty continue to hold high-level
administrative posts as well. Randy Richardson now serves as
Interim Vice President for Undergraduate Education. Judy Parrish
continues to serve as Associate Dean of the College of Science.
Susan Beck Elected
Department Head
I am strongly committed to the
teaching and research mission of
our department and would like to
push it forward in the next five
years. My philosophy would be to
lead by building consensus when
possible and to work to provide
the best possible environment for
faculty, staff, and students to do
their best work. I have enormous
respect for the people in this
department and I feel that
involving them in major
decisions will lead to a strong
and collegial department. At the
same time I will provide
Susan Beck
leadership, look for new
opportunities for the department, and find creative solutions to the
challenges we face. I will be a strong advocate for the department not
only within the University and state, but also nationally and
internationally.
S
ue Beck has been appointed to fill the department head
vacancy created by Joaquin Ruiz’s appointment as College of
Science Dean. Sue received her PhD from Michigan in 1987 and
joined the department in 1990. Since that time she has led an active
research program in seismology and tectonics, particularly in the
crust and mantle structure of the Andes and its implications for the
tectonic evolution of the South American Cordillera.
In Sue’s 10 years with the department she has taught a
variety of geology and geophysics classes, and served on
numerous department and University committees. She has also
gained a national view of Earth Science through serving on
many national committees for NSF, Dept. of Defense, IRIS, and
the Board of Earth Sciences and Resources of the National
Academy of Sciences. Sue values collaborative science and has
an interdisciplinary approach to most problems that should
serve the department well.
The University of Arizona/Geosciences Newsletter • Fall 2000
page 3
Stephen Ahlgren
David Barbeau
Clem Chase
Alexander Bump
Pilar Garcia
Steven Kidder
George Davis
Andrew Leier
Aaron Martin
Nadine McQuarrie
Peter DeCelles
Ofori Pearson
Delores Robinson
Aviva Sussman
E
very year a number of major oil companies visit the
department to interview graduate students for summer
internships and permanent jobs. The strong ties between
the department and the petroleum industry have recently
deepened with the establishment of the GeoStructure
Partnership. The Partnership is a cooperative alliance between
the structural geology and basin research groups in the
Department of Geosciences and exploration and research groups
at several major petroleum companies and consultancies. The
purposes of the Partnership are to pool resources in ways that
will facilitate training of graduate students, provide
opportunities for intensive interaction between researchers at
Arizona and industry scientists, and to create a two-way flow of
information between industry and academic scientists.
Current industry Partners include BPAmoco, Conoco Inc.,
ExxonMobil, Midland Valley Exploration, and GeoMap Inc.
These companies have generously contributed funding,
sophisticated software, and services that have had a direct
impact on the careers of approximately 14 graduate students
over the last two years. Partnership faculty include Peter
DeCelles, George Davis, and Clem Chase. Current students
involved in the Partnership are Steve Ahlgren (PhD), Dave
Barbeau (PhD), Alex Bump (PhD), Pilar Garcia (PhD), Steve
Kidder (MS), Andrew Leier (PhD), Aaron Martin (PhD), Nadine
McQuarrie (PhD), Ofori Pearson (PhD), Delores Robinson (PhD),
and Aviva Sussman (PhD). Funds from the Partnership have had
a significant impact on field research by these students, allowing
them to push forward on far-flung projects that might otherwise
require more than a year of effort at raising money from
government agencies and foundations.
Student projects are scattered across the globe from Bolivia
to Utah, Nepal to California. In addition, donation of balanced
cross section software, particularly 2DMove and 3DMove from
Glasgow-based Midland Valley, Inc., has given several of our
students the opportunity to develop expertise with the industry
standard. Company scientists have also given short courses on
topics such as balancing structural cross sections, advanced
page 4
STUDENTS
FACULTY
PETER DECELLES
modeling of 3-D strain, and physical analog modeling. The
“deliverables” offered by the Arizona end of the Partnership
include short courses, field trips, up-to-the-minute progress
reports, advance copies of theses, dissertations, and manuscripts,
and case studies useful for advertising, as well as the opportunity
for company scientists to get to know some of our talented
graduate students.
Much of the information exchange will take place via our
new web site (http://coulomb.geo.arizona.edu/). Last March, we
convened the first annual meeting of the Partnership in Tucson.
George Davis led a field trip to the Huachuca Mountains, and
students and faculty presented recent research results to
company representatives over a two-day period. The industry
scientists had much useful and constructive feedback to offer.
Next year’s meeting is being planned as a rambling field
conference on the Colorado Plateau, to be co-led by Alex Bump
and Steve Ahlgren.
STUDENT CHAPTER OF AAPG ESTABLISHED
I am pleased to announce the establishment
of the UA American Association of Petroleum
Geologists Student Chapter. Our student
chapter was founded in May 2000 in order to
highlight the commitment and involvement UA
students have with the petroleum industry. In
a time of mergers and growing competition for
industry employment, we want to establish ourselves as an
important part of the petroleum community. We plan to accomplish
this through events such as guest lectures by industry professionals,
field trips, increased attendance at AAPG short courses, and student
presentations at AAPG meetings.
—Aviva Sussman
The University of Arizona/Geosciences Newsletter • Fall 2000
Nadine McQuarrie
First Recipient of
Peter J. Coney Fellowship
The Peter J. Coney Fellowship was established by colleagues, students and friends of Peter
Coney, an extraordinarily gifted scientist in structure-tectonics. Although the Coney Fellowship
is not yet a fully funded endowment, the department felt it important, in so honoring Peter, to
award the first Coney Fellowship to a student who
knew and studied with him. Nadine is also the
recipient of this year’s Chevron Graduate Fellowship.
M
y principal research interest is in the
structural and geodynamic evolution
of mountain belts and orogenic
plateaus. My love of big scale problems stems
from my structural geology professor at
Whitman College, who emphasized the
importance of binoculars over handlens as a
structural geologist’s favorite field tool. At
Idaho State, my interests broadened from
structural geology to include geophysics
(specifially geodynamics). My MS thesis, Crustal
flexure adjacent to the eastern Snake River Plain,
Idaho, addressed the structural evolution of the
eastern Snake River Plain (ESRP). The ESRP is an
underfilled volcanic trough that cuts across
Basin and Range topography in southern Idaho
and is proposed to be the track of the
Yellowstone hotspot. I combined
measurements of structural markers, including Mesozoic fold
hinges and Neogene bedding, with flexural modeling to determine
the magnitude of subsidence of the ESRP.
Here at the UA, my research has taken me to Bolivia where I
am studying the evolution of the Andean Plateau. In the central
Andes, geophysical constraints on crustal thickness and
composition emphasize the importance of tectonic thickening
of the crust. Previous estimates of crustal shortening have only
considered the frontal portions of the fold-thrust belt, ignoring
potentially significant amounts of shortening in the hinterland.
I have remapped several transects across the Andean fold-thrust
belt, focusing on the structures within an extensive hinterland
backthrust belt. I am reconstructing the kinematic history using
balanced cross-sections, geochronology, and sedimentary
geology to give new constraints on how, when, and why the
Andean fold-thrust belt developed as it did. One of the
significant contributions of my dissertation will be a viable
tectonic model of how the central Andean fold-thrust belt
developed through time to build a plateau.
Perhaps an ancient analogue to the Andean plateau is the
hinterland of the Cordilleran fold-thrust belt of North America
during the late Cretaceous. These two different time slices of an
evolving orogen can be fitted together to give insights into the
processes that create and then destroy high elevation plateaus.
Paleoelevation, paleothickness, and thermobarometric data
substantiated the original claim by Peter Coney and his student
Tekla Harms that western North America also housed a high
elevation orogenic plateau. I propose that the topographic load
cont’d page 7
The University of Arizona/Geosciences Newsletter • Fall 2000
Nadine in the Eastern Cordillera in Bolivia,
southeast of La Paz. The mountain in the
background is Illimani, 6490m in elevation—
which Pete DeCelles, Brian Horton (PhD ‘98)
and Nadine climbed the previous summer. The
picture was taken by George Davis in the field
this summer. The accompanying photo of Peter
Coney on the west flank of the Grand Tetons
was also taken by George Davis.
UPDATE ON FUNDRAISING
FOR CONEY FELLOWSHIP
As this newsletter goes to press, Joaquin Ruiz
and I are working furiously on a (hopefully)
final fundraising effort to fully endow the
Peter J. Coney Fellowship in Structure/Tectonics. Once the
endowment reaches $200,000 it will become a fully funded
annual fellowship of $10,000 given to a worthy graduate
student in structure tectonics.
The fund currently stands at $125,000. We have recently
received generous donations from the BP Amoco Foundation and
the estate of Harry E. Goode, but need your help to reach this
ambitious goal.
We are asking for a minimum donation of $5000 from
corporate donors; individual donors may give whatever is within
their means. All corporate donors at the $5000 level and above
and all individual donors will be recognized on a plaque to hang
in the Geosciences Department.
If you'd like more information about giving to this
fellowship, or think that your company might be willing to give
(remember, it is an endowment so your donation keeps on giving
year after year), contact me at kerryinman@aol.com—I’ll be
glad to help!
—Kerry Inman
page 5
ANDREW COHEN
SCIENTIFIC DRILLING DIGS
DEEPER IN LAKE MUD
T
his past summer UA geoscientists
participated in a major leap forward
for the fields of paleolimnology,
limnogeology, and paleoclimatology, with
the initial testing of the Global Lakes
Drilling (GLAD) 800 system. GLAD 800 is a
newly developed scientific drilling platform,
drill rig and tool set, designed to be readily
transported (by train, truck or even plane)
between lakes throughout the world.
Because lake deposits often provide annual
resolution climate records, the development
of a system that can drill long records from
lakes promises to greatly extend the high
resolution record of climate and earth
history change, and to
complement existing records of
this type from ice cores with
information from mid and low
latitudes. To the lake sciences
community this represents a
technological advance on par
with ocean drilling.
The GLAD 800 system uses
a modular floatation system
comprising a series of speciallydesigned shipping containers
that can be quickly connected
to one another to produce any
size and configuration barge
required for a given lake’s wave
conditions. Presently the barge
is positioned using large
anchors, but provisions are
being made to equip the barge
with a GPS-controlled Dynamic
Positioning System (a series of
hydraulic thruster engines that
communicate with a satellite to
keep the barge on position in
deep water).
The drilling rig is a
modified Christiansen 1500
mining drilling rig—a rig that
sacrifices the lifting capabilities
of an oil field scale rig, but that
could be purchased and operated much less expensively, making it
practical for the lake science community. Using the GLAD system,
the lake geology community will be able to obtain up to 800mlong, wide-diameter cores in protective liners (or up to 1200m of
narrower diameter cores without core liners). The rig has the
ability to obtain continuous high-quality sediment cores using a
combination of the hydraulic piston corer, an advanced piston
corer, and rotary drilling, extracting cores in 3m segments.
GLAD 800 was funded by the International Continental
Drilling Program (ICDP), a program analogous to the better known
Ocean Drilling Program, that is dedicated to promoting scientific
drilling on the continents to further understanding of continental
page 6
(Above) The GLAD800 Drilling Rig and
Barge in the Northern Basin of the Great Salt
Lake, Utah. (Left) GLAD800 drilling team
members preparing to deploy the hydraulic
piston corer.
climate and tectonic evolution. A proposal
to design and construct the GLAD drilling
system resulted from a series of science and
engineering workshops held in the late
1990s, in which the UA Dept. of
Geosciences was a key participant. Several
members of the department (Andy Cohen,
Owen Davis and Roy Johnson) were
principal investigators in the successful
proposal that ultimately funded the
purchase and construction of the GLAD 800
system (through ICDP), as well as the initial
testing of the system (through NSF) on the
Great Salt Lake, during the summer of 2000.
The Great Salt Lake was chosen as the
site for system trials for two reasons. First,
the GLAD 800 system is being engineered,
constructed and operated by DOSECC
(Drilling, Observation and Sampling of the
Earth’s Continental Crust), a consortium of university geoscience
departments from around the US with interests in deep continental
drilling. A site near the DOSECC headquarters, which is on the
campus of the Univ. of Utah, facilitated the almost daily requests for
tool modifications required by the drilling and geology team on the
barge. Also, the UA Dept. of Geosciences, along with its partner
institutions in the GLAD 800 grant (the Limnological Research
Center [LRC] of the Univ. of Minnesota, the Univ. of Utah, and the
USGS) all have long-standing traditions of research interests at the
Great Salt Lake. The drilling tests were designed therefore to not
only evaluate the performance of the platform and the various
drilling and core sampling tools, but also to take advantage of the
The University of Arizona/Geosciences Newsletter • Fall 2000
NADINE MCQUARRIE, CONT’D
from this high elevation plateau could have driven intracrustal flow
from the hinterland toward the foreland, uplifting the Colorado
Plateau and the Rocky Mountain region and perhaps providing the
basal detachment for Laramide basement uplifts. This hypothesis
was tested with an analytical channel flow model to determine the
viscosities and topographic gradients necessary for crustal flow. I am
presently working with Jay Melosh and Clem Chase on a finite
element model of crustal flow from a high plateau to the foreland.
One of the great benefits I’ve enjoyed at the UA is the insight
and active participation of so many of the faculty. My two principle
advisors are George Davis and Peter DeCelles. George keeps me
focused on structural detail while Pete reminds me to “look at the
big picture.” Clem Chase and Jay Melosh have helped me quantify
the processes involved in the evolution of plateaus, and I am
The University of Arizona/Geosciences Newsletter • Fall 2000
invertebrates have evolved in this lake). Professor Cohen and Dr.
David Dettman are the UA Principal Investigators of the Malawi
Drilling Project, overseeing paleoecological and evolutionary
biology research related to Lake Malawi drilling. Drilling at Lake
Malawi will further test the capacity of the GLAD system, as
operations will be conducted in as much as 600m water depth.
GSL00-4 STRATIGRAPHY-NORTH BASIN
GREAT SALT LAKE, UTAH
Lithology
Preliminary
Environmental &
Age Interpretation
0
Light Gray
Aragonitic
Silty Clay
Late Holocene
Salt Lake
Halite &
Sapropel
Early Holocene
Hypersaline
Lake
Dark Gray
Clay
ProvoBonneville
L. Pleist. High
Lake Stands
30
DEPTH (m)
Light Gray
Aragonitic
Silty Clay
.
.
.
60
.
.
CORE
testing to obtain high-quality cores from scientificallysignificant parts of the lake.
Drilling began on the Great Salt Lake in early August
2000 and continued into early September, when the barge
was brought back to shore and disassembled for Phase II
testing at Bear Lake, Utah. The UA contingent on the rig
consisted of graduate student Ned Kruger, former graduate
student and research associate Manuel Palacios-Fest (PhD
‘94), and Professor Andy Cohen, along with four scientists
from the LRC, one from the Univ. of Utah, and one from
the USGS. Initial trials of the rig yielded cores of between 3050m lengths from three sites near Antelope Island, chosen
to examine neotectonic questions of relative fault
displacement on either side of one of the major border
faults of the lake basin. During this phase of testing, the
GLAD system proved its potential, producing continuous
core though a variety of lithologies, including soft muds
and lithified rock salt.
A fourth site, the designated “deep hole”, was originally
planned to test the maximum capacity of the system and
obtain a 700m-long core from the north basin of the lake,
drilling around the clock for the last 12 days of the test.
However, weather conditions and limitations of our service
boat made 24-hour operations unfeasible (and unsafe).
Despite drilling being limited to 12 hours per day and
regular monsoon storms whipping across the lake, the
GLAD team put forth an extraordinary effort and ultimately
obtained a 121m core record from the north basin site, by
far the longest continuous core ever recovered from an
underwater site of the Great Salt Lake basin.
The core (already under study) promises to provide a
near-continuous climate record of the Great Salt Lake for
the past 250,000 years. The drilling and science team also
tested other components of the system that will be
important for future GLAD 800 projects, including the
ability to successfully set casing on the hole and to use a
specially-designed re-entry cone. GLAD testing is just the
first phase of some very exciting lake drilling science ahead.
In early 2001, the GLAD rig will be transported to Lake
Titicaca in South America for its first truly deep-water use
(>200m).
Then, in early 2002, the rig is funded to be used at Lake
Malawi in East Africa. That ~$4 million project will involve
a team from the UA Geosciences Dept. Lake Malawi offers
scientific vistas not only in paleoclimate research, but also in
the fields of paleoecology and evolutionary biology, given
Lake Malawi’s importance as a rift lake “hotspot” of
biological evolution (over 1000 species of fish and
.
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Light Gray
Aragonitic
Silt
Glacial
Oxygen
Isotope
Stage (OIS) 4?
Gypsum/
Halite
w/Sapropel
& Clay
Last Interglacial
Low Lake
Stands
OIS 5?
.
.
Dark Green
Laminated
Clay
Glacial High
Lake Stands
OIS 6?
90
Light Gray
Silty ClaysSome
Secondary
GypsumLaminated
in Parts
120
working closely with Susan Beck and George Zandt to tie the surface
geology of the Andean Plateau to the deep structure of the Andean
lithosphere illuminated by their research.
During my first year here, I became immersed in the geological
world of Peter Coney through his Regional Tectonics and Orogenic
Systems classes. I began to see the world through Peter’s eyes. It is a
world where almost anything is geologically plausible, and the fun
lies in figuring out how. It was in Peter’s class on Orogenic Systems
that my eyes were opened to the geology, the tectonics and the
many unanswered questions about the Andean Plateau. Although
my knowledge of regional tectonics and orogenic environments
increased dramatically over that year, the gift I received from Peter
Coney was more than just the answers. Through Peter I learned
how to ask questions, specifically what questions were important
and what questions were “just mop up.”
page 7
ALUMNI NEWS
1960s
Dale Nations with Colloquium host, Owen
Davis.
DALE NATIONS (MS ‘61)
Dale gave a “get acquainted” lecture,
associated with his status as Adjunct
Professor in the department, at the
Geosciences Colloquium this fall. The title
of his talk was “Cretaceous stratigraphy and
coal resources of Black Mesa, Northeastern
Arizona.” Dale received his MS under
Willard Pye on the Black Prince Limestone
of southeastern Arizona. He then completed
his PhD at Berkeley in 1969, and was hired
by NAU the same year. In 1988, he was
appointed NAU's first Regents Professor.
Most beginning geologists know Dale
through his "Geology of Arizona" books,
and others have met him at one of the
many meetings or field trips he has
organized in Arizona.
1970s
ROBERT VARGA (BS ‘74, MS ‘76)
Bob was named to the Schoolroy Chair of
Natural Resources in the Dept. of Geology at
The College of Wooster last July. His
research focuses on crustal extension in
both the continents and oceans. He’s
worked on the Troodos ophiolite since 1984
and recently had the opportunity to study
the ocean crust in cross section at the Hess
Deep in the equatorial Pacific. In ALVIN, he
and his colleagues were able to collect
oriented samples for subsequent
paleomagnetic research. Bob has also been
mapping extensional accommodation
zones for the past six years in western
page 8
Five UA geology graduates attended the National Association of Geology Teachers, Far
Western Section, Spring field trip to the Santa Monica Mountains hosted by California State
Univ., Northridge. L-R, ROLFE ERICKSON (MS ‘62, PHD ‘69), Prof. at Sonoma State
College; BOB GRAY (MS ‘59, PHD ‘65), Prof. at Santa Barbara College; JOAN BALDWIN
(PHD ‘71), Prof. Emeritus at El Camino College; BARNEY PIPKIN (PHD ‘63), Prof.
Emeritus at the Univ. of Southern California. RICHARD ROBINSON (MS ‘65), Prof. at
Santa Monica College, must have been pounding rocks—the Miocene Topanga Formation
composed of submarine fan sandstones and conglomerates—in the background.
Arizona and was recently in Tucson at the
Arizona Geological Survey working with
STEVE RICHARD (MS ‘83) learning map
publishing using GIS techniques.
rvarga@acs.wooster.edu
1980s
BOB KRANTZ (MS ‘83, PHD ‘86)
Following the oil mergers, Bob (formerly of
ARCO-Alaska) now works for Phillips
Petroleum as a structural geology specialist
in the Geoscience Operations group for
Phillips Alaska. So, for the present, Bob and
his family will remain in Anchorage
(although, as wife Shirley says, sooner or
later they will likely spend some time in
Bartlesville, OK). He will have to give up
work on Prudhoe Bay, as BP-Amoco takes
over 100 percent of operations. Bob says
they’ll have other adjustments to make, but
he’s looking forward to working on a new
set of problems, both in reservoir
development and exploration.
kbrantz@ppco.com
ELAINE SUTHERLAND (MS ‘83)
Elaine has accepted a position as Project
Leader with the US Forest Service Rocky
Mountain Research Station in Missoula,
MT. Formerly a Research Ecologist with
the Northeastern Research Station (19921997), Elaine is now conducting research
on the utility of prescribed fire in
hardwood forests and is presently
focusing on disturbance regimes in
riparian zones of western Montana.
1990s
SUMIT CHAKRABORTY (PHD ‘90)
Sumit received the American Mineralogist
Best Paper Award for 1999. The American
Mineralogist is the premier journal in the
field of petrology-mineralogy.
CHRISTY (LEE) CONFAR (BS ‘96)
Christy is working on her Master’s in
Oregon at Portland State Univ. She also got
married last October! christyllee@excite.com
DAMIAN HODKINSON (MS ‘98) and
CARMIE GARZIONE (MS ‘96, PHD ‘00)
Damian and Carmie relocated to Rochester,
where Carmie is Assistant Professor in the
Dept. of Earth and Environmental Sciences.
Last spring, after Carmie finished her Ph.D.,
they went bicycle touring in Scotland for a
month. Since settling in Rochester, Damian
has continued to build his travel and tour
The University of Arizona/Geosciences Newsletter • Fall 2000
ALUMNI NEWS
company to the Himalayas and Tibet.
Carmie went on her first field excursion to
China during the summer and is loving
every minute of teaching at Rochester.
garzione@earth.rochester.edu
TRANSPLANT FUND
ESTABLISHED FOR RANDY TUFTS
HENRI GRISSINO-MAYER (PHD ‘95)
RANDY TUFTS (BS ‘71, PHD ‘98), co-discoverer of Kartchner
Henri has accepted a position as Assistant
Professor in the Dept. of Geography at the
Univ. of Tennessee in Knoxville. He will be
in charge of setting up a world-class
Dendrochronology Laboratory and will
initiate efforts to set up an institute for the
study of Global Environmental Change. He
says he’ll certainly be following the UA in
these efforts! grissino@valdosta.edu
Caverns and pioneer in the exploration of Jupiter’s moon Europa,
was recently diagnosed with a serious disease of the bone marrow.
He will soon begin a bone marrow transplant procedure at the UA Medical Center,
followed by a year of arduous effort to fight this disease. Anyone wishing to help can
make a tax-deductible donation to the "Randy Tufts Family Bone Marrow Transplant
Fund," payable to the "Southside Presbyterian Church," 317 W. 23rd, Tucson, Arizona,
85713, designating contributions to the fund. For further information please contact
Selina Johnson: selina@lpl.arizona.edu or (520) 621-2234.
JESSICA MOORE (BS ‘96)
Jesse has accepted an offer from
ExxonMobil Exploration in Houston
following completing her MS at the Univ.
of New Mexico. Her work focused on
Oligocene volcanism, tectonics and
stratigraphy in New Mexico—watch for it
in the GSA Bulletin.
George Kiersch
Named Knight in
Order of Palmes
Académiques
RUBEN PADILLA (MS ‘98)
There is a new member of the Padilla-Diaz
family: Victoria Isabel Padilla Diaz was born
July 26—a healthy, beautiful baby girl!
Ruben continues to work on his PhD here
while taking on duties as a father.
rpadilla@azstarnet.com
Victoria Isabel Padilla Diaz
JOHN-MARK STAUDE (PHD ‘95)
John-Mark writes that he and his family
have successfully completed a year living in
Santiago, Chile. Their second child was born
there in February. John-Mark has been
working in the Andes and other orogenic
belts in exploration of copper deposits.
They’re joined by fellow alums WOJT
WODZICKI (PHD ‘95) and KATE
GREGORY (PHD ‘93), who recently moved
from Lima to Santiago.
john-mark.jg@bhp.com.au
GEORGE KIERSCH (PHD 47) received a
pleasant surprise from the office of the
French Ambassador to the US in late
December 1999. The French Minister of
Culture had named him a Knight in the
Order of Palmes Académiques. The
Palmes Académiques was established by
Napoleon in 1808 and is the most
prestigious award an academic can
receive from the French government. It
is given to those who have advanced
the cause of French culture, education,
and the arts, and is seldom awarded to
foreign scholars.
In reviewing his past activities with Professor-Dr. Marcel Arnould of the Ecoles
des Mines de Paris, the French Minister of Culture recognized Dr. Kiersch’s
contributions in the application of geoscience theory/principles and practice in
the siting, construction and operation of major civil, mining, military, and
environmental engineered works. Prof. Arnould is currently a member of the
consulting board for the world’s largest project, the Three Gorges Project on the
Yangtze River in China.
Professor Emeritus of Geological Sciences at Cornell Univ., George now serves
as Chief Geoscientist of Kiersch Associates-Geosciences/Resources Consultants, Inc.
of Tucson. His career of over half a century has included three overlapping
categories of practice: geologist and exploration manager for industrial firms and
government agencies; university professor, researcher and publisher; and
internationally-known consultant. He has also served on nine Natural Resource
Council committees and as officer/representative of five US and international
societies. He is the author of five books/monographs, editor/co-editor of eight
other volumes, and 275 technical reports.
George has received several awards over the years, such as the the Claire P.
Holdredge Award from the Association of Engineering Geologists in 1965 and the
E. B. Burwell Memorial Award from GSA in 1992. Jokingly, he writes he was
disappointed the French did not include a sword with the knighthood!
The University of Arizona/Geosciences Newsletter • Fall 2000
page 9
ALUMNI NEWS
Rob Vugteveen (MS ‘82)
Director of Award-Winning
Asarco Mineral Discovery Center
I
’m an MS grad student alumni from 1980, having worked
with Bob Butler on late-Cretaceous/early-Tertiary
paleomagnetics. I enjoy reading the Geosciences newsletter
from cover to cover. It is great to see what the department is
exploring. Thanks for the high quality of this publication.
Should you be looking for alumni activities, I offer for your
consideration the Asarco Mineral Discovery Center which I
helped design, build, and where I now serve as director. You can
learn more about this three-year-old facility at
www.mineraldiscovery.com.
The Asarco Mineral Discovery Center opened to the public
in February 1997. In its first three years, more than 100,000
people visited the facility from every state in the USA and more
than 40 countries from around the world. It is the only facility
in all of Arizona, the Copper State, where the public can view
the operations of a modern, open-pit copper mine on a regular,
walk-in basis.
In October 1997, the National Mining Association cited the
Mineral Discovery Center in presenting Asarco with the firstever Excellence in Mining Education award. The next year, the
AMDC was accepted as a member of the Tucson Association of
Museums in recognition of the integrity of its educational
program. During the 1998-99 academic year alone, more than
6,500 school children, along with their teachers and
chaperones, enjoyed the mine tour and exhibit center at no
charge. Prior to the tour, each teacher is provided with a packet
of lesson materials that can be readily adapted to their earth
science curriculum.
Dr. Mary Poulton, UA Mining and Geological Engineering
Dept. Head, offers class credit to her non-major science students
if they take our one-hour mine tour. Mary was very encouraging
to me as I was developing the concepts and planning the
content of the Mineral Discovery Center.
Come on out and see what we’re doing!
rvugteveen@asarco.com
In Memory of Harry Goode
HARRY D. GOODE (BS ‘51)
Harry Donald Goode died on April 1, 2000 in Salt Lake City.
Harry was born in Newark, NJ, on May 31, 1912. He served in
the Army Signal Corps during WWII. For his work at Long Lines
Control in Paris during the war he was awarded the Army
Commendation Medal by the US Signal Corps; the French
Signal Corps also gave him a Citation permitting him to wear its
insignia. He married Dorothy Rice in 1946 and was discharged
from the Army shortly therafter. Dorothy passed away in 1992
after 46 years of wonderful married life.
In 1948, Harry and Dorothy moved west. Harry attended
the UA, where he received his BS in 1951, and then the Univ. of
Colorado in Boulder where he received his PhD degree in 1959.
He began a permanent appointment with the USGS in 1953 in
Denver, transferring to Salt Lake City in 1957. There he served
page 10
Visitors enter the exhibit pod through a simulated ball mill similar to
the actual mills that grind copper ore into powder at the nearby
Mission mine.
An 11-foot-diameter tire from a 240-ton haul truck provides a great
photo opportunity for kids and adults. A growing collection of historic
mining equipment is located on the grounds of the Center.
as geologist, assistant district geologist, and acting district
geologist for Ground Water Branch in Utah until 1962, when he
was appointed to the faculty in Geology at the Univ. of Utah. In
subsequent years, until his retirement as Professor Emeritus in
1977, he taught courses in general geology, groundwater, field
geology, interpretation of aerial photographs, report writing,
geomorphology, and geology of Utah. During his years at Utah,
he did many reconnaissance studies of springs and groundwater,
principally in southern Utah. In 1961, he received the Superior
Performance Award from the USGS for his work as acting district
geologist in 1960-61. In 1992, the Utah Geological Association
dedicated its guidebook, Engineering and Environmental Geology of
Southwestern Utah, to him for his teaching and his studies of
geology and water resources in southern Utah.
Harry is survived by his sister, M. Clare Goode, of New
Jersey, and by many friends. He left a generous bequest to our
department which will be placed in endowed student
scholarships.
The University of Arizona/Geosciences Newsletter • Fall 2000
TERRY WALLACE
AND KEITH KOPER
THE SINKING OF THE
KURSK: A Case Study in
Forensic Seismology
E
arly on the morning of August 12, 2000 the most advanced
attack submarine in the Russian fleet sank in the Barents
Sea about 70 km off the coast of the Kola Peninsula. The
submarine, named the Kursk after a pivotal WW II battle, was
taking part in the largest Russian Naval exercises since the
break-up of the Soviet Union. Details of the accident that caused
the Kursk to sink were shrouded in secrecy and propaganda. On
August 14, the international news media began reporting that
the Kursk had encountered problems and was disabled. An
Associated Press story dated August 14 stated that the Kursk
“malfunctioned while on operations in the Barents Sea and was
trapped Monday (August 14) on the ocean bottom.” It was
further reported that some contact had been made with
survivors on the
submarine. Later reports
(Above) The attack submarine Kursk
80
from the Russian
was the most advanced fast attack
military were confusing
ARCES
main event
vessel in the Russian Navy. The sub
KBS
and contradictory, with
SPITS
was equipped with a double hull to
75
statements that an
improve its survivability against
accident had occurred on
precursor
August 12, 13, or 14 and
enemy torpedos.
100
-100
0
200
300
Time (s)
with varying causes for
Barents
Sea
70
the accident.
(Left) Seismic stations in the Baltic
By August 17
ARCES
that recorded the explosions aboard
numerous news agencies
Kursk Site
KEV
the Kursk. Shown in the upper right
KTK1
were reporting that
LOF
65
APA
of the map is a seismic recording from
seismic networks in the
SGF
MOR8
Baltic area had detected
a station in the ACRES seismic array.
MSF
Russia
two seismic events
NSS
OUL
Two separate signals were recorded
which appeared to
KJN
60
approximately 135 seconds apart. The
SUF JOF
VAF
correspond to the Kursk
KAF
KEF
second explosion was much larger,
FINES
disaster in time and
NORES
0
0
and provided the opportunity to use
5
space. Underwater
PVF
NUR
explosions are highly
forensic seismology to determine what
10
40
efficient in generating
20
happened to the Kursk on August 12.
30
seismic signals that can
be recorded on landbased seismometers. In fact, in 1989 when the Soviet submarine
bubble of hot gases that quickly rise to the surface of the water.
Komsomolets sank northwest of Norway, it was recorded on
The gas bubble oscillates, creating a complex seismic source.
seismometers. The seismic signals from the Kursk sinking can
The character of the oscillation is related to the type of
provide insight into the cause of the disaster. This type of
explosive, the yield of the explosive (yield is the equivalent size
analysis is known as forensic seismology.
of TNT), and the depth of detonation. Analysis of the seismic
The basic facts about the Kursk disaster are straightforward.
signals indicate that the large Kursk event was caused by an
There were two distinct seismic events separated by about 135
explosion. This explosion occurred at a depth of about 85 m and
seconds. The first seismic event was quite small (it was
had an explosive yield of 4–7 tons.
equivalent to a magnitude 2.2 earthquake) and only recorded at
The news reports on the Kursk said that it was in about 100
a few seismic stations. The second event was approximately 250
m of water which, combined with our analysis of the bubble
times larger and recorded seismically out to distances of 5000
pulse, implies that the explosion occurred when the submarine
km. Careful searching of the seismic records show that there
was near, or on, the ocean floor. The first seismic event is too
were no other events for 24 hours before or after the two events. small to analyze in the same fashion. However, it can be
The larger of the Kursk seismic events was so well recorded
compared in detail to the larger, second event. These
that it allows us to interrogate the details of the source. The
comparisons indicate that the first event was also most likely an
seismic waveforms contain a characteristic ripple known as a
explosion, with a yield of 50-150 kg TNT.
“bubble pulse.” Explosions that occur underwater generate a
cont’d next page
The University of Arizona/Geosciences Newsletter • Fall 2000
page 11
THE SINKING OF THE KURST, CONT’D
Combining the seismic observations with other evidence
allows us to develop a scenario for the sinking of the Kursk.
When the Kursk was filmed on the ocean floor, it was observed
that the periscope was in the up position, implying that the
submarine was near the surface when the initial explosion
occurred. It has been reported that the Kursk radioed for
permission to fire ordinance just before the final explosion.
Jane’s reports that modern Russian torpedoes have warheads
with the equivalent to 250 kg of high explosive, easily large
enough to account for the size of the first explosion, even if
much of the energy release was contained within the sub. The
similarity to the size of the seismic signals suggests a misfire of a
torpedo. This explosion caused the submarine to flood and sink
to the ocean floor 2 minutes and 15 seconds later. Impacting the
floor could have triggered the second, larger explosion. The
yield of approximately 5 tons suggests it must have been the
ERIC JENSEN
simultaneous detonation of several missiles (~850 kg of high
explosive) or an advanced cruise missile. The size of the second
explosion was so great that the corresponding pressure pulse
would be large enough to kill any survivors of the initial
explosion and descent.
Although it may seem surprising that the Kursk disaster was
so well recorded seismically, it should be realized that there are
approximately 16,000 seismometers that are permanently
deployed around the world. This number is often supplemented
by temporary deployments such as the UA Geosciences
experiment in Argentina and Chile in 2000–02. Much of this
seismic data is open and freely available to all seismologists.
This makes seismic data a valuable environmental currency to
investigate disasters and man-made events.
http://www.geo.arizona.edu/geophysics/faculty/wallace/
RUSSIANSUB/index.html
SEG GROUP VISITS ACTIVE
HYDROTHERMAL SYSTEMS
IN NEW ZEALAND
Field trip participants from UA, Oregon State Univ.,
Stanford, and UNLV sit on an andesite dike on Mt.
Ruapehu. Mt. Ruapehu is an active volcano at the
southern end of the Taupo Volcanic Zone.
F
rom March 19-25, students from the UA, Stanford, UNLV, and
Oregon State Univ. participated in an SEG sponsored field trip
to visit active and fossil geothermal systems on the North
Island of New Zealand. The trip was coordinated by the four SEG
student chapters, and was led by Stuart Simmons, lecturer at the
Geothermal Institute, Univ. of Auckland. The purpose of the trip
was to visit current day analogs to epithermal mineral deposits in
order to better understand the conditions and environments in
which hydrothermal alteration and mineralization are produced.
page 12
Beginning in the Coromandel Volcanic Zone,
students first visited epithermal mineral deposits along
the Coromadel Peninsula (fossilized hydrothermal
systems), followed by stops at active hydrothermal
systems throughout the Taupo Volcanic Zone (TVZ).
Stops in the TVZ included the geothermal fields at
Wairakei and Broadlands-Ohaaki, a helicopter trip to the
active volcano at White Island, and a mapping exercise
at the Au-Ag prospect at Ohakuri Dam, along the
Waikato river. The tour ended with a visit to the
Tongariro Volcanic Center and associated hydrothermal
features.
The trip began with a visit to Mt. Eden, a
prominent volcanic peak within the city limits of
Auckland. Visible from Mt. Eden are many young
volcanic features characteristic of the recent
volcanism on the North Island, including Mt. Rangitoto, a 6001000 year old basaltic shield volcano, and the Oraki Basin, a
diatremal/maar crater also located within the city. From
Auckland, participants drove to the city of Thames, on the
Coromandel Peninsula. Being the birthplace of cyanide-heap
leaching, the Thames Au-Ag district provided a backdrop for an
overview of epithermal systems on the Coromandel peninsula.
Awed by the sense of heap-leach history, students were also
impressed by large volumes of acid alteration seen throughout
The University of Arizona/Geosciences Newsletter • Fall 2000
the area, testimony to large volumes of hydrothermal fluids
related to the volcanism on the peninsula.
The morning of March 20 was spent exploring the geology of
the Karangahake Au-Ag vein system. Exposed along the flanks of
Mt. Karangahake are stockwork quartz veins enveloped by quartzadularia-illite-pyrite alteration halos, grading outwards into chloriteepidote-calcite-pyrite assemblages. High above the valley floors are
caps of silicified rhyolite, which boast anomalous Au, Ag, and Hg
values. In the afternoon, the students visited the Waihi gold district,
and the Martha Hill open pit mine. In the Martha Hill pit, swarms
of auriferous crustiform/colliform quartz and chalcedony veins are
exposed. Many of the veins exhibit silica pseudomorphs which
have replaced bladed calcite, an indication of boiling fluids.
Students watched as miners conducted a unique style of ore control
in which benches are marked off in rows 7.5 m apart, shallow
trenches are dug with jackhammers, and assay samples are collected
at 1 m intervals along each row. Remarkably, residential
neighborhoods have been developed right up to the edge of the pit,
a great example of how mining can effectively coexist with
surrounding communities.
After leaving Waihi, the students traveled to Rotorua, in the
heart of the Taupo Volcanic Zone. On March 21, students were
taken in groups by helicopter to visit White Island, an active
andesitic volcano in the Bay of Plenty. Being one of the most
accessible and active volcanoes in the world, the island has been the
subject of numerous studies of its hydrothermal systems, including
those by Werner Giggenbach. On the island, mounds of native
sulfur are seen around fumaroles, and acid springs of magmatic
waters and vapors freely discharge at the surface. A large crater lake
is located at the center of the island, with an eerie blue-green color.
Unfortunately, students were forced to watch as an estimated 274
kg of Cu and 97g of Au were helplessly vented into the atmosphere
during the day.
After White Island, the students visited spectacular fault scarps
offsetting actively forming sinter deposits at Orakeikorako, where
regional NE-SW trending normal faults serve as fluid conduits for
deep hydrothermal fluids. Readily accessible at Orakeikorako are
exposures of newly formed sinter and “geyserite” where neutral
chloride waters discharge, as well as acid alteration forming in the
steam heated environment above the water table. The offset of
young sinter terraces emphasizes the tectonically active nature of
the volcanic zone. Nearby, a quick stop was made along the Te
Kopia fault scarp, where acid alteration produced by steam-heated
waters overprints earlier formed quartz-adularia assemblages. This
stop illustrated the common juxtaposition of contrasting styles of
alteration seen in these systems.
Following the visit to Orakeikorako, the afternoon of March 22
was spent at Waiotapu geothermal field, an analog to the surface
expressions of a “low-sulfidation” epithermal system, and home of
the famous “Champagne Pool”. Students were treated to
breathtaking scenery, as well as bright orange crustiform As-Sb
deposits along the margins of the Champagne Pool which have
scrubbed as much as 80 ppm Au from passing solutions. With the
Champagne Pool as a backdrop, discussions were held regarding the
influence of hydrology and fluid chemistry on the distribution of
precious metals in epithermal environments. Also seen at Waiotapu
were spectacular collapse craters, accretionary lapilli the size of
marbles, and airfall and pyroclastic deposits related to the 186 A.D.
eruptive event which produced the regionally extensive Taupo
ignimbrite.
On March 23, the students visited the Wairakei and
Broadlands-Ohaaki geothermal fields, the sites of New Zealand’s
major geothermal power stations. Above the roar of the fields’
atmospheric silencers, discussions were held about the economics of
geothermal power, its environmental effects, the distribution of
The University of Arizona/Geosciences Newsletter • Fall 2000
JOHN GUILBERT
RECEIVES
JACKLING AWARD
John Guilbert is the proud recipient of
this year’s AIME Daniel Jackling Award.
John has the distinction of being one of
four individuals to have received both the Jackling and the
Penrose Medal. The department has the distinction of having
three of those four distinguished individuals on its faculty—
John, Spencer Titley, and the late Thomas Lovering. The fourth
was Reno H. Sales, John’s mentor.
alteration minerals in the geothermal fields, and how carbonate
scaling and water table drawdown effect power production. Also
visited was the Craters of the Moon park, 3 km south of the
Wairakei field. At Craters of the Moon, trails wind between
hydrothermal eruption craters, many of which display intact or
incised ejecta aprons. A short visit to pyroclastic deposits above
nearby Lake Rotokawa demonstrated the difficulty of distinguishing
hydrothermal eruption breccias from altered ignimbrites.
The remainder of the afternoon of March 23 was spent at
Waimangu Valley. The valley is the site of numerous thermal
features including chloride springs, silica sinters, and steaming
ground, as well as an interesting and historically significant volcanic
stratigraphy. The students visited the former site of the Waimangu
Geyser, active from 1900-1904, and heralded as the “greatest of all
geysers” on account of its 400m-high eruptions of black waters. The
site is now occupied by dense vegetation and hot springs exhibiting
tungsten-rich sinter deposits. The Waimangu Valley was also
famous for its 25 m-high terraced silica sinters, which lined the
shores of Lake Rotomahana before being destroyed by a deadly
eruption of basaltic magma in 1886. Evidence for this event, as well
as a hydrothermal eruption in 1917, are clearly seen in the valley’s
volcanic stratigraphy. A curious feature of the area is the position of
Inferno Crater, where the water table is 15-30 ft higher than the
discharge point of nearby springs. This suggests that the area’s
hydrology is highly compartmentalized.
On the morning of March 24, Stuart Simmons led a field
mapping exercise which required students to reconstruct the
geometry and hydrology of an epithermal Au-Ag prospect based
upon the distribution of alteration minerals in the area. The exercise
was held at Ohakuri Dam, along the Waikato River. Drilling in the
area has delineated a subeconomic Au-Ag deposit marked by
extensive quartz-adularia alteration and silicification. Following the
mapping exercise, the students visited the Tongariro Volcanic Field
and Mt. Ruapehu, an andesitic volcano boasting a ski resort
equipped with a lahar-warning system. Impressive pyroclastic flows
are seen throughout the area, in addition to hot springs and zones
of acid-sulfate alteration. The students returned to Auckland on
March 25.
This field trip was made possible through the fund-raising
efforts of the participants, as well as a generous grant from SEG. The
participants are especially grateful for the voluntary efforts of Stuart
Simmons, who organized and led the trip. Stacie Gibbons, president
of the UA student SEG chapter, organized the fundraising efforts,
and coordinated student participation between the many schools
involved.
page 13
STAFF
NEWS
Renee Kra
Honored in
Special Issue of
Radiocarbon
T
his year’s 40th anniversary issue
(Volume 42, Number 1) of
Radiocarbon is dedicated to Managing
Editor Emerita, Renee Kra. Citing
Renee’s immense dedication to
Radiocarbon for 30 years, editor Tim
Jull points out that the
internationally recognized
Radiocarbon of today is a very
different journal from the one Renee
took over in 1968. Guest editors
Doug Harkness and Marian Scott
write that “the ‘radiocarbon
community’ as a whole owes a considerable debt to Renee.”
This special issue of Radiocarbon not only honors Renee as both
scientific colleague and friend, but also marks and celebrates the
scientific progress which Renee has helped to achieve for applied
14
C science. The issue includes a suite of short personal messages
marking the friendships and recalling some of the memorable
escapades (both scientific and social) that highlighted Renee’s term
as editor of Radiocarbon, as well as more formal scientific
submissions illustrating the contribution that natural 14C
measurement has made in selected fields of scientific endeavor.
Radiocarbon began in 1959 as the American Journal of Science
Radiocarbon Supplement. In 1968, Renee became the managing
editor and in 1989 the journal—and Renee—moved from Yale
Univ. to the UA, with Austin Long as editor. Austin writes in
appreciation of Renee’s sharp editing abilities and vibrant
personality, and the various personal messages in this issue all
speak to Renee’s positive energy and joyful laughter. Since 1997,
serious health issues have sadly kept Renee from resuming her
editorial duties with the journal. But Renee, as Harkness and
Scott write, “will always be ‘Ms. Radiocarbon’.”
www.radiocarbon.org
Transitions
Bo Baylor
T
Meg Watt
he Geosciences Dept. is all about change this year. Bo Baylor,
Graduate Program Coordinator for the last ten years, has
joined Joaquin Ruiz in the Dean’s office as Assistant to the
Dean. Taking her place is Meg Watt. Meg has worked for Mark
page 14
Barton and the Center for Mineral Resources for over four years.
She will continue to work with the Center on a limited basis as
she takes on the responsibilities of her new position. Meg is
excited about being an advocate for the students and is looking
forward to the new challenges.
While Bo is also looking forward to the challenges of a new
position in the College of Science, she’ll miss the daily contact
with students, faculty and staff of a truly wonderful department.
She will, however, continue to produce the Geosciences
Newsletter and work closely with new department head Sue
Beck in fund-raising and alumni activities. She’s not ready to say
good-bye to Geosciences yet!
Wes
Bilodeau
Cited for
Buckyball
Research
Wes holds the commemorative
plaque presented to him at the
Buckyball Birthday Bash.
W
es Bilodeau, Research Technician and the department's
supervisor of the X-ray powder Diffraction Lab, was
invited to the Buckyball Birthday Bash in the Dept. of Physics
last June to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the discovery of
crysalline Carbon 60, or buckyballs. The term “buckyballs” is
derived from the resemblance of the C60 molecule to the
geodesic domes originally designed by R. Buckminster Fuller.
Research dating back to 1985 identified this new form of
elemental carbon, which was christened buckminsterfullerene. On
June 20, 1990, physics Professor Donald R. Huffman, physics
graduate student Lowell D. Lamb, and Wes met in the X-ray
Diffraction Lab to examine a fullerite powder which had been
prepared by the two physics researchers. They, and fellow
researchers at the Max Planck Institute in Germany, called the
solid “fullerite” as a simple extension of the shortened term
fullerene.
Little did they know that scientific history was about to be
made. The fullerite powder, spread on a Pyrex glass slide, first
gave a minor shoulder on its rapid ascent to the first sharp peak
after about a five minute run. Additional high, sharp peaks,
minor peaks, and “humps” were traced in the next 13 minutes.
Wes, Professor Huffman, and Lowell Lamb were as pleased as
youngsters opening Christmas presents. After all, the existence
of a third crystalline form of carbon had just been confirmed
(diamond and graphite are the other well known crystalline
forms of this common element).
The University of Arizona/Geosciences Newsletter • Fall 2000
Spring 2000 Degrees
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE
Ernest Joseph Bovenizer • Bradley P. Bishop • Amelia S. Drury • Aspen Garry
Linda D. Hudspeth • Deborah A. James • Ernest L. Johnson • Yohei Kaga
Amy A. Kowalczyk • Mandela A. Lyon • Orestes De La Torre Morfin
Amy M. Mumm • Megan Sayles • Marc F. Stengel • Susan E. Stewart
Rebecca Van Lieshout • Carlos G. Velez
MASTER OF SCIENCE and DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
DAVID BARBEAU, MS
A flexural model for the
Paradox Basin:
Implications for ancestral
Rocky Mountain
tectonics. 42p. Peter
DeCelles
CAMILLE A. HOLMGREN,
MS
A Holocene vegetation
history of the northern
Atacama desert (16˚S) from
fossil rodent middens. 21p.
Jay Quade.
CHRISTA PLACZEK, MS
Holocene lake level
fluctuations of Lago
Aricota, southern Peru.
22p. Jay Quade.
TODD BREDBECK, MS
Crustal structure of westcentral Africa from
regional full waveform
modeling. 16p. Terry
Wallace.
DAVID JOHNSON, PHD
Comparative studies of
iron-oxide mineralization:
Great Basin. 451p. Mark
Barton
MATTHEW W. SALZER,
PHD
Dendroclimatology in the
San Francisco peaks
region of northern
Arizona, USA. 211p.
Jeffrey Dean.
MERRITT STEVE
ENDERS, PHD
The evolution of
supergene enrichment in
the Morenci porphyry
copper deposit, Greenlee
county, Arizona. 517p.
Spencer Titley.
HANNS-PETER LIERMANN,
PHD
Thermodynamics and
kinetics of Fe2+-Mg
exchange between
orthopyroxene and spinel:
experimental calibrations and
applications. 241p. Jibamitra
Ganguly.
RICHARD THOMPSON,
MS
Quantifying distortion
from ideal closest-packing
in a crystal structure with
analysis and application.
351p. Robert Downs.
CARMALA N. GARZIONE,
PHD
Tectonic and paleoelevation
history of the Thakkhola
graben and implications for
the evolution of the
southern Tibetan Plateau.
146p. Peter DeCelles.
BRIAN D. MONTELEONE,
MS
Thermochronologic
constraints for tectonic
development of the Moresby
Seamount, Woodlark Park,
Papua New Guinea. 29p.
Suzanne Baldwin.
SARAH E. TINDALL, PHD
Development of obliqueslip basement-cored
uplifts: insights from the
Kaibab uplift and from
physical models. 261p.
George Davis.
CHRISTOPHER A.
GREENHOOT, MS
Geology of the Metates
gold-silver deposit,
Durango, Mexico. 42p.
Mark Barton.
MEREDITH K. NETTLES,
MS
The March 25, 1998
Antarctic plate earthquake.
13p. Terry Wallace.
KEITH WOODBURNE, MS
Post-mineral structural
controls on supergene
enrichment at the Mariquita
porphyry copper deposit,
Sonora, Mexico. 46p. Mark
Barton.
The University of Arizona/Geosciences Newsletter • Fall 2000
page 15
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