THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
The Department of Geosciences
®
Spring 2002
Volume 7, Number 2
Letter from the Chair
INSIDE
Susan Beck
News Around the Department 3
A Sea of Islands
5
The Altyn Tagh Fault 6
Adventures in Gona, Ethiopia
8
Sanctuary of the Ground Sloths
9
Other News in the Department 10
Fall 2001 Degrees 11
Kudos 11
GeoDaze 2002 12
Alumni News 14
Update Your Contact Information 16
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
•
Lesa Langan DuBerry, editor
520-626-8204
lesa@geo.arizona.edu
•
www.geo.arizona.edu
W
e have had a busy and productive semester with
two new faculty, Paul Kapp (Structure and
Tectonics) and Eric Seedorff (Economic Geology),
arriving in January. Bob Butler received the University of
Arizona Distinguished Professor Award, one of only two
given each year across the entire campus. Geosciences
Susan Beck and
undergraduate Anne Paquette received the College of
Patricia Alvarado
Science Outstanding Senior Award. Alumnus Ken Evans
(left) in Argentina.
received the College of Science Outstanding Alumnus
Patricia will start
Award. In many ways, the Department has had a great
a PhD program in
year. What is not so great is that the University of
Geosciences at the
Arizona has been hit hard with permanent budget cuts
UA next fall.
that will make the next few years very challenging.
The highlight of the Spring semester was the 30th anniversary of our
student-run GeoDaze Symposium and the Advisory Board meeting, April 4-6.
GeoDaze was held at the Flandrau Science Center as we wait for the construction
to end on the new Student Union (the clock tower is gone). The talks and poster
presentations by graduate and undergraduate students were of exceptionally
high quality. I want to thank all the students who presented, and especially the
co-chairs, Melissa Trout and
Christine Luis. Bill Holt (PhD ‘89)
received the Department of
Geosciences Outstanding Alumnus
Award and gave a great talk on
crustal deformation in Asia and the
western U.S. The Department and
the Advisory Board honored George
Davis for his contributions to
Geosciences with a special dinner.
George really was surprised!!!
Many of his former students from
the 1980s and 1990s came to
Tucson for the dinner and shared
I am looking forward to a month in Argentina
their memories and photos of
(above) and Chile with graduate students. We will
George in the field. Andy Cohen
be pulling out seismic stations that have been
ran the annual GeoDaze field trip
operating there for the last 18 months.
where participants looked at lake
cont’d page 2
deposits near Tucson.
Geosciences Advisory Board
Spring 2002
REGINA M. CAPUANO
University of Houston
DAVID J. LOFQUIST
ExxonMobil
M. STEPHEN ENDERS
Phelps-Dodge
STEPHEN J. NARUK
Shell
CHARLES F. KLUTH
Chevron
DAVID K. REA
University of Michigan
ROBERT W. KRANTZ
Phillips
WILLIAM H. WILKINSON (Chair)
Phelps-Dodge
DONORS
The Department of Geosciences expresses its gratitude to alumni and friends
who continue to support the Department through their generous contributions.
BERT S. BUTLER SCHOLARSHIP
H. WESLEY PEIRCE SCHOLARSHIP
CORPORATE DONORS
Joseph Mitchell
Neal McClymonds
•
•
BP Amoco
ExxonMobil
PETER J. CONEY FELLOWSHIP
MAXWELL N. SHORT SCHOLARSHIP
•
Robert and Shirlee Krantz
(Phillips Matching Gift)
Edgar McCullough
Joseph Mitchell
UNRESTRICTED
•
American Federation
of Mineralogical Societies (AFMS)
National Action Council
for Minorities (NACM)
Jon Baskin
Robin Bouse
Anthony Ching
Donald Clay
Omar and Esther Dewald
Redge and Linda Greenberg
Richard and Lynn Hay
Dieter Krewedl
Paul Kuennemeier
David Lofquist
Neal McClymonds
Robert and Carolyn Metz
John Sweet
(BP Amoco Matching Gift)
Louis Taylor
Deborah Walden
Nicea Wilder
Donald Witter, Jr.
continental strike-slip faults in the world.
Jay Quade is chief geologist on an
exciting project in Ethiopia to unravel the
age and environment of sedimentary
deposits containing early hominid fossils.
We are fortunate to have emeritus
faculty such as Bill Dickinson and Paul
Martin in our midst, and I thought you
might enjoy reading about what they are
doing. I can’t wait to see Paul’s book on
the extinction of ground sloths. Bill
continues to be a renaissance geologist
with projects on tracing pottery through
the composition of their sands and
analyzing paleoshorelines in the South
Pacific Islands.
We are all looking forward to a
productive and fun summer as many
faculty and students head out of Tucson
for field work around the world for a few
months.
Again, many thanks to all who have
contributed to the Department this past
semester. We hope to have your
continuing support
in the future.
•
DESERT LABORATORY
Virginia Morbeck
•
FIELD CAMP
Ken and Karen Evans
(ExxonMobil Matching Gift)
Jeffrey G. Seekatz
(ExxonMobil Matching Gift)
Steven and Melissa May
(ExxonMobil Matching Gift)
•
ECONOMIC GEOLOGY
Michael J. Fitzgerald
JOHN & NANCY SUMNER SCHOLARSHIP
Gary Jones
Karl and Barbara Kaufmann
Steve Natali
(Williams Matching Gift)
John and Linda Sumner
•
NON-CASH GIFTS
Gene Wright
Frances Norwood Howard
•
SUPPORTING ORGANIZATIONS
MINORITY SCHOLARSHIPS
Leon and Juanita Richardson
Letter from the Chair, cont’d...
The Department’s Advisory Board
meeting was productive. We focused on
Alumni outreach and the importance of
fundraising. I want to thank the Advisory
Board members for their support and
advice this year.
Our faculty continue to work around
the globe, and I am particularly excited
about the articles in this newsletter.
George Gehrels, Bob Butler, and their
research group have determined the best
estimate of slip on the Altyn Tagh Fault
in northern Tibet, one of the largest
page 2
The University of Arizona/Geosciences Newsletter • Spring 2002
News
Around the
Department
George Davis Receives
Outstanding Faculty Award
Sixty-five people
attended a dinner in
George’s honor at the
Hacienda del Sol resort
in Tucson. The crowd
included many of
George’s former
students who came
from afar to participate
in the celebration.
Bob Krantz (MS ‘83, PhD ‘86)
and Steve Naruk (MS ‘83, PhD ‘87)
narrated a slide program of “the
early years.” Alex Bump (PhD ‘01),
Steve Ahlgren (MS ‘99), and Ofori
Pearson followed with stories and
photos from more recent years.
T
he Advisory Board’s 2002
Outstanding Faculty Award was
presented to George Davis for his
many contributions to geosciences and
to the Department.
The evening’s program
included a “roast” — a number of
George’s former students shared
pictures, stories, and other
memorabilia, like a pair of
mounted deer horns for the front
of George’s new truck (look very
closely at the front of the old
truck in the photo above).
It was a fun evening with lots of
laughter that was enjoyed by all who
were able to attend.
Front row (left to right), Sarah Tindall,
Nadine McQuarrie, Pilar Garcia, George
Davis; middle row, Steve Reynolds, Steve
Naruk, Alex Bump; back row, Chuck
Kluth, Steve Ahlgren, Steve Lingrey, Ofori
Pearson, and Bob Krantz .
Will Wilkinson, chair
of the Advisory Board,
summarized George’s
professional career and
contributions to
geosciences.
The University of Arizona/Geosciences Newsletter • Spring 2002
Front row (left to right), Ofori Pearson,
Nadine McQuarrie, Shari Christofferson,
back row, Alex Bump, George Davis, Pilar
Garcia, Steve Ahlgren, and Karen Swanberg.
page 3
by LORI STILES
UA News Service
The Distinguished
Professorship was created in
1995 by former President
Manuel T. Pacheco to recognize
individuals who have made
substantial contributions to
undergraduate education at the
University of Arizona. It is the
most prestigious teaching
award that the UA carries.
Two professors are selected
to receive the Distinguished
Professorship each year from
the 12 colleges across campus.
To date, only 20 awards have
been given.
University Distinguished
Professors must demonstrate
outstanding commitment to
undergraduate education with
a minimum of 10 years
teaching at the UA, at
least 50 percent of which
have been undergraduate
teaching.
Additional criteria
includes: a record of
creative scholarship; the
application of scholarship
in the undergraduate
classroom; evidence of
the highest standards
of teaching; evidence
of effective advising
and mentoring of
undergraduates; involvement
in undergraduate curriculum
innovation within a discipline
or in University general
education; and evidence of
extracurricular activities or
extramural service related to
the undergraduate experience.
Along with the title of
University Distinguished
Professor, this award carries a
$5,000 increase to base salary.
Congratulations Bob!
page 4
Bob Butler Receives
Distinguished Professor Award
W
hen students hail Bob Butler with
the nickname, “Coach Bob,” he
relishes it as an honor. “I tell my students
I like the coach-athlete relationship better
than I do the professor-student thing,”
Bob says. “If we’re doing this right, the
more cooperative it is, the more of a
partnership it is, with me trying to help
students get the best from themselves.”
Winner of several teaching awards,
Bob has been inducted into the UA
teaching hall of fame this year by being
named a University Distinguished
Professor.
By nature, not an extrovert and
headed toward a non-teaching
career, Bob says, when he joined
the UA Geosciences faculty in
1974, “It occurred to me that I’d
have to teach, and I didn’t know
what the heck I was doing.”
He quickly picked up on
teaching styles of some very
talented colleagues in the
Department. “I knew I had to be
first-term freshmen who find themselves
in the biggest class in their lives, he’s
developed ingenious schemes to create
an informal and friendly scholastic
atmosphere. It’s a lot of work: “I’m pretty
well spent by the end of a semester of
Natural Sciences 101. But I can’t imagine
not teaching this class every year for the
remainder of my career.”
Faced with upper-level Geoscience
majors who have avoided a required
course because they think it may be toophysics intensive, Bob combats math and
physics anxiety by showing how complex
geophysical systems can be understood as
separate parts.
“Don’t tell me
what the book
says,” he tells his
upper-level
undergraduates
as they struggle
with classic
geophysical
journal articles
for the first time.
Bob has taken
graduate and
undergraduate students with him on
field research projects in Alaska, Bolivia,
Nepal, Spain and Tibet.
Of his 92 publications in peerreviewed journals, 49 were co-authored
with students or postdoctoral researchers.
“Geology is a very special discipline
because of shared field experiences,” Bob
said. “Earth is our laboratory and we are
privileged to be
modern day explorers
of corners of our
Bob Butler teaching
world not commonly
in the field.
visited.”
Lucky for the UA,
hyper-organized, and
Arizona remains one
soon students were
of his favorite places.
saying, ‘Wow, you’re
“I try to think of ways
way more organized
to translate
than most teachers I
the fantastic
have.’ That built my
landscape that we
Bob explains Tucson’s unique landscape
confidence, and
live in into terms
to a group of special students.
organization just
that people who are
started working for
not geologists can
me. I believe two things are absolutely
understand. It is a special environment.
necessary to teaching at any level, and
It is an environment that for a geologist
they are organization and enthusiasm.”
is just beautiful to live in.”
Bob says there’s no “one size fits all”
teaching style. Faced with 120 frightened
The University of Arizona/Geosciences Newsletter • Spring 2002
BILL DICKINSON
A Sea of Islands
Emeritus Professor in the Western and Southern Pacific
O
Moreover, Pacific geotectonic patterns dictate that different
ver the past decade, emeritus status has given me
island groups are underpinned by strongly contrasting rock
the opportunity to expand my research into
assemblages. There is no confusing sand from hotspot shield
geomorphology and geoarchaeology of the Pacific
volcanoes in Samoa with sand from island arcs like Tonga, or
islands. My wife Jackie has been my constant companion and
either of those strictly volcanic sands with sand from the
steady field assistant during many months on scores of little
dissected granitic roots of an ancient island arc like the highland
specks of land, scattered
core of Viti Levu in Fiji, or from the uplifted mélanges and
through a dozen or so
ophiolites of New Caledonia. Serendipity comes into play as
tropical island groups of
the western and southern well; for even along a single island arc, some islands will harbor
rocks and sands different enough to be distinctive from those of
Pacific.
neighbors along the same island chain.
My first area of
Many years and nearly 2000 thin sections later, we now
investigation, which
know that most island ceramic assemblages, of both Lapita age
dates back to 1965,
and younger, were made locally with indigenous materials. As
inquires into the nature
a rule, it was evidently easier to take potters to new homes on
and derivation of temper
fresh islands than it was to transport bulky and fragile earthensands mixed into clay by
ware through rough seas in open sailing canoes. Nevertheless,
ancient island potters to
there is also petrographic documentation of around 100
improve the workability
instances where pottery
of clay and strengthen
earthenware pottery fired was carried varying
distances from island to
in open bonfires. The
Bill wearing flowered welcoming tiara
island. These instances
most intriguing of the
in Mangaia, Cook Islands. Note the
of inter-island ceramic
Oceanian ceramics is
mosquito net in the background!
Lapita ware, made during transfer provide direct
physical evidence for
the interval 1500-500 BC in the southwest Pacific arena from
specific cultural contacts
the Bismarck Archipelago on the west, to Tonga and Samoa on
between islands.
the east, including Vanuatu and Fiji. Lapita voyagers were the
My second line of
first settlers beyond the islands visible from New Guinea. They
research, which began
succeeded by skill and courage in migrating almost 5000 km by
a decade ago, has to
sailing canoe in less than 500 years. Lapita potsherds display
do with the geologic
distinctive “dentate-stamped” decorations, made by marking
record of Holocene
unfired clay with some kind of toothed comb (never found),
Double-notched “mushroom rock” off
paleoshorelines on
and serve as a sort of “index fossil” for the prehistoric
Tanguisson Beach (Guam) displaying
Pacific islands. It
millennium during which Lapita ware was made.
a modern shoreline notch near sea
happens
that
the
When I began my work on temper sands, archaeologists
level and an emergent mid-Holocene
whole tropical Pacific
had no sure way of knowing whether similar Lapita ware was
paleoshoreline notch almost two
experienced a midmanufactured in many locales, or was all made at a few ceramic
meters higher on its cliffs.
Holocene highstand
centers from which it was carried to other places. To me, the
in
regional
sea
level
of
obvious approach to the problem was to examine potsherds
1.6-2.6 meters, varying within that range from place to place.
petrographically in thin section, and thereby figure out the
The highstand was the result of postglacial early Holocene rise
origin of the sand grains.
in global eustatic sea level succeeded by late
The solution is not difficult in
Holocene drawdown in regional sea level,
principle because the geology of any small
with the highstand peak around 2000 BC,
island is rather restricted, and all local
although timing varys from place to place.
sandy detritus will carry the imprint of the
The mid-Holocene highstand stemmed from
island bedrock. There are no regional
slow hydro-isostatic adjustment of the geoid
rivers that mix sand from multiple islands.
achieved by mantle flowage when the load
In practice, there are many twists and
of circumpolar Pleistocene ice was transferred
turns in the trail, such as deep weathering
as meltwater to ocean basins spread widely
that shifts the composition of derivative
around the globe. The resulting drawdown
sand away from the composition of
in tropical sea levels has been termed
pristine bedrock, and beach placering that
Photomicrograph (under crossed nicols)
“equatorial ocean siphoning.”
processes raw detritus into aggregates of
of a Lapita potsherd from Tonga. The
The two most useful indicators of past
mainly heavy minerals. But these effects
bright patches are pyroxene grains of a
relative island sea levels occur on limestone
are old hat to any sedimentologist, and
beach placer sand set as temper in a
coasts. Emergent paleoreef flats of ancient
throw no fundamental glitches into
dark matrix of fired clay.
temper analysis.
cont’d page 7
The University of Arizona/Geosciences Newsletter • Spring 2002
page 5
BOB BUTLER &
GEORGE GEHRELS
The Altyn Tagh Fault
at the Northern Edge of the Tibetan Plateau
O
ver the past four years, faculty members George Gehrels
and Bob Butler, along with graduate students Dee
Robinson and Guillaume Dupont-Nivet, have taken
part in a multidisciplinary study of the Altyn Tagh Fault at the
northern edge of the Tibetan Plateau. This project has involved
geologic mapping, U/Pb dating of igneous and detrital zircons,
estimation of Quaternary earthquake magnitudes and
recurrence intervals through geomorphic analysis and
trenching, and paleomagnetic studies of vertical-axis tectonic
rotations. The project is funded by the Continental Dynamics
Program of the National Science Foundation and is directed by
An Yin of UCLA. Collaborating institutions include UCLA, The
University of Arizona and Arizona State University, and the
Institute of Geomechanics in Beijing.
the Altyn Tagh Fault. The objective is to determine a pattern in
the rocks and structures (such as folds and faults) that can be
recognized on both sides of the fault, thus providing a
constraint on the total amount of offset. Previous offset
estimates for the Altyn Tagh Fault have ranged from a few tens
of kilometers to >500 km, but these estimates were based on
matching very general features (such as broad belts of granitoids
assumed to be of the same age) rather than matching specific
geologic horizons or structures. That rather primitive state of
knowledge is because the area is very remote, and there has
been very little basic geologic mapping. Gehrels, Yin, and
Robinson are the first group to look at the geology along the
Altyn Tagh Fault in a systematic fashion. For George, this was an
inviting challenge because, “there are few places left in the
world where you can be the first geologist into an area, really
discovering the geology for the first time.” Although this aspect
is very exciting, the fieldwork has been humbling in some ways.
The three were not prepared for the degree of complexity of the
geology and the size of the area that needed to be covered.
Having lunch on top of a 15,000-foot peak yields a variety of
emotions. “You get a great feeling of accomplishment from
having hiked eight miles and climbed 6,000 feet, and from
having made a detailed map with important observations along
the way. And then you look around and realize that you can see
50 miles in all directions, and that very little is known about the
geology in the dozens of mountain ranges that you can see. It’s
a bit unsettling to realize that nobody lives within the 50 mile
area that you can see, and that you haven’t seen or heard other
people, a vehicle, or even a plane in several weeks,” says
Gehrels. He adds, “This is truly frontier geology.”
In spite of these challenges, Gehrels, Yin, and Robinson
The Altyn Tagh research team during the 2000 field season: (from left
have made great progress in unraveling the geologic history
to right) front row, Guillaume Dupont-Nivet; middle row, Xiao Chen
of the northeastern portion of the Tibetan Plateau, and
(geologist from the Institute of Geomechanics in Beijing), and drivers
constraining the offset history of the Altyn Tagh Fault. Their
Liu, Goo, and Ren; back row, George Gehrels, An Yin, and Bob Butler.
best estimate is that the main strand of the Altyn Tagh Fault has
experienced a total of ~250 km of offset, and that an additional
Most geologists appreciate that over the past 50 million
~100 km of motion is accommodated on smaller faults and
years, India has been colliding with southern Asia,
oroclinal bends
resulting in formation of the Himalaya and the Tibetan
adjacent to the main
Plateau. A major debate about the Indo-Asian collision
strand. The age of
focuses on how much of the convergence between
initiation has also
India and Asia is accommodated by thickening of the
been determined to be
crust and how much is taken up by “extrusion” of
about 35 Ma from the
crustal blocks toward the east by strike-slip motion on
age of deposition in
major faults. One of the faults in question is the Altyn
sedimentary basins
Tagh Fault, a left-lateral strike-slip fault that separates
along the fault. This
the northern Tibetan Plateau from the Tarim Basin
yields a rate of motion
farther north. As Gehrels points out, “Our state of
of <1 cm/year, which is
understanding of the Altyn Tagh Fault is similar to
considerably slower
what was known about the San Andreas Fault forty
than other large strike
The northeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau.
years ago.” To determine the fraction of Indo-Asian
slip faults such as the
This mountain front is controlled by an active
convergence accounted for by extrusion, it is necessary
San Andreas Fault and
thrust fault that dips to the left (southwest),
to determine the total offset on major faults, such as
the Alpine Fault of
putting Paleozoic accretionary mélange over
the Altyn Tagh Fault.
New Zealand. This
Quaternary strata that overlie Archean basement
In this project, George Gehrels, An Yin, and Dee
suggests that the
of the North China craton.
Robinson have concentrated on bedrock geology along
seismic hazard of the
page 6
The University of Arizona/Geosciences Newsletter • Spring 2002
Altyn Tagh Fault is considerably lower than these other major
strike-slip faults, and that the Altyn Tagh Fault does not
accommodate much of the ~5 cm/year convergence between
India and Asia.
The Altyn Tagh Fault project also included paleomagnetic
studies to determine which areas may have rotated about a
vertical axis. As Bill Dickinson documented in his studies on
“transrotation” of the Transverse Ranges in California, it is
important to determine what vertical-axis rotations may have
occurred adjacent to a
large strike-slip fault. In
the case of the San
Andreas Fault,
clockwise rotation of
the Transverse Ranges
accounts for an
important fraction
of the right-lateral
motion between the
North American and
Pacific plates. Bob
Butler and Guillaume
Bob Butler after a day of drilling red
Dupont-Nivet have
sedimentary rocks in the Hexi corridor.
collected paleomagnetic
samples from a number
of regions in the northern Tibetan Plateau to determine what
areas may have been affected by vertical-axis rotations. In three
field seasons, Guillaume spent a total of seven months doing
fieldwork in northern Tibet. Major collections of paleomagnetic
samples were made in the Nan Shan fold/thrust belt in the NE
corner of the
plateau, in the
Qaidam Basin just
south of the Altyn
Tagh Fault, in the
Maza Tagh range
in the center of the
Tarim Basin, and
in the Tula region
where a number
of structures
have curvatures
An active thrust within the Tibetan Plateau. suggesting they
This thrust is amazing in that eclogite,
might have
which crystallized at depths of >60 km,
accommodated
is being thrust over Quaternary gravel.
distributed leftlateral shear.
Somewhat to their surprise, Dupont-Nivet and Butler found
that few areas have been affected by vertical-axis rotations
exceeding 5°. Most large areas, such as the Qaidam Basin, have
not experienced significant vertical-axis rotation during the past
35 m.y. And in this paleomagnetic application, zero is an
important number because this indicates that deformation is
not distributed away from the Altyn Tagh Fault. Instead, shear
motion between the northern Tibetan Plateau and the Tarim
Basin to the north is concentrated on a “weak” Altyn Tagh
Fault. It turns out that the curved structures in the Tula region
are not oroclines. Instead they most likely developed as oblique
ramps to large basement-involved thrust faults. This mechanism
is similar to that by which the strike-slip motion at the NE
terminus of the Altyn Tagh Fault is transferred to thrust faulting
in the Nan Shan at the northeast corner of the Tibetan Plateau.
The Altyn Tagh Fault Project team is now busily writing up
results for publications and considering their next projects to
further understand the Indo-Asian collision.
The University of Arizona/Geosciences Newsletter • Spring 2002
Pacific Islands, cont’d...
fringing reefs that formed at mid-Holocene low-tide level are
now exposed to the air as coastal terraces. Mid-Holocene
shoreline notches incised into limestone cliffs by corrosion and
bioerosion at high-tide level are also emergent as paleonotches
standing well above active modern notches. Patient search for
these markers of paleosea level establishes the location of midHolocene paleoshorelines, and provides archaeologists with a
reliable guide to the places where augering is most likely to
discover buried occupation sites located along emergent
paleoshorelines. The Lapita migrations followed close on the
heels of the sea-level highstand, and the earliest inhabitants of
many island groups built their villages on paleoshorelines now
lying well inland from the present coast.
For paleoshoreline analysis, however, tectonics also raises
its ugly head to either enhance or counteract the effects of the
mid-Holocene highstand. Not only has Holocene sea level
fluctuated, but islands have sunk or risen independently of
sea-level change. We know of islands where Lapita sites along
or near the mid-Holocene paleoshoreline lie underwater, and of
others where they stand fully 10-12 meters above the present
sea level. Paleoshoreline history is the result of variations in
both sea level and land level.
Geodynamic influences on land level independent of
change in sea level are richly varied. Growing volcanic islands
sink isostatically at the centers of subsidence cones that draw
down nearby islands as well, and flexural deformation of the
lithosphere may uplift more distant islands lying along the
crests of annular upwarps surrounding the subsidence cones.
Islands along the forearc belts between island arcs and
associated trenches may be either uplifting or subsiding in
unsystematic patterns, as if forearc belts were giant piano
keyboards segmented into dark and white keys seeking different
levels. A few islands well out to sea beyond the trenches are yet
close enough to the subduction zone to pass over the crests of
trench forebulges where oceanic lithosphere flexes to descend
into the mantle beneath the arcs. Through comparative
geomorphic analysis among different islands and island groups,
it is possible to sort out the various influences on paleoshoreline
history, and to establish at least the broad picture of relative
Holocene sea-level change for key islands in most island groups.
Pursuing geoarchaeology through all the varied geographies
and cultures of the tropical Pacific has been a grand and
satisfying emeritus experience. Both Jackie and I are lucky to
have had the
opportunity
to soak so
deeply in
the unique
island
ambience!
Cemented mid-Holocene paleoreef flat (dark rubbly
pavement), on the rim of Funafuti atoll (Tuvalu),
capped unconformably by patches of unconsolidated sand (white with palm trees, deposited
from hurricane washover), but standing 2.2-2.4
meters above the modern reef flat (underwater in
right background).
page 7
JAY QUADE
Adventures in
Gona, Ethiopia
M
y first impression of the new field area was that it
me as it flows through the middle of the badlands. The geologic
looked a lot like Arizona, perhaps near Benson. The
section is about 150 m thick, and the bottom dates to ~3.4
acacias were a bit too flat topped, and there were no
million years old, whereas the top is around 0.7 million years
saguaros, but otherwise I felt right at home. The similarity to
old. This is a critical span of time from the point of view of
Arizona only ended when I heard the unfamiliar and slightly
human evolution, as it archives the transition from the earlier
menacing grunt of a baboon, got chased out of an arroyo for the hominids like Lucy, to the emergence of our genus, Homo, at
first time by a warthog (much nastier than our javelinas), or
~2.5 million years ago (no one knows exactly when…this is
watched an ostrich run by.
what we are working on). The place in the section where this
The setting is northeast Ethiopia, a few hundred miles east
transition happens is pretty obvious, and I always try to fix my
of the Red Sea, in a broad basin which to the north becomes the
eye on it like a stratigraphic north star before descending into
Afar Depression, perhaps
the maze of badlands. The older (>2.9
the most famous triple
Ma) deposits containing Lucy are a mix
junction in the world.
of grays and browns and form gentle
Deeply dissected
slopes. The younger beds containing
badlands stretch for
Homo form more rugged, monotonously
miles in the basin, and
beige cliffs held up by very conspicuous
contain one of the most
coarse gravels laid down by the
continuous and bestancestral Awash. Between the two
exposed archives of
horizons is a sharp disconformity in
human evolution
which about 200,00 years (2.7 to 2.9
anywhere in East Africa.
Ma) is missing.
The area just to the north
Fossil hunting is serious and
of Gona, known as
systematic business: a single hominid
Hadar, is famous for its
find can make a paleoanthropologist’s
abundant fossils of the
career. The Afars are the main collectors
hominid Australopithecus
because they are more numerous and
Habib Mohammed, a young Afar tribesman, holding an ~2.5
afarensis. Perhaps the
amazingly sharp eyed. On a typical day,
million year old Oldowan chopper. More choppers can be seen
best known of these
they descend the slope first, fanning out
spilling from the outcrop in the background.
fossils is “Lucy,” dated
along ridges and gullies. Scott, the
to ~3.1 Ma.
physical anthropologist, follows. My
I was invited to join the Gona Project four years ago as the
agenda is different…I leave the fossils to them as I scan the
chief (sic only) geologist on the project. Dr. Sileshi Semaw, an
deposits for signs of air-fall
archeologist from Indiana University, is head of the project,
tuffs with which to date the
and Dr. Scott Simpson from Case Western Reserve oversees fossil
deposits. The tuffs are
collections. Last field season, student Naomi Levin joined us in
distinctly white. The Afars
the field to work on her master’s project. The expedition
know that is what I look for,
members include several other North Americans, and 15-20
so sometimes they call me
Ethiopians, most of them from among the local tribespeople,
Adu Booli Noomu, or White
the fierce and impressive Afar. We all congregate for six weeks
Dirt Man.
every February-March in a large camp under some big acacia
The Afar start finding
trees, complete with tents, a cook, and three landcruisers.
fossils, usually after only a
Travelers have described the climate in the Afar Depression
few minutes. They bring
(11°S) as the worst in the world. I would not go that far, but the
them back to Scott for
climate is basically like a perpetual Tucson summer. So that is
identification. “Dooboo”
why the day starts very early, at 5:30 am, with a hot cup of
Scott says, Afar for hippo,
strong Ethiopian coffee, some porridge, then its into the
and he tosses it back down,
vehicles and off to some new fossil hunting grounds in the field
since hippo fossils are
area. Everyone crowds into the three vehicles, the Americans
everywhere. Another Afar
with their digging gear, rock hammers, notebooks, and GPSs;
finds an elephant molar and
the Afars with their aging Soviet AK-47s and hand grenades;
says jokingly “kada Lucy,”
Ibrahim, another young Afar,
and everyone with plenty of water.
or “big Lucy.”
holding some fossil fragments
The field area is big, over 200 km2, and largely unexplored,
I look down the slope and
that he found. The Afars
so we have lots of ground from which to pick. We usually park
can see that I am still above
typically find most of the fossils
on some high ground and unload the vehicles. From the high
the disconformity at 2.7 Ma,
and bring them to us for
vantage I’ll often sit in the cool morning breeze and take in the
so I move out laterally along
examination.
whole vista, badlands stretching for miles in every direction.
a ledge formed by the coarse
And I can see the Awash River (about the size of the Gila) below
gravels. There on the ledge I
cont’d page 9
page 8
The University of Arizona/Geosciences Newsletter • Spring 2002
PAUL MARTIN
Emeritus Professor
Sanctuary of the
Ground Sloths
W
hat are faculty members doing in retirement? I’m
Venturing past the gate, we walked slowly into a trench
writing a book on my favorite subject! Here is a
through the main dung deposit. Our party of eight, including
small sample from Last Entire Earth: Extinction
Michener, fell silent, as in a cathedral, thrilled to experience one
of a Megafauna.
of the most remarkable fossil deposits in the world. There is no
Some time ago in my office at the Desert Laboratory on
perceptible airflow inside the cave. A max-min thermometer we
Tumamoc Hill, the phone rang, and I found myself talking
left inside the cave for several years hardly varied from a
to a man named John Kings. He said he worked for
pleasant 72 degrees F. We walked
author James Michener. Mr. Kings asked if I would
slowly down a trench single file,
show Michener the sloth dung deposit in Rampart
until we stood chest deep in sloth
Cave that he’d heard about.
dung. The air smelled faintly
Along with our students, Austin Long and I had
resinous as though a priest with
been publishing research papers on the deposit. Did
an incense burner had recently
we want to show the place to author Jim Michener?
passed. The deposit had long lost
The answer was a resounding “yes,” pending
any trace of ammonia or other
approval of the National Park Service (NPS).
odors of fresh manure. In the
When the day came, we met Jim Michener and
stillness, the hair rose on the back
our NPS guides who took us up river by boat. The
of my neck. One need not be a
mouth of the cave was marked by a large deposit
Sufi or a mystic to sense that this
of sloth dung, dug out and dumped by earlier
room, a dimly lit 40 by 50 foot
paleontologists from the U.S. National Museum
chamber with a low ceiling, is a
who were searching for bones. We sampled the
sacred sanctuary. More than a
undisturbed stratified deposit inside.
sepulcher for the dead, Rampart
Unlike ungulates such as horses and bison, the
Cave honors the extinct.
ground sloths were not grazers. They ate globe
Half a year later, Jim
mallow, a relative of hollyhock. And unlike mountain
Michener wrote an article about
sheep and mountain goats, the ground sloths were
Rampart Cave and the extinct
Paul Martin, emeritus professor, looking
not agile climbers. The plantigrade foot indicates a
animals of the last ice age for
at sloth dung in his office at the Desert
slow, flat-footed gait at best. Somehow the ground
Reader’s Digest. Now it is my turn.
Laboratory on Tumamoc Hill.
sloths must have succeeded in defending themselves
I’m writing a book about my
against mammalian predators. Like giant anteaters,
adventures with extinct animals
they may have sat erect, using the long claws on their
(or at least with their fossil
long front legs to strike an attacker. Prehistoric hunters would
remains). I’m writing about what caused their extinction and
not have needed to spear such a beast. Heavy stones hurled at
what we can do about it. What did cause the extinction of
the animal from beyond its reach should have been enough to
ground sloths and many other large animals of the last ice age?
dispatch it.
Watch for my popular book to appear in a year or two!
Ethiopia, cont’d...
see what I expected to see, a surface scatter of alluvial cobbles
that have been sharpened along one edge by flaking. These are
known as Oldowan choppers and represent the earliest and
crudest stone tools made by hominids. They are fairly common
above the disconformity, but absent below it, showing that Lucy
and her kind were not stone toolmakers.
Finding stone tools is important, so I get a GPS location for
the archeologists to follow up. I pull out my Jacob staff and
start the laborious task of placing the site in a firm stratigraphic
context. The Oldowan choppers always occur in the same
stratigraphic setting above the major gravels. The stratigraphy,
the dating, and aspects of the paleoenvironment are the focus
of my research and that of Naomi Levin. The oldest tools are
coming out between 2.5 and 2.6 million years old, and the
hominids were living in a mixed grassland/forest right along
the edge of the ancestral Awash River.
Living with the local Afars is as much a part of the Gona
experience as all the geology and paleontology. This area of
The University of Arizona/Geosciences Newsletter • Spring 2002
Africa was one of the last to be explored by Europeans; the first
European, Nesbit, to cross the area and live to tell about it did
so in the late 1920s. Nesbit claimed that the first impulse of an
Afar male was to kill any foreigner they encountered, and ask
questions later. Although clearly not the case today, the Afar
still live in a continuous state of tension and hostility with the
equally warlike Issa living just on the other side of the Awash.
Thus, all Afar males carry automatic rifles and bring them to the
dinner table and to bed. I have spent many hours with the Afar
on long walks through their lands, experiencing their lives, and
learning from them. They have taught me some Afar, the
names of all the local plants and their uses, and how to
recognize the sandal impression of an Issa and the straight
furrow left by a pit viper (both potentially lethal). I have come
to enjoy all aspects of the work in Ethiopia and hope for many
returns to this amazing place and stack of sediment; it is, as the
Afar say, “kada ma’ai booli”...very good dirt.
page 9
Other News
in the Department
Joaquin Ruiz receives
2002 Vision Award
J
oaquin Ruiz, Dean of the
College of Science, received
one of three Vision Awards during
a reception on February 20, 2002.
The awards are given by the
Commission on the Status of
Women to honor individuals
who are leading their units into the 21st Century by focusing on
improvements in compensation and equity, campus climate,
and career and professional development.
According to nominators Alaina Levine and Boleyn Baylor,
“Joaquin’s initiatives and strategies reflect his underlying
priority to nurture a workplace based on teamwork,
appreciation, open communication, and above all, enjoyment,
and this vision has filtered throughout the rest of the College
and even the University. He is an asset to our University
community and greatly embodies the spirit of this
prestigious award.”
Paul Kapp Joins Geosciences Faculty
P
aul Kapp (BS ’96) joined
Geosciences this past January
as Assistant Professor. Paul’s
position is in structural geology
and tectonics.
Paul integrates field mapping
and structural analysis with
geochronology, metamorphic
phase equilibria, and geodynamic
modeling to understand processes
of continental lithosphere
deformation. His current research
focuses primarily on how and
when the Tibetan plateau formed.
In addition to providing constraints on mechanisms of plateau
uplift and growth, Paul’s ongoing studies highlight the
important role of oceanic terranes in continental orogenesis
and normal faulting in exhumation of high-pressure rocks.
Before obtaining his PhD degree at UCLA in 2001 (advisors:
An Yin, Craig Manning, and Mark Harrison), Paul obtained his
BS degree in geosciences, with an emphasis in geophysics, from
the UA. Paul’s interest in geology was sparked from his
interactions with Peter Kresan and SESS, and now he returns
with enthusiasm and dedication as the club’s faculty advisor.
With George Davis and Peter Coney as role models, Paul looks
forward to teaching undergraduate structural geology in the
Fall and a regional structural geology course next Spring.
Paul is excited about starting new research collaborations
with faculty in the Department.
page 10
Lowell Chair in Economic
Geology Appointed
E
ric Seedorff, Associate Professor,
is the first Person to hold the
Lowell Chair in Economic Geology.
In addition to fulfilling the
traditional roles of a Geosciences
faculty member (undergraduate
and graduate teaching, advising,
research, and service), Eric is
accountable for creating a postgraduate education and training
program designed to meet the
needs of the minerals industry.
Eric has an joint appointment in
the Department of Mining and Geological Engineering.
Eric most recently was an entrepreneur as Vice President of
Business Development for Specialty Product Systems since 1999
and an adjunct professor in Geosciences since March 2000. His
earlier positions included Vice President of Mineral Resources
for BHP Copper, Chief Geologist of Magma Copper Company,
and exploration geologist for WestGold and Chevron Resources.
Eric was born in Carlsbad, New Mexico, and raised in a
mining family. He earned MS and PhD degrees in the Ore
Deposits and Exploration Program, Department of Applied
Earth Sciences at Stanford University, and a BS degree in Geology
from the University of California, Davis.
Eric will be teaching a new class in volcanology, as well as
others in physical geology and mineral deposits. His research
interests include economic geology, structural geology,
volcanology, and geochemistry.
Randy Richardson
Appointed Vice President
for Undergrad Education
R
andy Richardson has been
appointed Vice President for
Undergraduate Education. He will be
responsible for the University’s new
General Education Program, which
Photo by Kristin Elves
presents a major challenge and
opportunity for undergraduate
education at the University of Arizona.
Randy’s duties include overseeing the Office of Student
Financial Aid, the Honors College, and the Office of Admissions,
and New Student Enrollment. Top priorities include preparing
for a large incoming Fall 2002 enrollment, getting the Integrated
Learning Center staffed and equipped to full capacity, and
helping the UA plan for growing enrollment in years to come.
While housed primarily in the Administration Building,
Randy continues to teach in the Department. His research is
now in the area of science education where he is active in
teacher preparation, especially at the university/college level.
The University of Arizona/Geosciences Newsletter • Spring 2002
Fall 2001 Degrees
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE
Justin N. Cardwell • Rebecca E. Escobar • Robert J. Gillis
Jennifer L. Psillas • Jessica Young
MASTER OF SCIENCE AND DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Simone Rebecca Alin, PhD
Calibration and Interpretation of Holocene
Paleoecological Records of Diversity from Lake
Tanganyika, East Africa. Andrew Cohen
Janett Alaid Kanté, MS
Comparative Studies of Mid-Tertiary
Mineralization at Ajo and other Areas in Arizona
and the Southwestern US. Mark Barton
Robert Ronald Casavant, PhD
Morphotectonic Investigation of the Arctic
Alaska Terrane: Implications to Basement
Architecture, Basin Evolution, Neotectonics, and
Natural Resource Management. Victor Baker
Catherine Marie O’Reilly, PhD
The Effects of Land Use Change on Littoral
Zone Dynamics of Lake Tanganyika, East
Africa. Andrew Cohen
Tara Meegan Curtin, PhD
Linking Time-Equivalent Paleosols and Lacustrine
Rocks to Reconstruct Paleoclimate in the
Ischigualasto Basin, NW Argentina.
Judith Parrish
Joel Ramirez Espinosa, PhD
Tectono-Magmatic Evolution of the Paleozoic
Acatlán Complex in Southern Mexico, and its
Correlation with the Appalachian System.
Joaquin Ruiz
Jessica C. Duke, MS
Supergene Cooper Enrichment at
Hanover Mountain, New Mexico.
Spencer Titley
Jason Arnold Rech, PhD
Late Quaternary Paleohydrology and Surficial
Processes of the Atacama Desert, Chile: Evidence
from Wetland Deposits and Stable Isotopes of
Soil Salts. Jay Quade
Christine L. Hallman, MS
Spatial Relationships in Frost-Damaged HighElevation Pines and Links to Major Volcanic
Eruptions. Katherine Hirschboeck
Delores Robinson, PhD
Structural and Nd-Isotopic Evidence for the
Tectonic Evolution of the Himalayan Fold-Thrust
Belt, Western Nepal and the Northern Tibetan
Plateau. Peter DeCelles
KUDOS TO
Sharon Bouck
Robert Gillis
Jennifer Miller
Geos Staff Recognition Award
Geos Outstanding Senior Award (Fall ‘01)
Geos Outstanding TA Award (Spring ‘02)
Julia Cole
Melissa Giovanni
Anne Paquette
Geos Associate Professor with Tenure
Galileo Circle Scholar
COS Outstanding Senior Award
(Spring ‘02)
Geos Outstanding Senior Award
(Spring ‘02)
Robert Downs
Julie Hamblock
Geos Associate Professor with Tenure
Leonard G. Berry Medal from the
Mineralogical Society of Canada
Geos Outstanding TA Award (Spring ‘02)
Jibamitra Ganjuly
Vance Haynes
Marie Renwald
Distinguished Career Award from the
American Quaternary Association
Geos Excellence in Undergraduate
Research Award (Spring ‘02)
Alexander von Humboldt Forschungspreis
(Research Prize)
The University of Arizona/Geosciences Newsletter • Spring 2002
page 11
GEODAZE 2002
T
he 30th annual GeoDaze Symposium was held at the
Flandrau Science Center and Planetarium, April 4—6.
Sixteen talks and thirteen posters covered diverse topics from
Earthquakes in Peru, and Floods from Fissures on Mars, to
Mammal Bones on the Beach of
the Colorado Delta in Mexico.
Fifteen awards were given
during a ceremony following
all of the presentations.
Graduate and undergraduate
students from Geosciences
participated, as well as
individuals from other
departments and institutions.
The Outstanding Alumni
Award was presented to
Andy Cohen (center facing forward)
William Holt (MS ‘86, PhD
discussing lake bed deposits.
‘89), currently a Professor at
SUNY Stony Brook in tectonics
and geophysics. Bill presented a talk on “Continental
Kinematics and Dynamics: Asia, Western North America, and
the Rest of the World.”
The 2002 Geodaze field trip, led by Andy Cohen, visited
exposures of Early Cretaceous rift lake deposits formed within
the Bisbee Basin of southeastern Arizona. The objective of the
William Holt
Alumni Achievement Award
W
illiam Holt received the Department of Geosciences’
Alumni Achievement Award for 2002 during the
annual Geodaze Symposium. Bill is a Professor of
Geosciences at SUNY Stony Brook, recognized world-wide
as an authority on kinematic and dynamic models for
continental scale deformation.
Bill grew up in Phoenix and realized early on that he
wanted to pursue a career in geosciences. He attended
Northern Arizona University on the basis of NAU’s field
program and started down the petrology path.
Bill participated in a wonderful summer program
sponsored by the University of Idaho and worked on the
Juneau Ice Flows where he skied across glaciers collecting
metamorphic rocks. Returning from one of these trips with
a full backpack of rock, Bill caught a ski edge, fell, and broke
his leg in a spiral fracture. After this, Bill started a safer
career; he entered the University of Arizona’s graduate
program in geophysics in 1984. Bill’s Masters thesis was an
examination of the gravity signature of the Catalina and
Rincon Mountains, and his PhD work was on the Active
Tectonics and Structure of the Eastern Himalayan Syntaxis.
After Bill received his PhD from the UA in ‘89, he
headed to New Zealand for a postdoctoral fellowship
and started a remarkable collaboration with John Haines.
page 12
trip was to examine lake
beds deposited under
various depositional and
tectonic settings in this
ancient rift system and
make comparisons
between these deposits
and what lake geologists
observe today in modern
tropical rift lakes, such as
in East Africa.
Field trip participants
A special thanks goes
studying sediment layers.
to the Co-Chairs Cristina
Luis and Melissa Trout for all of
their dedication and hard work.
We are also very grateful to the
individuals and companies who
contributed financially to the
symposium (listed on page 13).
Finally, a big round of applause
goes to all of the students, faculty,
staff, and alumni for making the
Co-Chairs Cristina Luis
Geodaze tradition of showcasing
(left) and Melissa Trout
student research another success.
(right).
Bill and John have changed the
way tectonics students look at
continental-scale deformation. In
a series of papers in the early 1990s,
they showed that it was possible to
construct the velocity fields of plate
motions from strain tensors. Bill
has continued to refine and expand
this research. Recently he and his
students have shown that
earthquake strain rates can be merged with satellite-based
observations (GPS) to develop dynamic models of plate
motions and provide first order constraints on the rheology
of the mantle.
Bill finished his postdoc in 1991 and started as an
Assistant Professor at Stony Brook. The journey from New
Zealand to New York was bittersweet – Bill had to leave
behind the best fly fishing on the planet for the confines of
Long Island. In 1996, Bill received an NSF Career Grant for
his work on continental deformation, and in 1999, he was
named an honorary lecturer at the College de France, Paris.
Bill was instrumental in creating UNAVCO, Inc., a non-profit
organization that promotes Earth Science by advancing high
precision geodetic and strain techniques. Bill was elected to
UNAVCO’s Board of Directors in 2000 and serves as the
secretary.
Bill is married to Troy Rasbury, also a professor in
Geosciences at Stony Brook. Troy and Bill have a one-yearold daughter, who reportedly, is already fly fishing and
yearning for the Southwest.
The University of Arizona/Geosciences Newsletter • Spring 2002
GEODAZE AWARDS 2002
MONTGOMERY PRIZE FOR BEST OVERALL TALK*
GEOPHYSICS AWARD
Devon Burr
Todd Shearer
BEST POSTER AWARD
KERRY INMAN AWARD
FOR STRUCTURE/TECTONICS
David Barbeau
Melissa Giovanni
BEST UNDERGRADUATE TALK AWARD
Jennifer Fimbres
W. JENNEY, JR. AWARD
FOR STRUCTURE/TECTONICS
BEST UNDERGRADUATE POSTER AWARD
Andrew Leier
Beverly House
WILLIAM AND HALLIE KELLER AWARD
FOR GEOPHYSICS
MURRAY C. GARDNER AWARD
FOR OUTSTANDING FIELD STUDY
Heather Folsom
Christine Lewis
PAUL LIPINSKI AWARD FOR SED/STRAT
GEOCHEMISTRY AWARD
Pennie Liebig
Erin Rosenberg
ANNE SHAW AWARD FOR ECONOMIC GEOLOGY
GEOMORPH/QUATERNARY GEOLOGY AWARD
Julie Hamblock
Jason Barnes
DON WITTER AWARD FOR SED/STRAT
GEOMORPH/QUATERNARY GEOLOGY AWARD
Rebekah Wright
Leslie Hsu
*Errol L. Montgomery & Associates, Inc. provided a $1,000 “Montgomery Prize” for the best GeoDaze talk or poster. This is the
fifth year this prize has been awarded. M&A is a hydrogeologic consulting firm based in Tucson that is active in environmental and
water resources projects around the world. Present staff includes many UA graduates. M&A has a long-standing commitment to
support academic and professional excellence. The Montgomery Prize seeks to promote student efforts toward this goal.
Geodaze 2002 would like to thank the following individuals and companies for their support.
The Symposium was made possible through their generous contributions.
INDIVIDUAL SPONSORS
Mary Barrick
Gerard and Byoung Sun Beaudoin
James Hays
Kerry Inman
Bernard Pipkin
Michael Rauscholb
J.D. Blakemore, Jr.
Suzanne Bowe
William Jenney
Richard Jones
John and Helen Schaefer
Anne Shaw
Richard Bruns
Jean Cline
William and Hallie Keller
Charles Kluth
Douglas Silver
John Simms
Gary Colgan
John Empsall
Peter Kresan
Steven Lingrey
John Sulik
Spencer and Helen Titley
Stephen Enders
Murray Gardner
Paul Lipinski
Donlon LoBiondo
Dee Trent
Nicea Wilder
Terrence Gerlach
Patrick Gisler
Edgar McCullough, Jr.
Leslie McFadden
Mary Lin Windes
Issac & Linda Winograd
Armand Groffman
John and Mary Guilbert
Mary Kay O’Rourke and Paul Martin
Robert Peterson
Donald Witter, Jr.
CORPORATE SPONSORS
Aquifer Science, Inc.
Errol L. Montgomery & Associates, Inc.
Servicios Phelps Dodge
BP Amoco
Brittoil Company
ExxonMobil Exploration Company
Phillips Petroleum Company
Sonshine Exploration
US Borax, Inc.
The University of Arizona/Geosciences Newsletter • Spring 2002
page 13
Houston Area Alumni
Ken Evans Receives COS
Alumnus of the Year Award
K
en Evans recently received the
College of Science Alumnus of the
Year Award for his diligent efforts on
behalf of the University of Arizona, the
Arizona Alumni Association, and the
College of Science.
Individuals from seventeen
colleges received awards during a gala,
“cowboy chic” dinner held at Old
Tucson Studios in April. Ken’s wife
Karen and their three children were
there to help Ken celebrate.
Ken is a strong supporter of the
UA’s Department of Geosciences and
the College of Science. Ken received
his Bachelor’s degree from Western
Illinois University and a Master’s
degree from the Department of
Geosciences at The University of
Arizona in 1972. He then began a
distinguished career with Exxon
Exploration Company and is currently
Regional Vice President of ExxonMobil
Exploration’s sub-Saharan Africa
region. Ken’s expertise in his field has
been a boon to students training for
careers in the oil industry, a major
employer of Geosciences students.
In addition to his personal
financial support of the Geosciences
Field Camp, Ken is spearheading a
Field Camp fundraising initiative
among UA alumni at ExxonMobil.
In December, Ken and Karen hosted
a reception at their home in
Houston, laying the groundwork
for reconnecting alumni with
the Department, the College, and
the University.
Ken currently serves on the COS
Dean’s Board of Advisors, the Board
of Directors for the Corporate Council
on Africa, and the Houston Mayor’s
Advisory Board for the World Energy
Cities Partnership.
University of Arizona geology alumni
now located in the Houston area are in
the process of planning an annual social
hour. There are at least 100 alumni in the
Houston area, so it should be fun.
The first get together will occur
during the Spring of 2003. Please share
this information with any alumni that
may not receive this newsletter.
Please send your contact information
to Regina Capuano at Capuano@uh.edu
or call 713-743-3426, so we can pass on
the details.
GSA’s Annual Meeting
The 2002 Geological Society of
America’s annual meeting will take place
October 27—30 in Denver, Colorado. As
in the past, the UA’s Department of
Geosciences will host an alumni reception
on Monday evening, October 28th. The
time and location will be listed in the
program. Please come and join us!
Send your Email Address
Ken and Karen visiting the giant
pyramids in Egypt.
In the future, we would like to
produce short news updates via E-mail,
in addition to the newsletter. Please help
us reach you by sending us your current
E-mail address using the form on the back
of this newsletter or by responding
directly to lesa@geo.arizona.edu. Those
who reply will automatically be entered
in a drawing to win a Geosciences T-Shirt,
so send your information now!
In Memory
R
andy Tufts, a native Tucsonan and
the co-discoverer of Kartchner
Caverns, passed away April 1st after a long
battle with Myeleodysplastic Syndrome
(MDS), a bone marrow disorder.
Randy earned his PhD from the UA
in 1998, and was a Researcher at the
University of Arizona’s Lunar and
Planetary Laboratory. He is credited with
several major discoveries concerning
Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons.
Locally, Randy is best known for his
discovery and subsequent work on the
stewardship of Kartchner Caverns. Cave
exploration was one of his lifelong
passions, and he spent years searching for
new caves. In 1974, Randy and a caving
partner discovered a pristine and
breathtakingly beautiful cave they named
Xanadu, now known as Kartchner
Caverns. Randy agonized over the
difficulty of protecting the delicate
page 14
resource, but realized the best way of
protecting the cave was to develop it as a
public tour cave. Randy, along with his
caving partner and the Kartchner family,
the cave landowners, worked diligently
for years to secure a satisfactory
development and protection plan for the
cave. In 1988, Arizona State Parks
acquired the cave, and in 1999, it was
opened to the public as Kartchner
Caverns State Park.
When Randy enrolled in the
Geosciences graduate program, he began
forging links with researchers at the
Lunar and Planetary Laboratory,
especially Professor Richard Greenberg,
a member of the imaging team for the
Galileo spacecraft, then on its way to
Jupiter.
As Galileo images came back to
Earth, Randy’s attention turned to
interpreting pictures of Europa. He made
numerous discoveries including the
600 mile long San-Andreas-like fault,
Astypalaea. He discovered mechanisms
by which the main tectonic processes
of Europa work: how tides drive SanAndreas-like plate motions, and how they
make the strange arcuate “cycloid” cracks
on Europa. This work “was central to
showing that Europa is a place whose
physical setting may well be hospitable
to life,” according to Professor Greenberg.
Randy authored numerous scientific
publications about Europa.
The parallels between his work on
Kartchner Caverns and Europa are
striking. The themes of commitment,
exploration, discovery, and stewardship of
the natural world cycled through his life.
Randy was an extraordinary member
of LPL, a fine scholar, a humanitarian
and a wonderful man. He will be
deeply missed.
The University of Arizona/Geosciences Newsletter • Spring 2002
ALUMNI NEWS
LYNN SOREGHAN (PhD ’92) &
MIKE SOREGHAN (PhD ‘94)
1940s
FRED HOUSER (MS ‘49)
Brenda and I both retired from the USGS in
2001 and moved to Sonoita, AZ, to undertake
a through escape. We both volunteer our time
with the USGS, and Brenda still maintains
her office on the UA campus. Our hobbies
are birding, native plants, and rocks – in
that order.
1960s
PETER SMOOR (PhD ‘67)
Greetings and best wishes from wintry
Maastricht to sunny Tucson. Yes, it is the
locality of the Upper Cret. Maestrichtian,
K-T boundary found nearby. I hope there are
more survivors of the sixties. I do remember
Mark Melton, and fellow students Al Moench,
Gordon Jacoby, Don Percious, Jack Hickey,
Jay Lehr, Pat Holiday, Dennis Peterson, Bill
Nork, Bill Rehrig, Dave Rea, Rolfe Erickson,
Austin Long, Bob Gray, Barney Pipkin, Al
Hathaway, Chris Mathewson, and many
others. Faculty included John Ferris, Herb
Skibitzke, John Harshbarger, Gene Simpson,
Chester Kisiel, and Simon Ince. Big John was
in charge of both geology and hydrology. The
building was aptly named after him. Later, I
met Joaquin Ruiz, George Davis, Soroosh
Sorooshian, and other new hydro people.
Some, like Stan Davis, I already knew.
Agewise I am supposed to retire, but I
have decided not to, because work has always
been fun for me. Needless to say, I had a
variety of jobs, and they were never the same.
Presently, I dabble in public health and
environment from a hydro viewpoint of
course, but I have always enjoyed working
with other engineers and medical doctors.
Upstream Options Partners (UOP) is my
present work environment. Presently I’m in
Turkey, but I have had the opportunity to
work in Costa Rica, Uzbekistan, and other
poor countries of the world, including six
years teaching at the University of Botswana.
Great country, great people, who taught me to
respect life and the environment. Hope to be
hearing from some of you.
pb.smoor@hetnet.nl
Mike and Lynn Soreghan and family.
1970s
JAMES KING (PhD ’72)
James recently retired after 30 plus years
of work for the Natural History Museum.
He and his wife Frances (MS ’72) have
moved back to Tucson.
Proving once again that we are slow learners,
Mike and I had a third child, Nicholas
James, on 6/21/01. Our zone defense is no
match for the combined efforts of Emily,
Anastasia, and Nicholas. Lynn is now an
Associate Professor, and Mike an Adjunct
Associate Professor, in the School of Geology
and Geophysics at the University of
Oklahoma.
lsoreg@ou.edu
MARK TINKER (MS ’93, PhD ’97)
Mark and Kristen Tinker celebrated the
arrival of Harrison Andrew Tinker, on
February 27, 2002.
mtinker@scci.net
1980s
LESLIE MCFADDEN (MS ‘78, PhD ‘82)
I’ve been Chair of the Department of Earth
and Planetary Sciences at University of New
Mexico for 2.5 years now. Recently, colleague
Steve Wells and I were awarded the GSA
QGG Division “Farouk el-Baz Award for
Excellence in Desert Research.” I gave a
paper concerning the research for which we
were also honored at the UA Geosciences
colloquium last October. I still play a little
volleyball despite my advanced age.
lmcfadnm@unm.edu
1990s
LISA PARK (PhD ’95)
I just received tenure at the University
of Akron. My colleague, Elizabeth
Gierlowski-Kordesch, and I are starting a
new Limnogeology Division of GSA. I am
currently working on projects in Eritrea, the
Bahamas, and Lake Erie.
lepark@uakron.edu
ANNA SPITZ (PhD ’91)
Anna worked in the environmental
industry from 1989 to 2000 and remains
on the board of Sonora Environmental
Research Institute, Inc. In 2000, she
joined the University of Arizona’s
Steward Observatory as Special Assistant
to the Director.
aspitz@as.arizona.edu
The University of Arizona/Geosciences Newsletter • Spring 2002
Mark, Kristen, and Harrison Tinker.
BARRY WATSON (MS ’61, PhD ’97)
Barry is employed by Rio Tinto
Exploration, through U.S. Borax. The
Tucson Borax office on Oracle Road
closed, so Barry now works out of his
home.
EDWARD WELLMAN (BS ’94)
After graduating from the UA, Edward
completed a Masters degree in Geological
Engineering under Richard Schultz at the
University of Nevada, Reno, in 1997. He
worked briefly on the Mars Pathfinder
Project in 1997 at the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory in Pasadena, California,
before returning to Tucson to work at
Call & Nicholas, Inc. In 2001, Edward
joined Condor Earth Technologies in
Sonora, California, where he works with
Scott Lewis (MS ’84) on tunneling,
geotechnical, and landslide investigation/
remediation projects.
ewellman@condorearth.com
page 15
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