GSW: 1956 MEETING MINUTES

 

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON
Secretary's Report
January 11, 1956

The 755th meeting of the Society was held in the Assembly Hail of the Cosmos Club, Wednesday evening, January 11, 1956, at 8:00 P.M., President J. Frank Schairer presiding.

The minutes of the 754th meeting were read and approved.

The President announced that the Society, by action of the Council, had contributed the sum of $50 to the Washington Academy of Science to be used toward defraying expenses of the National Science fair.

The Secretary announced the election to active membership of the following: Verl Wilmarth, USGS; Robert C. Stephenson, Amer. Geol. Inst.

The regular program followed:

D. J. Varnes - Landslide types and processes. Discussed by Coates, Bronner, Sharp and Mussig.

C. F. Erskine - Use of piezometers in understanding the effect of a rising water table on landslides in the Pierre shale. Discussed by Faul and Balsley.

J. T. McGill - Landslides and residential building sites in Los Angeles, California. Discussed by Leopold, Bronner, Frenkiel and Gilluly.

Attendance: 136

The meeting adjourned at 9:35 P.M.

George V. Cohee

Secretary

 

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

Secretary's Report

January 25, 1956

The 756th meeting of the Society was held in the Assembly Hall of the Cosmos Club, Wednesday evening, January 25, l956, at 8:00 P.M., President J. Frank Schairer presiding.

The minutes of the 755th meeting were read and approved.

The President made the following announcements: l) the membership list of the Society is being revised and statements of dues will be sent out in February; 2) by action of the Council, a meeting of the Society will not be held on February 22, but an extra meeting has been scheduled for May 9.

The Secretary announced the election to active membership of the following: L. T. Aldrich, Dept. Terrestrial Magnetism; W. R. Thurston, National Research Council; J. A. Miller, U. S. Bureau of Mines; M. R. Brock, U. S. Geological Survey.

The regular program followed:

G. R. Tilton - The interpretation of lead age discrepancies by acid-washing experiments. Discussed by Larsen.

G. E. Adreasen and W. C. Rasmussen - The hydrologic budget in relation to the climate and geology of the Beaverdam Creek Basin, Maryland.  Discussed by Whitmore, Dempsey and Pecora.

J. B. Mertie - The recognition of paragneiss with examples in Virginia. Discussed by Gastil, Gottfried, Faul, Larsen, Waters, Tilton, Pecora, and Dempsey.

Attendance: 96

The meeting adjourned at 9:50 P.M.

George V. Cohee

Secretary

 

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON
Secretary's Report
February 8, 1956

The 757th meeting of the Society was held in the Assembly Hall of the Cosmos Club, Wednesday evening, February 8, 1956, at 8:00 P.M., President J. Frank Schairer presiding.

The minutes of the 756th meeting were read and approved.

The President called attention of the members to the fact be­cause February 22 is a holiday, no meeting is scheduled and that an extra meeting has been scheduled for May 9.

The Secretary announced the election to active membership of the following: George W. Brett, U. S. Geological Survey; Henry Coulter, U. S. Geological Survey; Richard E. Eggleton, U. S. Geological Survey.

The regular program followed:

G. M. Knebel, President, American Association of Petroleum Geologists - Some of the habitats of oil. Discussed by Cerkel, Goldman, Ball, Duncan, Byerly, and Miller.

Henry Faul, U. S. Geological Survey - The age of the earth.  Discussed by Tilton.

Attendance: 303.

The meeting adjourned at 9:36 P.M.

George V. Cohee

Secretary

 

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

Secretary's Report

March 14, 1956

The 758th meeting of the Society was held in the Assembly Hall of the Cosmos Club, Wednesday evening, March 14, 1956, at 8:00 P.M., President J. Frank Schairer presiding.

The minutes of the 757th meeting were read and approved. The Secretary made the following announcements:

1. The election to active membership of the following: Charles J. Gose, Jr., U. S. Geological Survey; H. G. Thomasson, U. S. Geological Survey; Henry Faul, U. S. Geological Survey; Adelaide Marble, 3221 Macomb St., Washington, D. C.; Jack Kratchman, Atomic Energy Commission.

2. The Geological Society of America has copies of the Guide to the Geology of the Southeastern States (1955) at $3.00 which can be procured by writing to the Secretary of the Society, 419 West 117 Street, New York 27, N. Y;.

3. The Secretary of the Council and the Treasurer combed the membership list and by action of the Council 70 were dropped from membership because there were in arrears more than 2 years in their dues. The new membership list, which will be ready in about a month, will not include the names of those dropped.

An informal communication on "Land shells from the sea" was presented by Harry Ladd.

The regular program followed:

Tilley, C. E., Professor, Department of Mineralogy and Petrology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England - Present state of research on the Scottish Precambrian. Discussed by Lovering, Pecora, White, Gilluly, Bronner, and Lasky.

Pommier, A. M., U. S. Geological Survey - Oxidation potential studies on a vanadiferous uranium ore.

Terman, M. J., U. S. Geological Survey - Prediction of ground water conditions in island or coastal areas. Discussed by Murata and Altshuler.

Attendance: 155

The meeting adjourned at 9:45 p.m.

George V. Cohee

Secretary

 

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

Secretary's Report

March 28, 1956

The 759th meeting of the Society was held in the Assembly Hall of the Cosmos Club, Wednesday evening, March 28, 1956, at 8:00 P.M., President J. Frank Schairer presiding.

The minute's of the 758th meeting were read and approved.

The Secretary announced the election to active membership of the following: James H. Benn, U. S. National Museum; Catherine Schilk, U. S. Atomic Energy Commission; Helen R. Mark, U. S. Geological Survey.

The regular program followed:

Bean, R. K., U. S. Geological Survey - The Orthophotoscope and its possible applications to geology. Discussed by Byerly, Joesting, White and Thayer.

Joesting, H. R. and Byerly, P. E., U. S. Geological Survey - Regional geophysical surveys of the Uravan district, Colorado. Discussed by West and Smith.

Graham, J. W., Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution - Rock Magnetism-retrospect and prospect. Discussed by Joesting, Guild, Coulter, Faul and White.

Attendance: 105

The meeting adjourned at 9:40 P.M.

George V. Cohee

Secretary

 

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON
Secretary's Report
April 11, 1956

The 760th meeting of the Society was held in the Assembly Hall of the Cosmos Club, Wednesday evening, April 11, 1956, at 8:00 P. M., President J. Frank Schairer presiding.

The minutes of the 759th meeting were read and approved.

The Secretary announced the sale of tickets for the coming Pick and Hammer Show to be held on April 27th.

The regular program followed:

H. A. Meyerhoff, Scientific Manpower Commission - Manpower shortage's. Discussed by Hawkins, Whitmore, Rozanski, Berman, Guild, Bronner, and Milton.

Harry Bastron, (speaker), and K..J. Murata, U. S. Geological Survey - A new optical test for minerals with narrow absorption bands in the visible region. 

Roberta Dixon, U. S. Geological Survey - Layered gabbros on Seiland in northern Norway. Discussed by Bronner, Pecora and Berman.

L. C. Conant., U. S. Geological Survey - Origin of the Chattanooga shale. Discussed by Guild, Cohee, Milton, Bronner, Fleischer, Shoemaker, Dutro, and Wikander.

Attendance: 140

The meeting adjourned at 9:50 P.M.

George V. Cohee
Secretary

 

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON
Secretary's Report
April 25, 1956

The 761st meeting of the Society was held in the Assembly Hall of the Cosmos Club, Wednesday evening, April 25, 1956, at 8:00 P.M., President J. Frank Schairer presiding.

The minutes of the 760th meeting were read and approved.

The Secretary announced the election to active membership of: Harry C. Starkey, U. S. Geological Survey.

The regular program followed:

White, W. S., U. S. Geological Survey - Regional structural setting of the Michigan Copprt disstrict. Discussed by Gilluly, Thayer, Beers, Albers, Stewart, Goldman, Lasky, Murata and Sainsbury.

Milton, Charles (speaker), Axelrod, J. M. and Grimaldi, F. S., ­U. S. Geological Survey - Authigenic mineralization in the Green River formation, Utah.  Discussed by Albers, Smith, Rubin and, Coats.

Movie, Hawaiian Volcanoes - Introduced by B. T. Gale, National Park Services.

Attendance: 168

The meeting adjourned at 9:40 P. M.

Marjorie Hooker

Secretary

 

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

Secretary's Report

May 9, 1956

The 762nd meeting of the Society was held in the Assembly Hall­ of the Cosmos Club, Wednesday evening, May 9, 1956, at 8:00 P.M., President J. Frank Schairer presiding.

The minutes of the 761st meeting were read and approved.

The Secretary made the following announcements:

1. The election of membership of: Holly C. Wagner, U. S. Geological Survey.

2. The membership list of the Society is ready for distribution and any member desiring a copy may obtain it at Marjorie Hookers office, room 3201, G. S. A. Building.

3. Dr. Thorson, the speaker tonight, will give an illustrated lecture "The Relationship between Prey and Predator on the sea bottom" in the auditorium of the Natural History Building, National Museum, at 8:15 P.M., Thursday, May 10.

The regular program followed:

Gunnar Thorson, Zoological Museum, Copenhagen, Denmark - Animal Communities of the shallow seas. Discussed by Cloud,. Bates, Lohman, Deul and Murata.

Attendance: 112

The meeting adjourned at 9:20 P.M.

George V. Cohee
Secretary

 

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

Secretary's Report

October 10, 1956

The 763rd meeting of the Society was held in the Assembly Hall of the Cosmos Club, Wednesday evening, October 10, 1956, at 8:00 P.M., President J. Frank Schairer presiding.

The minutes of the 762nd meeting were read and approved.

The President announced the death of the following members of the Society: N. L. Bowen, W. F. Foshag, C. K. Leith, Marie Stadnichenko, H. Kirk Stephenson.

The Secretary made the following announcements:

1. Copies of the G.S.W. membership list are available as long as the supply lasts.

2. Please send to the Secretary any changes of address.

3. Letter from Texas A & M College inquiring about underwater movies was referred to the Society.

The regular program followed:.

W. E. Swinton, British Museum, London, England - Birth of the Dinosaurs.  Discussed by Smith, Gazin and Woodring.

Attendance: 172

The meeting adjourned at 9:30 P.M.

George V. Cohee
Secretary

 

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

Secretary's Report

October 24, 1956

The 764th meeting of the Society was held in the Assembly Hall of the Cosmos Club, Wednesday evening, October 24, 1956, at 8:00 p.m., President J. Frank Schairer presiding.

The minutes of the 763rd meeting were read and approved.

The Secretary made the following announcements:

1. By action of the council, the following were elected to active membership: A. B. Campbell, U. S. Geological Survey; Herbert C. Crandell, U. S. Geological Survey; Robert B. Fulton, New Jersey Zinc Company; Mary C. Grier, Geological Society of America; D. A. Jobin, U. S. Geological Survey; Robert Thurrell, Irex Corporation; Thomas N. Walthier, Bear Creek Mining Co.

2. Read a letter from the General Chairman of the Committee on Awards of Scientific Achievements for 1956 of the Washington Academy of Science soliciting assistance in bringing to the attention of the Society that nomina­tions for the annual awards of the Academy should be received not later than November 15.

Lloyd G. Henbest gave an informal communication describing new films for photomicrography and lantern slides using Polaroid film. The use of Polaroid film for various purposes is convenient and provides economy of time and expense.

The regular program followed:

Y. K. Bentor, Director of the Geological Survey of Israel - Geology of Israel. Discussed by Pecora, Woodring, Conant, Sohn, and Chayes.

Attendance: 203

The meeting adjourned at 9:45 p.m.

George V. Cohee

Secretary

 

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

Secretary's Report

November 14, 1956

The 765th meeting of the Society was held in the Assembly Hall of the Cosmos Club, Wednesday evening, November 14, 1956, at 8:00 P. M., Vice-President J. J. Fahey presiding.

The minutes of the 764th meeting were read and approved.

The Secretary made the following announcements:

1. By action of the Council, the following were elected to active membership: Robert B. Ryan, Operations Research Office, The Johns Hopkins University; Delmar W. Berry, Reginald R. Blankenship, Alice E. French, Arthur R. Levey, J. C. Miller, Mary H. Miller,

Roger G. Miller, Raymond C. Nace, Mary Catherine Reed, Paul E. Soister, all U. S. Geological Survey.

2. Announced the symposium on Man and Radiation to be held by the Washington Academy of Sciences on November 15, 1956 at the Cosmos Club Auditorium.

3. Announced the program, Frontiers in Earth Sciences, sponsored by the Washington Junior Academy of Sciences, to be held December 1, 1956, at the Dept. of Commerce Auditorium.

In place of the program originally scheduled for the evening, Vice-President Fahey announced that Professor S. E. Hollingworth of University College, London, England, would speak on the subject "Broader implications of the Pleistocene permafrost in Great Britain." After the talk, discussion by Benninghof, Thayer, Byerly, Warren, and Ray followed.

Attendance: 151

The meeting adjourned at 9:40 P.M.

Marjorie Hooker, for George V. Cohee,

Secretary

 

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

Secretary's Report

November 28, 1956

The 766th meeting of the Society was held in the Assembly Hall of the Cosmos Club, Wednesday evening, November 28, 1956, at 8:00 p.m., President J. Frank Schairer presiding.

The minutes of the 765th meeting were read and approved.

The Secretary made the following announcements:

1. By action of the Council, the following have been elected to active membership in the Society: Mason G. Walters, Federal Power Commission; Richard H. Barnard, Oscar J. Ferrians, Jr., Harold A. Hubbard, Dorothy A. Rainsford, Henry Schmoll, Richard A. Wilkens, Cynthia J. Wooster, Lynn Yeahle, Daniel Appleman, all U. S. Geological Survey.

2. A meeting of the Pick and Hammer Club is to be held December 5 at 8 p.m. at the Ambassador Hotel; subject, discussion of Geochronology (by Zircon or any other excellent method).

Copies of the membership list of the Society are still available from the Secretary.

Henry Faul gave an informal communication describing age deter­minations of a Kammgranite of the Vosges Mountains by various methods.

The regular program followed:

I. A. Breger and J. M. Schopf, U. S. Geological Survey - Geo­chemical studies of coalified wood.  Discussed by McKelvey and Abelson.

W. E. Davies, U. S. Geological Survey - Bay of Whales, Antarctica 1899-1955. Discussed by Milton and Conant.

A. R. Loeblich, Jr. and Helen Tappan, U. S. National Museum and U. S. Geological Survey - Planktonic Foraminifera and Paleocene - lower Eocene correlation. Discussed by Benson, Goldman and Neuman.

Attendance: 108

The meeting adjourned at 9:45 p.m.

George V. Cohee
Secretary

 

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON
Secretary's Report
December 12, 1956

The 767th meeting of the Society was held in the Assembly Hall of, the Cosmos Club, Wednesday evening, December 12, 1956, at 8:02 and 20 seconds p.m., according to the 15-inch wall clock on the rostrum for the benefit of they speaker for the evening, and specifically noted for the minutes by former President K. E. Lohman. Vice-President Joseph J. Fahey presided.

The minutes of the 766th meeting were read and approved.

The Secretary announced the election to active membership of the following: R. G. Arnold, H. L. Barnes,      W. G. Ernst, H. P. Eugster, Philip Orville, E. H. Roseboom,    J. R. W. Vallentyne, Geophysical Laboratory; Gracemary E. Denegar, Atomic Energy Commission; W. P. Williams, Helen F. Ranson, Harold Kirkemo, U. S. Geological Survey.

The regular program followed:

Presidential Address: J. F. Schairer - The crystallization of rock-forming minerals from magmas and the nature of the residual liquid.

The address ended in a clanging of bells amid the applause for the speaker who was then presented with a shiny new imported hourglass in recognition of his uncanny ability not only to hold other speakers to their allotted time-limits, but to remain within an unspecified limit himself.

Attendance: 173

The meeting adjourned at 9:02 p.m.

George V. Cohee

Secretary

 

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

64th ANNUAL MEETING

December 12, 1956

The 64th Annual Meeting of the Society was held in the Assembly Hall of the Cosmos Club, Wednesday, December 12, 1956, at 9:25 P.M.., President J. Frank Schairer presiding. About 120 members were present.

The minutes of the 63rd Annual Meeting were read and approved.

The annual report of the Secretaries for 1956 was read and approved.

The annual report of the Treasurer for 1956 was presented by the Treasurer, Mary E. Mrose who stated there was a net increase of $70.80 in the Treasury for the year, in spite of the honoraria presented guest speakers and the expenses for two additional meetings during the year. The report of the Auditing Committee consisting of Earl Ingerson, George V. Cohee and Marjorie Hooker, Chairman, was presented by Marjorie Hooker, who stated that the records were in good order and that the Committee commended the Treasurer who "amid clamor and commotion, by cajoling, coaxing, and commanding had continuously and courageously compelled colleagues to contribute cold cash to the coffers." Henry Faul solemnly remarked that we have now witnessed the ending of an era – namely, the free beer era. The Treasurer hurriedly replied that as she gazed over those assembled, she be­lieved she could recognize several free-loaders in the audience.  The President then expressed appreciation to the Treasurer, Mary Mrose, and the Secretary, Marjorie Hooker, for the excellent work on the membership records.

The report of the Awards Committee, consisting of Jim Balsley, Chairman, Phil Guild, and Harry Ladd was presented. The first prize of $20.00 was awarded to Henry Faul for his paper on "The Age of the Earth"; second prize of $10.00 to J. W. Graham for his paper "Rock Magnetism - Retrospect and Prospect"; and honorable mention was given to Walter S. White for his paper "Regional structural setting of the Michigan Copper District." The Sleeping Bear Cup was awarded by the traditionally anonymous committee to Louis C. Conant for a discussion of his own paper "Origin of the Chattanooga shale." Jim (Barrymore) Baisley made the award, with a resounding citation delivered in characteristic style.

At one point in the citation the speaker was carried away completely by his quotation from Tennyson.

[note in margin: the following was copied for the record but not read at the 65th Annual Meeting. Gwc.] In the four years of its existence the Sleeping Bear Cup has been awarded for informal communications and for discussions of a paper presented by another. Tonight an unprecedented opportunity has come to us; we are able, for the first time, to award the cup to a man for discussion of his own paper.  If this statement is incorrect, I have no fear that I won't be contradicted. Tonight we award the cup to a man for his singularly sparkling and spirited defense of a paper in which he had reconstructed before our eyes a placid upper Devonian sea. He had painted a picture of a super-Pacific ocean, only knee deep - to a grasshopper, that is - with its mirror surface reflecting nothing but sky, with no cloud-bearing breeze ruffling its surface to create even the smallest ripple that-might disturb the even lamination of muds deposited in its shallow waters, and with no currents breaking the continuity of the paper thin layer of ash which had floated down gently from volcanoes erup­ting far from this peaceful scene.  Not even a brainstorm disturbed its pacificity.  No doubt it was this remarkable body of water that Tennyson had in mind when he wrote "There where the long street roars, hath been, the stillness of the central sea."

When in the quiet of this idyllic scene the assembled host rose as one to ruffle the quiet sea, to muddy its limpid waters did this gallant knight waiver, did he quaver?  Never!  In fact, when with a small clear voice crying in the wilderness, a lone meteorologist rose to defend our hero's position with other evidence, did he weaken and accept this succor?  No!  He flung down the gauntlet to him also, and stood alone, the sole defender of the faith.  Surely he deserves great honor.  If it were in our power, he should be awarded the Order of the Embattled Knight of the Placid Sea.  But lacking this, we present the GSW's high award, the Sleeping Bear Cup, appropriately named in this instance I might say, if I'm allowed to change my metaphor, for like the quiet, unruffled, hibernating bear, our hero has risen with a roar and savage ferocity to protect his quietly sleeping offspring. And so to Louis C. Conant, the Sleeping Bear of 1956, we award this cup.

As a matter of new business, Mr. Woodring announced that from 1919 to 1947, the proceedings of the Society were published in the Washington Academy of Sciences, but none has been published since. It was stated further, that the editor of the Washington Academy of Sciences had expressed a willingness to resume the publication of the proceedings. In the discussion of the question as to why the publication of the proceedings had been discontinued, it was pointed out that one of the big difficulties was obtaining the abstracts of the papers for publication. As a result of the dis­cussion, the following motion by Mr. Woodring was seconded and passed: That the officers and council of the Society take the necessary steps to resume publication of the Proceedings of the Geological Society of Washington in the Washington Academy of Sciences and that the Junior Secretary prepare the proceedings and submit them to the editor of the Washington Academy of Sciences, and that the council draw up specifications for abstracts of papers to be submitted by the authors. A proposed amendment to the motion calling for the Junior Secretary to request press notices to be sent to the local newspapers was voted down.

The Society then proceeded with the election of officers for 1957, the President announcing that the Nominating Committee had pre­sented a single slate for the offices of President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer, but that nominations from the floor were in order. It was moved and seconded that the nominations be closed. Motion carried and it was further moved and seconded that the Secre­tary be instructed to cast unanimous ballots for those nominated. The motion carried and the following were elected to office:

President: W. D. Johnston, Jr.

Vice-Presidents: J. W. Greig and Paul Averitt

Secretary: Donald C. Duncan

Treasurer: Mary E. Mrose

It was assumed that the Vice-Presidents would follow their predecessors in determining who should be first and second Vice Presidents by flipping the coin. (Secretary's note: or corn, according to their wishes.)

For election of Vice-President, Washington Academy of Sciences, the Nominating Committee had presented a single slate with E. T. McKnight being renominated. It was moved, seconded and passed that the nominations be closed and the Secretary was instructed to cast a unanimous ballot for the election of Mr. McKnight.

The election of the councilors was called to order. Three additional nominations - H. S. Yoder, H. P. Eugster, and Gordon Lill - were made from the floor before the nominations were closed. The President announced that four councilors were to be elected, one for a one-year term to replace A. J. Boucot who had moved from the Washington area. Tellers for the balloting were Charles Milton (Chairman), Jane Titcomb, G. J. Jansen, and Marjorie Hooker.

The following councilors were elected: F. W. Cater, Jr., Gordon Lill, M. G. Wolman, 2-year terms; Robert B. Guillou, 1-year term

The meeting adjourned at 10:30 P.M.

George V. Cohee
Secretary