GSW: 1960 MEETING MINUTES

 

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

Secretary's Report

January 13, 1960

The 806th meeting of the Society was held in the John Wesley Powell Auditorium, Wednesday evening, January 13, beginning at 8:00 P. M. with President Harry S. Ladd presiding.

The minutes of the 805th meeting were read and approved.

The Secretary made announcements concerning a forthcoming data processing workshop and exhibit sponsored by the Geological Survey and a new volume recently published by the American Geologic Institute.

The Secretary then announced the election to membership by action of the Council of the following: James D. Vine, U. S. Geological Survey; Olcott Gates, The Johns Hopkins University; Geza Teleki, George Washington University; Percy Crosby, George Washington University.

Carl Dane, Chairman of the Awards Committee for 1960, discussed the criteria to be used in selecting the best papers, asserting that anyone can judge an egg.

The field trips planned in connection with the A.A.P.G. meetings this April in Atlantic City were discussed by Robert Neuman.

An informal communication was presented by Frank Whitmore, who discussed the geology of Big Bone Lick, Kentucky, reputedly the first vertebrate fossil locality in the United States.

A second and third informal communication were given by Robert Guillou con­cerning a lecture on the Mohole by Harry Hess before the Pick and Hammer Club on January 21; and a low-flying airborne radioactivity survey to be made by the Geological Survey over the streets of Washington, D. C.

The regular program followed:

F. Raymond Fosberg --- Vegetation and the geologist. Discussed by Tom Thayer, Don White, Art Kinkel, Henry Faul. (Ray Fosberg gave another paper at Paul's request in capsule form on the origin of petroleum.)

Lloyd C. Henbest -- Classification, habits, and shell mineralogy of late Paleozoic sedentary foraminifera. Discussed by Harry Ladd, Ray Fosberg, Greg Sohn, and Don White.

C. A. Hopson and J. G. Moore -- Dike swarm in the Sierra Nevada and Inyo Ranges, California. Discussed by Walter White, Wayne Hall, George Beecraft, and Tom Thayer.

Attendance: 101

The meeting adjounred at 10:06 P. M.

John T. Hack

Secretary

 

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

Secretary's Report

January 27, 1960

The 807th meeting of the Society was held in the John Wesley Powell Audi­torium, Wednesday evening, January 27, beginning at 8:00 P. M. with President Harry S. Ladd presiding.

The minutes of the 806th meeting were read and approved.

The secretary announced the election to membership of Gray Edwards, Soil Testing Laboratory, Andrews Field.

An informal communication was given by Harlan Bergquist, who announced that a charter flight to Europe was being organized by the Interior Department Recreation Association that might be used by members of the association who wished to attend the Copenhagen meetings.

A memorial to Wilbert H. Hass was presented by I. Gregory Sohn.

The regular program followed:

Wayne E. Hall – Geochemical study of the lead-silver ore from the Darwin mine, California. Discussed by Paul Barton.

Charles S. Denny - Formation of alluvial fans. Discussed by Tom Thayer, Tom Thayer, Lloyd Henbest, Gene Simpson, and Tom Thayer.

Isidore Zietz - The art of aeromagnetic interpretation - fine comb vs. broad brush. Discussed by Brian Skinner, Walter White, Bob Neuman, Harry Smedes, Tom Dutro, and Gene Simpson.

Attendance: 129

The meeting adjourned at 9:48 P. M.

John T. Hack

Secretary

 

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

Secretary's Report

February 10, 1960

The 808th meeting of the Society was held in the John Wesley Powell Audi­torium, Wednesday evening, February 10, at 8:00 P. M. with President Harry S. Ladd presiding.

The minutes of the 807th meeting were read and approved.

The Secretary announced the election to membership of Herbert A. Waite, U. S. Geological Survey, Salt Lake City, Utah; and Joseph S. Long, Jr., U. S. Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D. C.

President Ladd announced the death of George W. Stose on January 30.

Dr. Olavi Kouvo, of Outokumpu, Finland, a guest visiting the Geophysical laboratory, was then introduced by President Ladd.

An informal communication was presented by G. Arthur Cooper, entitled: Some new structures in brachiopods.

The regular program followed:

Michael Fleischer and W. O. Robinson -- Some problems in the geochemistry of fluorine, presented by Mike Fleischer. Discussed by Ed Roedder, Paul Barton, Marcus Goldman, Ralph Van Alstine, and Don White.

Adrian Richards -- Soil mechanics in marine geology. Discussed by E-an Zen (twice), Dave Doan (twice), Sam Altschuler, Ed Roedder, Walter White, Henry Faul, and a gentleman on the north side of the hall whom the Secretary has been unable to identify.

Harry E. LeGrand -- A summary of the geology of the Atlantic Coastal Plain. Discussed by Jim Owen, Ken Lohman, George Cohee, and the unidentified gentleman on the north side of the hall.

Attendance: 150.

The meeting adjourned at 9:35 P. M.

John T. Hack

Secretary

 

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF VASHINGTON

Secretary's Report

February 24, 1960

The 809th meeting of the Society was held in the John Wesley Powell Auditorium, Wednesday evening, February 24th, at 8:00 P. M., with President Harry S. Ladd presiding.

The minutes of the 808th meeting were read and approved.

Walter S. White reluctantly presented an informal communication concerning a hole of uncertain origin that he had found in his back yard. It compares, he said, rather favorably with the Mohole, and is deeper.

The Secretary then announced the election of six new members to the Society: Mathew W. Norton, American University; George W. Fisher, Johns Hopkins University; Douglas C. Alverson, U. S. Geological Survey; John E. Lindskold, U. S. Geological Survey; Jack Rachlin, U. S. Geological Survey; James M. Lambe, U. S. Geological Survey.

The President announced the death of two members -- William D. Urry and Mary F. Bugbee.

The regular program followed:

A. C. Mason, M. M. Elias, R. J. Hackman, and A. B. Olson -- Terrain study and map of the surface of the moon.  Delivered by Arnold Mason.  Discussed by Charles Milton, Brian Skinner, and Ray Benton.

E. M. Shoemaker -- Ballistics of the ray system and origin of the lunar crater Copernicus. Discussed (insofar as the Secretary and his informers could determine) by Ray Benton, Tom Lovering, Paul Lowman, Phil Guild, Brian Skinner, James Q. Gant, John O'Keefe and Bill Pecora.

Robert Jastrow.-- Lunar Exploration. Discussed by Ray Benton (twice), Henry Faul, Brian Skinner, Marcus Goldman, Ed Roedder, Tom Lovering, John O'Keefe and Ed Shoemaker.

Attendance, approximately 293 plus about 10 standees in the foyer.

The meeting adjourned at 10:10 P. M.

John T. Hack

Secretary

 

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF VASHINGTON

Secretary's Report

March 9, 1960

The 810th meeting of the Society was held in the John Wesley Powell Auditorium, Wednesday evening, March 9, at 8:00 P. M., with President Harry S. Ladd presiding.

The minutes of the 809th meeting were read and approved.

President Ladd announced that up to now the speakers have done a good job of limiting their papers to the time allotted.  He hopes that this prac­tice will continue.

The President then announced the death of two members, Joseph T. Pardee and Arthur L. Day, who both died on March 2.

The Secretary announced the election to membership of Evelyn Z. Sinha, Washington, D. C.

An informal communication was presented by K. E. Lohman on the subject of the lantern slides prepared for the forthcoming A.A.P.G. meetings in Atlantic City. He warned: MAKE THE LETTERS BIG ENOUGH. COPY PREPARED FOR ILLUSTRATION OF A PUBLISHED PAPER IS ABSOLUTELY NOT SUITABLE FOR A LANTERN SLIDE.

Ray Douglass presented a communication on an occurrence of fusulinid foraminifera in Paleozoic limestones of southern Chile.

The regular program followed:

G. H. Davis - Erosion and deposition by avalanches in the Sierra Nevada, California. Discussed by Bob Neuman, Hal Roepke, and Helen Foster.

W. H. Durham - World-wide runoff of dissolved solids - a progress report.  Discussed by Don White (twice), Pres Cloud, M. Davidian, Josh Tracey,         Warren Hastings, and Francis Johnson.

Nicholas Hotton III - Transitional tetrapods: scaly amphibians, and hairy reptiles. Discussed by Lloyd Henbest.

Attendance, 60.

The meeting adjourned at 9:40 P. M.

John T. Hack,

Secretary

 

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

Secretary's Report

March 23, 1960

The 811th meeting of the Society was. held in the John Wesley Powell Auditorium, Wednesday evening, March 23, at 8:00 P. M. with President Harry S. Ladd presiding.

The minutes of the 810th meeting were read, and after making the cor­rections and editorial changes offered by Doug Kinney and Helen Foster, were approved by the silent approbation of the assembly.

The death of J. Brookes Knight on March 21 was announced by Presi­dent Ladd.

Dean Carder made an announcement of a talk to be given April 1 by Bruce A. Bolt of the University of Sydney, Australia, on seismic evidence for the existence of the inner core.

The President then announced the terms of the Great Dane Award, a new award to be bestowed this year by the Society for the best informal communication.  The prize has not been decided upon but will be suitable.

The Secretary announced the election to membership of: Edmund F. LeRoux, U. S. Geological Survey; Vincent J. Marteka, Jr., U. S. Geological Survey; Paul C. Merritt, Mining Engineering, New York, N. Y.

An informal communication was presented by H. D. Miser on the mining of Arkansas novaculite by aborigines of Arkansas near Hot Springs, Arkansas. The first recorded production of oil stones, according to Mr. Miser, was in 1818.

Henry Paul then read part of an eloquent paper by Arthur Holmes in which, Dr. Holmes discussed the transitory value of his own as well as other time scales conceived by scientists.

The regular program followed:

J. P. Owens and J. P. Minard - Distinction of primary versus reworked glauconite from the New Jersey Coastal Plain.  Presented by J. P. Owen.  Discussed by Marcus Goldman, Mike Fleischer, E-an Zen, Harry Ladd, Josh Tracey, Bill Benson, Sam Altschuler, and Doug Kinney.

Irving Breger - Geochemical aspects of irradiation of coal in nuclear reactors. Discussed by Henry Faul.

Philip E. Lamoreux - Hydrogeologic problem in the western desert of Egypt.  Discussed by George Rozanski, Charley McGuinness, Tom Dutro, and H. T. U. Smith.

Attendance: 172.

The meeting adjourned at 10:18 P. M.

John T. Hack,

Secretary

 

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

Secretary's Report

April 13, 1960

The 812th meeting of the Society was held in the John Wesley Powell Auditorium, Wednesday evening, April 13, at 8:00 pm with President Harry S. Ladd presiding.

The minutes of the 811th meeting were read and approved. The Secretary announced the election to membership of: Roger van Vloten, Paul H. Jones, George H. Dixon, E. Julia Horton, May Defandorf, and Martin Weiss all of the U.S. Geological Survey; Allan Ballard, U.S. Navy Hydrographic Office; and Charles B. Lennahan, Johns Hopkins Univ. Operations Research Office, Bethesda, Maryland.

The Secretary read the list of winners of citations from the Society for the D.C. Science Fair, as judged by our representative Ellis Yochelson.  Leonard Vacher, Senior from Western High School, winner of the award for the Senior High School Division was introduced to the membership.  Vacher will receive a book of his choice as an award from the Society.

There were no informal communications.

The regular program followed:

L. B. Leopold and R. A. Bagnold-- Some hydraulic character­istics of curved channels in relation to meanders. Discussed by Rubin (twice), Joesting, McGuinness, D. White, Altschuler, and Doan.

Helen L. Foster-- Quaternary volcanoes in Japan. Discussed by Carder, G. Davis, Joesting, Rubin, Bass, and D. White.

John B. Mertie, Jr.-- Analytic classification and quadriplanar charting of analyses with nine or more components. Discussed by Skinner.

Attendance: 135

The meeting adjourned at 9:30 pm.

J. Thomas Dutro, Jr .

Secretary

 

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

Secretary's Report

October 12, 1960

The 813th meeting of the Society was held in the John Wesley Powell Auditorium, Wednesday evening, October 12, at 8:00 pm with President Harry S. Ladd, presiding.

The minutes of the 812th meeting were read and approved. The Secretary announced the election to membership of: George Q. Williams, Petroleum Economics, Navy Dept.; Bruce Doe, Geophysical Laboratory; L. E. Newcomb, Water Resources Division, U. S. Geol. Survey; J. P. Akers, Ground Water Branch, U. S. Geol. Survey (Tucson); W. J. McCabe and Gordon Zareski, Federal Power Commission.

The Secretary made three announcements concerning the meeting dates for the next three meetings; the payment of delinquent dues; and a meeting of local AAPG members to be held directly after the GSW meeting.

William Dempsey, who was not present, did not make an announce­ment about the Pick and Hammer picnic.  In his absence, President Ladd reminded those in the audience that the picnic would be held next Saturday at Grove #6 in Rock Creek Park.

R. B. Neuman announced that N. C. Glaessner would speak at the next meeting of the Paleontological Society of Washington, Wednesday evening October 199 on "The Late Precambrian of South Australia and its fauna."

President Ladd announced the death of the following members of the Society: D. M. Davidson and F. C. Kracek.

Ellis Yochelson read a memorial to J. Brookes Knight. There were no unscheduled informal communications.

Two scheduled informal communications were presented: the first by J. R. Balsley who discussed mainly the meetings of the IUGG at Helsinki and the advances in geophysics that were announced there; the second by P. E. Cloud, Jr. who concentrated on the International Geological Congress at Copenhagen and the field trips that were held in conjunction with it.

The regular program followed:

Harris B. Stewart, Jr. -- Submarine "dunes" on Georges Shoal.  Discussed by Neuman, Skinner, and Altschuler.

Kiguma J. Mrurata -- The 1959-60 eruption of Kilauea volcano.  Discussed by Balsley, Neuman, Cloud, Roedder, and Jordan.

Attendance: 233

The meeting adjourned at 10:20 pm.

J. Thomas Dutro Jr.

Secretary

 

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

Secretary's Report

November 9, 1960

The 814th meeting of the Society was held in the John Wesley Powell Auditorium, Wednesday evening, November 9, at 8:06 P. M., with President Harry S. Ladd presiding.

The minutes of the 813th meeting were read and approved. 

The Secretary announced the election to membership of: P. W. Johnson, U. S. Geological Survey; Joseph Haffty, U. S. Geological Survey; Harry E. LeGrand, U. S. Geological Survey; Roy E. Oltman, U. S. Geological Survey; Robert H. Rose, National Park Service; Phebe R. Doan, Bethesda, Maryland.

The secretary also announced that in the future abstracts of papers presented at the meetings will be published in the Journal of the Washington Academy of Science, in the next issue following the meeting. Abstracts must be restricted to 250 words.

J. Frank Schairer read a memorial to Arthur L. Day.

Frank C. Whitmore presented an informal communication concerning the occurrence of a large whale skeleton in the Yorktown formation at Hampton, Virginia. This skeleton is of unusual interest because it seems to be of a type that is regarded as Pliocene in age whereas the invertebrates found with it are upper Miocene. The communication was discussed by Cloud, Ladd, and Pecora.

The regular program followed:

R. L. Smith, R. A. Bailey, and C. S. Ross -- Calderas: aspects of their structural evolution and their relation to ring complexes. Discussed by Pecora, Stewart, Burbank, Kenzo Yagi, and Cloud.

F. J. Brandtner -- Late Pleistocene chronology of eastern Central Europe.  Discussed by Hack and Rubin, and Cloud.

Felix Chayes -- Numerical correlation and petrographic variation. Discussed by Cloud.

Attendance: 82

The meeting adjourned at 10:05 P. M.

John T. Hack

Secretary

 

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

Secretary's Report

November 30, 1960

The 815th meeting of the Society was held in the John Wesley Powell Auditorium, Wednesday evening, November 30, at 8:00 P. M., with President Harry S. Ladd presiding.

The minutes of the 814th meeting were read and approved with one correction offered by Phil Guild relating to the number of papers that had been discussed by Pres Cloud.

Present Ladd announced the recent death of two members, Julia A. Gardner and Ralph W. Richards.

The Secretary announced the nominations of the nominating committee for 1961:

President -- G. Arthur Cooper

First Vice-President -- Harold M. Bannerman

Second Vice-President -- C. L. McGuinness

Secretary -- Frank C. Whitmore Jr. (two year term)

Treasurer -- Margaret Cooper

Members at large of the Council (two year term) – Edward C. T. Chao, Mark P. Connaughton, David B. Stewart

Delegate to the Washington Academy of Sciences --­ Margaret D. Foster.

The Secretary then announced the election to membership of the following: Raymond E. Whitla, Office of Chief of Engineers, U. S. Army; Eleanor de Chadenedes, Board of Geographic Names; Ellsworth R. Swift, National Capital Parks; Evelyn Druding, U. S. Geological Survey; Frank Pavlet, U. S. Geological Survey.

L. W. Currier read a memorial to J. T. Pardee prepared by Charles Park.

In an informal communication Martin Russell invited the society’s members to the showing of some documentary scientific films by the National Academy of Sciences.

The regular program followed:

P. W. Guild -- "Metallogenic" maps.

S. S. Goldich -- The Penokean orogeny -- a geochronologic success. Discussed by Pecora, Ladd, and White.

V. P. Sokoloff -- Separation of tantalum from niobium in bacterial cultures. Discussed by Sisler and Pecora.

Attendance: 100

The meeting adjourned at 9:35 P. M.

John T. Hack,

Secretary

 

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

Secretary's Report

December 14, 1960

The 816th meeting of the Society was held in the John Wesley Powell Auditorium, Wednesday evening, December 14, at 8:04 p.m., with President Harry S. Ladd presiding.

The minutes of the 815th meeting were read and approved.

The Secretary announced the election of five new members: Arne J. Aadland, Arthur E. Smith, Daniel P. Spangler, Beach Erosion Board, Corps of Engineers; Frank J. Kleinhampl, U. S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park; Robert C. Pearson, U. S. Geological Survey, Washington.

Our President then gave up the chair.  The speaker of the evening was introduced by our Second Vice President, Walter S. White, the man with the hole in his backyard.

The presidential address followed - Harry S. Ladd:  Life in the Pacific Islands.

Attendance: 108

The meeting. adjourned at 10:05 p. m. [Ed: Must be 9:05]

John T. Hack

Secretary

 

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

68th Annual Meeting

December 14, 1960

The 68th Annual Meeting of the Society was held in the John Wesley Powell Auditorium, Wednesday evening, December 14, at 9:15 p. m., President Harry S. Ladd presiding.

The minutes of the 67th Annual Meeting were read and approved.

The annual report of the Secretaries for 1960 was read and approved.

The annual report of the Treasurer was then presented by Margaret Cooper. Among other statistics Marge noted that our net assets had increased during the past year by $318.43. Citing the fact that $359.80 had been spent for beer during the year she remarked that the Society was one of the thirstiest organizations that she had ever served.

The report of the Auditing Committee was presented by its chairman, George Cohee, who said that the books balanced even to a penny, the bonds were in their proper place, and the Treasurer should be commended for an excellent job.

The President then attempted to get on with the presenta­tion of the awards but was restrained by Mike Fleischer who insisted that the two above reports must be approved by the members. The reports were approved as read.

The report of the Awards Committee was then presented by Carl Dane, its chairman. Other members of the committee were Lloyd Henbest, Lee McGuinness, Harry Smedes, and Meyer Rubin.

An honorable mention went to Luna B. Leopold for his presentation of the paper by L. B. Leopold and R. A. Bagnold -­ Some hydraulic characteristics of curved channels in relation to meanders.

The second prize was shared by two speakers: Roy Bailey for the paper by R. L. Smith, R. A. Bailey, and C. S. Ross - Calderas: aspects of their structural evolution and their relation to ring complexes; and Mike Fleischer for the paper, Mike Fleischer and W. O. Robinson--Some problems in the geo­chemistry of fluorine.

The first prize was awarded to C. A. Hopson for the paper by C. A. Hopson and J. G. Moore--Dike swarm in the Sierra Nevada and Inyo Ranges, California.

The "Great Dane" award for the best informal communication was next presented by Charles S. Denny, chairman of a committee that also included J. T. Hack and K. E. Lohman. This award is not a regular award of the Society but was given this year for the first time.

Honorable mentions were given to two speakers - Gus Cooper for his communication on some new structures in Brachyopods, and to Ray Douglass for his beautifully illustrated remarks on some Paleozoic Limestones of southern Chile.

The Great Dane award itself went to Frank Whitmore for his discussion of a whale skeleton in the Yorktown formation at Hampton, Virginia.

The Sleeping Bear cup was presented by Ellis Yochelson, chairman of a committee that also included Jack Johnston and Henry Faul.  Ellis said that when he had blithely accepted the job he assumed that he could simply make the most unexpected award possible -- the best acceptance speech of a winner of the Sleeping Bear cup such as "I am speechless."  He was disabused of this idea by the other committee members, however, who also eliminated a lot of other good material by refusing to consider those people who were obviously bucking for the award.  The committee finally settled on our President, Harry S. Ladd, for his remark after Frank Whitmore's prize-winning informal communication that "whales are indestructible."

Harry accepted the award proudly with the statement, "I, too, am speechless."

The concluding item of business of the meeting was the election of officers. The slate selected by the Nomination Committee was elected unanimously.

The meeting adjourned at 9:55 p. m.

Attendance: 85

John T. Hack,

Secretary