GSW: 1979
MEETING MINUTES
GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF
January 10, 1979
At
8:07 p.m. the 1044th meeting of the
Society was called to order by Vice-President Bill Prinz.
Visitors
present included Robert Reeder, Mark Schultz, Karen Ward, Des Alexander, and
Betty Skipp.
The
minutes of the previous meeting were read and an opportunity provided for
corrections thereto. At this time a
remarkable debate developed over the identity of a Mr. Brophy.
The minutes listed his name as "Dan"; this appellation was
corrected to "Don" by Doug Rankin, who has been trying to give us the
correct
Prinz
introduced the first speaker of the evening, Bill Oliver of the USGS. Oliver talked about the work of the Devonian
stratigraphy sub-commission. Definitions
of stages, series and boundaries will be based primarily on usability, but
national pride and historical priority also have to be considered. Which is to say that the Russians want one
usage and the rest of the world another.
Questions by Kinney, Osborne, Zen, Hatch, Robertson, Rankin, Lipin and
Betty Skipp.
Mary
Jo Baedecker was the speaker for a talk co-authored with Bill Back on
hydrogeochemical processes at a
The
subject of the third paper of the evening was the application of fluid
inclusion research in the Permian Salado salt of
Ninety-one
(91) members and guests attended the meeting which adjourned at 9:50 p.m.
Respectfully
submitted,
John
R. Keith Secretary
GEOLOGICAL
SOCIETY OF
January 24,
1979
At
8:05 p.m. the 1045th meeting of the Society was called to order by President
Appleman. Visitors present included Nick
Hamnesevich, Richard Lambert, Alta Walker, and Shirley Rossen.
Bruce
Lipin announced that Beth Steel Plant at Sparrows Point will be the site of the
annual field trip. The minutes of the
previous meeting were read and approved, and a moment of silence observed for a
deceased member, Robert H. Rose. The Secretary announced the names of new
members.
Appleman
introduced the first speaker, Fred Adinolfi, who co-authored a talk with
Michael Smith on exploratory drilling in
Following
the presentation, Charles Wood discussed the structure and land forms by the
African Rift Valley. The conclusion of
this well-illustrated talk was that variation in volcano spacing in this area
is correlated with variability in thickness of the lithosphere. Questions were asked by Boyd, Tilling, Lipin
and Rodehammel.
Blair
Jones then presented his talk, co-authored with Alan Weir, on clay mineral
alteration in a modern oil shale lake.
Clays in
116
members and guests attended and the meeting was adjourned at 9:59 p.m.
Respectfully
submitted,
John
R. Keith Secretarv
GEOLOGICAL
SOCIETY OF
February 14,
1979
The
1046th meeting of the Society was called to order at 8:05 p.m. by President
Appleman.
Visitors
included Isao Takashima, Geological Survey of Japan; Shed Sharma, and A. R.
Bobyarchick, USGS.
Announcements
were made about the USGS Centennial open house and the Society field trip to
the Sparrows Point steel plant. The
Secretary read the minutes of the previous meeting; these were approved and the
Secretary then read the list of new members: Alexander Malahoff, William
Sliter, Nicholas Hamisevicz, Gerald Brophy, Joanne Brophy, Robert King, Shirley
Rossen, Robert Decker, John Maberry, Farouk El-Baz, and Fern Klepper.
The
President then introduced the first speaker, Bruce Hanshaw, an itinerant
hydrogeochemist, who told us about geochemical evolution of waters in the
The
second speaker was Alvin Van Valkenburg, Geophysical Laboratory, who spoke on
reactions at superpressures. The latest
version of the diamond cell device is capable of producing 1.7 megabars
pres. and temperatures of 3000°C for
studying the physical and chemical character of materials under extreme
conditions. A convoluted discussion
followed this talk with questions by George Helz, Towe, Zen, Guild, and Dan
Milton.
Gordon
Eaton from the USGS presented a paper on plate tectonics and crustal rifting in
the western
Although
there appeared to be a mood of love and affection prevailing at the Valentine's
Day meeting, the paleontologists smugly arranged to get the geochemists arguing
among themselves - once again! 79 members and guests attended and the meeting
was adjourned at 10:05 p.m.
Respectfully
submitted,
John
R. Keith Secretary
GEOLOGICAL
SOCIETY OF
February 28,
1979
The
1047th meeting of the Society was called to order at 8:10 p.m. by Vice-President Prinz. Prinz asked for introductions of visitors but
none were announced. The minutes were
read and approved after circuitous comments by Robin Brett. Bruce Lipin then made an announcement
concerning a field trip to the Sparrows Point Steel Plant.
The
Vice-President introduced the first speaker, Jeff Warner, of NASA, whose topic
was the lithosphere of Venus. There
ensued a debate between Warner and the audience over who would actually give
the talk, Jeff or a volunteer from the floor.
However, Jeff won this argument and went on to discuss the chemistry and
topography of the Venusian crust. He
concluded that the lithosphere is about 40% thicker than that of the
Earth. Questions were asked by Stewart,
Toulmin, Roedder, Sato, Brett, Van Maness, and Lipin.
The
second speaker, David Sheridan, a consulting geologist, described the
destruction of public lands by off-road vehicles. In heavy use areas 95% of the animal life is
destroyed and 98% of the vegetation.
Such vehicles are a major source of desertification. Questions by Hewitt, Zen, Mrs. Dorr, Schlindler, Outerbridge, Brett, Kinney,
Simkin, Sato, J. Dorr, Christian,
Maness, and anonymous.
The
last talk was presented by William Melson of the Smithsonian, who described the
eruptive cycles of Arenal volcano,
71
members and guests attended the meeting and adjournment was called at 10:00
p.m.
Respectfully
submitted,
GEOLOGICAL
SOCIETY OP
March 14,
1979
The
1048th meeting of the Society was called to order at 8:10 p.m. by President Appleman. Guests included Gabriel Dengo and Vladimir
Majer, introduced by Linn Hoover; Michele Zarubica, introduced by Dave Stewart
and George Dix introduced by Joe Boyd.
The
Secretary then read the minutes and the list of new members. The minutes were approved with minor comments
by Robin Brett. Gloria Scarnavack, Andy
Bobyarchick, Beatrice Giorlando, Sharon Riley, Mary Jane Booker, and Deborah
Burnette.
Avery
Drake appeared as a man whose announcement had come, but whose time had
not! Ann Dorr then made a request for people to work with high school geology
curricula. The program for the evening
was a special forum on the subject of radioactive wastes. Fred Donath, of the
Bernard
Cohen,
The
final speaker, Senator Jack Schmitt of
Respectfully
submitted,
John
R. Keith Secretary
GEOLOGICAL
SOCIETY OF
March 28,
1979
The
1049th meeting of the Society was called to order by President Appleman at 8:10
p.m. The President asked for
introduction of guests, but none were announced. The minutes of the previous meeting were read
by the secretary and received speedy approval, due to the absence of Robin
Brett.
Doug
Kinney made a comment about the meeting of the Antarctic Society on April
19. President Appleman then introduced
Dorothy Hall, of NASA, who presented an informal communication on the subject
of aufeis and carbonate formation in the
The
first scheduled speaker of the evening, James Papike, was unable to attend
because of unexpected illness. This turn
of events left C. Wayne Burnham of the
105
members and guests attended, and the meeting adjourned at 9:42 p.m.
Respectfully
submitted,
John
R. Keith Secretary
GEOLOGICAL
SOCIETY OF
April 11,
1979
The
1050th meeting of the Society was called to order by President Appleman at 8:08
p.m. There were four guests
presented. The minutes of the 1049th
meeting were read, corrected, and approved.
Names of three new members were announced. A precise announcement was made by Doug
Kinney of a meeting of the Antarctic Society to be held sometime, later in April.
A
too short, short informal communication was given by Jeff Warner of NASA on the
Jupiter fly-by results. He showed slides
of the volcanic eruptions on Io, and the possible subsidence features on
Ganymede, both Moons of Jupiter. In
addition, he made available sets of beautiful prints for the members of the
audience.
Barry
Voight of
Fractionation
of deuterium and hydrogen in the growth of plants was described by Marilyn
Estep, of the Geophysical Lab.
Experiments on dogwood, moss, mice, shrimp, and especially on algae led
her to conclude that photosynthesis is the key condition for fractionation to
occur. Questions came from Paidokovich,
Sellers, Towe,
The
final talk was on the subject of the Viking expedition to Mars. The Viking Lander carried no instruments to
identify minerals directly, but Priestly Toulmin, an intrepid mineralogist,
decided that iron-bearing clay minerals occur on the surface of Mars based on data
from color imagery, magnetic properties, and x-ray fluorescence. Spectra of heated samples revealed that loss
of water occurs above 500°C, a breakdown not attributable to goethite or
lepidocrocite but more likely to nontronite.
Discussion was by Helz, Jones, Weidman, Boyd, Warner, and Towe.
Attendance
was 84, and adjournment came at 10:15 p.m.
Epicurean
note: Cheese and crackers were served with the beer by the Cosmos Club.
Respectfully
submitted,
Eugene
C. Robertson Acting Secretary
GEOLOGICAL
SOCIETY OF
April 25,
1979
The
1051st meeting of the society was called to order by President Appleman at 8:15
p.m. Two guests were presented after
which the minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved. Peter Stifel made an announcement concerning
the vacancy for Department Chairman at the
Dick
Fiske then made an informal slide communication on
The
first scheduled speaker of the evening, John Imbrie,
Leon
Knopoff, UCLA, then spoke on the opacity of the evidence for mantle-wide
convection in the Earth. He included
reviews of the models in the literature, a discussion of global averaging for
wave propagation and possible scales for convective processes. Questions came from Menard, White, Boyd,
Brady, Warner and Robertson. The
audience is still waiting for the answer to Mr. Knopoff's original question.
104
members and guests attended and the President called adjournment at 10:21 p.m.
Respectfully
submitted,
John
R. Keith, Secretary
GEOLOGICAL
SOCIETY OF
May 9, 1979
The
1052nd meeting of the Society was called to order by President Appleman at 8:10
p.m. Six guests were presented, and the
minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved. Two new members were announced and the deaths
of W. H. Bradley and David Larrabee were recognized by a moment of
silence. Vince McKelvey announced the
plan for the Society to establish a W. H. Bradley memorial fund which will be
used for prizes for high quality papers given at Society meetings.
The
first paper of the evening was presented by John C. Reed, Jr. on the subject of
the recent ups and downs along the Fall Line in the Potomac Area. Jack
suggested that the gorge of the
Newman, McKelvey, Peggy Appleman and Hack.
Ray
McDonald then described the tectonic and stratigraphic history of calderas in
central
In
the final talk of the evening Erie Kauffman presented an outstanding discussion
of the dynamics of anaerobic basins. He
pointed out that the traditional idea of black shales forming in highly
anaerobic conditions is no longer valid and that several lines of evidence
support a much more oxygenated origin of these rocks. Questions by Whitmore, Brett, Milton,
Henbest, and Robertson. This highly
successful evening was characterized by an unusual degree of joie de vivre
which dangerously bordered on frivolity at times. Spring fever and copious drafts of beer
combined to greatly enhance the spirits of the 159 members and guests, so much
so that many lingered on for camaraderie long after the official
"scientific" adjournment at 10:15 p.m.
Respectfully
submitted,
John
R. Keith, Secretary
GEOLOGICAL
SOCIETY OF
May 23, 1979
The
1053rd meeting of the Society was called to order by President Appleman at 8:10
p.m. Two guests were presented, and the
minutes of the previous meeting read and approved.
The
first speaker of the evening was T. Neil Irvine of the Geophysical Laboratory
who spoke on magmatic density currents.
He described experiments which have resulted in more accurate
information on flow patterns of mineral particles in laboratory media. Questions were posed by Rankin, Roedder,
Guild, Fiske, McQueen, and Leo.
The
second scheduled speaker, John Winchester of
John
Boyce, USGS,
The
86 members and guests adjourned at 9:55 p.m. to digest the scientific fruits of
the evening and to calm their frayed nerves with a well known muscle relaxant.
Respectfully
submitted,
John
R. Keith Secretary
GEOLOGICAL
SOCIETY OF
September
26, 1979
The
1054th meeting of the GSW was called to order by President Appleman at 8:15
p.m. The minutes were read and approved
and the Secretary read the names of new members elected to the Society. Six announcements were made including
comments on the success of the Bradley Fund and associated prizes. A minute of silence was observed in honor of
Marjorie Arnold, who died during this summer.
The
members were then treated to an informal communication by Ellis Yokel from the
U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. While the subject of his presentation was
unclear, at the slides were symmetrical.
The
first scientific speaker of the evening was John Dickey from NSF who talked on
magma tracks in the Ronda peridotite of Spain.
Dickey's talk was pleasantly illustrated with maps labelled in Russian,
leaving the audience wondering whether the Ronda is in Spain or Cuba. The audience was also curious as to whether
Dickey or his students were running the project. Questions were asked by Hoffman and Brett.
The
next speaker was Cyril Ponamperuma from the University of Maryland who
discussed the origin of organic matter from 3.8 billion year old rocks in
Greenland. He concluded that the time
for the development of life may be a great deal shorter than it was formerly
thought to be. Questions by Towe, Milton
and Boyd. After this talk President
Appleman asked for introduction of guests and six were presented by members.
The
final speaker of the evening was Bruce Marsh from Johns Hopkins
University. Bruce presented an intriguing
mix of the history of geologic thinking on diapirs and modern experimental
results which bear on this subject. He
showed experimental evidence which supports the intuitive ideas of Daly's and
Grout's theories on diapirs. Robertson,
Fiske, Zen, Boyd and Lipin asked questions.
152
members and guests were present and oral adjournment was called at 9:45 p.m.
Respectfully
submitted,
John
R. Keith
GEOLOGICAL
SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON
October 10,
1979
The
1055th meeting of the Society was called to order by President Appleman at 8:15
p.m. The minutes were read by the
Secretary and approved after minor grumbling from the audience. Three people made announcements, and two
guests were introduced.
The
first speaker of the evening was Robert Weems, of the USGS who told us about
possible flocking behavior in Late Triassic bipedal reptiles. Weems demonstrated his great affection for
the quasi-mythical beasts in his study by giving them each a charming name. He suggested that one of these reptiles,
known fondly as "Speedy," may have had rudimentary wings. Weems indicated that Culpepper, VA, might
have been a very exciting place, at least in the Triassic. The paleontologists were left so breathless
by this treatise that they were unable to ask any questions, leaving the field
mostly to the geochemists: Hudson, Stewart, Toulmin, Zen, Douglas, Stifel,
Hewitt, and Collins asked questions.
The
second speaker was Grace Brush of Johns Hopkins University, who talked on
biostratigraphy of tributaries of Chesapeake Bay. She described an intricate sedimentation
history based on pollen studies, and noted the contributions made to increased
sediment yields by urbanization.
Questions were asked by Toulmin, Simon, G. Helz, Kaufman, Lipin, Robertson,
Boyd, Zen, and Anonymous.
Dick
Fiske, of the Smithsonian co-authored the final paper of the evening with O. T.
Tobisch and D. L. Peck. Dick discussed
the eruption of granitic magmas of the Sierra Nevada batholith to the surface. He described the theory of multiple calderas
in the southern Sierra and showed how these calderas are identified by collapse
breccias and pendants. Questions came
from Leo, Boyd, Toulmin, Kaufman, Bailey and D. Appleman.
102
members and guests were present and adjournment was called at 9:55 p.m.
Respectfully
submitted,
John
R. Keith
GEOLOGICAL
SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON
October 24, 1979
After
a losing bout with the microphone on the podium, President Appleman called to
order the 1056th meeting of the Society at 8:15 p.m. He then announced the impending Pick and Hammer
show. Following this announcement he
called for a minute of silence in memory of Tom McGetchen.
Informal
communications were called for, and Dick Fiske of the Smithsonian Institution
shared some new geological and literary evidence which suggests that the
Vesuvius eruption in 79 A.D. was pyroclastic.
The
next informal communication was delivered by Robin Brett who read a letter
written in 1947 by Norman L. Bowen to James Gilully. In that letter, Bowen pointed out that the
terms equilibrium and horseshit are not synonymous. While it took Brett only about 30 seconds to
read this witty and intelligent letter, his introductory remarks lasted almost
3-1/2 minutes. The difference in the
length-to-wit ratio of the letter and the introductory remarks were staggering.
The
first formal communication of the evening was given by Robert M. Hamilton of
the USGS entitled, Faults and igneous intrusions in the New Madrid seismic zone
of the northern Mississippi embayment shown by seismic reflection profiles. There are 20 words in this title. Because no obvious structure that would cause
magnitude 7 to 7.5 earthquakes was known in this area, a huge amount of money
was spent to bounce trucks in Missouri.
The seismic studies revealed evidence for tertiary intrusives along a
north-south trending zone which might be the beginning of a rift. Questions by Rankin (2), Brett, a comment by
someone wearing a tie, G. Helz, Doan (3), Zen, Boyd, and someone not wearing a
tie.
Next
was George D. Stanley of the Smithsonian Institution speaking on, Earliest
history of Mesozoic reef building: evidence from North America and Europe. Stanley pointed out that some of the classic
early Mesozoic reefs in alpine regions aren’t true reefs, but are lenticular
biostromes. The latest Triassic was the
first true reef-building time. Questions
by D. Appleman, one of the guests, and Lipin.
The
last presentation of the evening was authored by T. L. Wright, H. R.
Shaw, R. I. Tilling, and R. S. Fiske, The origin of Hawaiian tholeiitic
basalt: a quantitative model. The
authors mapped out the life of a Hawaiian volcano from the generation of basalt
by shear melting (which according to their description is the first perpetual
motion machine) to storage of the magma in a complex chamber 2 to 5 km below
the summit. The authors estimate that
the time from melting to the chamber formation could be as short as 10
years. Questions by Boyd (2), Arth, Zen,
G. Helz (2), Stewart (2), Fiske, Lipin, and Osborne.
Attendance
was 118, and the meeting was adjourned at 10:15.
Respectfully
submitted,
Bruce
Lipin, Acting Secretary
GEOLOGICAL
SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON
November 14,
1979
The
1057th meeting of the Society was called to order by President Appleman at 8:10
p.m. The Secretary read the minutes of the
1056th meeting and these were approved, after which he read the names of new
members. President Appleman called for a
moment of silence in memory of Margaret Griffin and Matthew Norton. The guests were introduced and four
announcements were made, including the slate of Officers for election at the
annual meeting.
The
first speaker of the evening was Larry Rowan of the USGS who described recent
advancements in the use of remote sensing techniques for mineral
exploration. These techniques have been
used with great success to identify altered rock zones with mineral potential
and have proved particularly valuable for uranium exploration in the Powder
River Basin. Questions were asked by
Toulmin, McKelvey, Robertson and anonymous.
The
second speaker, David James, of the Carnegie Institute, delved into the
intricacies of the origin of andesitic magmas, giving evidence for the
inclusion of sialic materials. He
emphasized the fact that trace element abundances depend on phase proportions
and melting relations in the mantle.
David carefully demonstrated the highly complex nature of this
topic. Questions by G. Helz, Bevan
French and Bevan's guest.
Ken
Towe was the final speaker of the evening, and he presented a fascinating
review of the theories for the origin of life.
Carbonaceous chondrites may have provided sites for formation of organic
polymers, and alternating wet and dry conditions favored these chemical
reactions. The evidence for life
developing in a reducing environment is no longer very valid. Questions came from Hewitt, Helz, Clark,
French, Appleman (as differentiated from Applewoman), and Toulmin.
114
members and guests attended, and the President called for adjournment at 10:10
p.m
Respectfully
submitted,
John
R. Keith
Secretary
GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY
OF WASHINGTON
November 28,
1979
President
Appleman called the 1058th meeting of the Society to order at the John Wesley
Powell Auditorium at 8:05 p.m. The
President announced that the management of the Cosmos Club has requested that
we do not leave our beer mugs under the seats.
The
minutes were read and, in the absence of Robin Brett, approved. The
death
of Henry Aldrich was announced, and 10 guests were introduced to the
Society
by Tilling (4), L.Clarke (2), Chayes (1), Hazen (2), and Lyttle (1).
The
first informal communication of the evening was from Bob Decker of HVO who
described the recent eruption of the east rift zone of Kilauea. Bob demonstrated a most unusual visual aids
technique: he showed all the slides forward, then backwards about 3 times each
before he began the talk.
The
next informal communication was by Chuck Wood of the Smithsonian (?) who
advertised his new Volcano Newsletter.
Wood stated that there is no science in the newsletter and the editor's
don't want any. This fast, non-scientific
newsletter will be published 6 times per year.
Before
beginning the formal presentation, President Appleman announced that the AAPG
members in the Society had to choose a delegate after our regular meeting.
The
first scheduled talk was given by Bob Hazen of the Geophysical Laboratory on
bibliometrics in scientific research.
Hazen compiled over 14,000 references in geology before 1851 and showed
that between 1780 and 1850 the number of geological publications doubled every
10 years while the number of authors doubled every 15 years. This growth is typical of western science in
general, and it is currently leveling off.
Questions by Wood, Zen, D. Milton, Stewart, Whitmore, Sato and D.
Appleman.
[minutes
end here]
Respectfully
submitted,
John
R. Keith
GEOLOGICAL
SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON
December 12,
1979
The
1059th meeting of the Society was called to order at 8:10 p.m. Vice-President
Prinz presiding. Some difficulty was encountered
in establishing order because of the special stimulus which had been applied to
the members during the pre-meeting social hour.
The explosively abrupt degassing of a keg of draft beer left the
audience shaken and desperately thirsty.
George Sellers seemed to be the principal casualty, as he was assaulted
by pieces of airborne keg. Eventually,
however, frayed nerve endings were soothed by a new supply of liquid sedative
and the evening proceeded more or less as planned. The minutes of the previous meeting were
read, corrected and approved, and the Secretary read a list of 16 new members
approved by the Society.
The
Vice-President then launched into his salubrious introduction of President
Appleman who was to give his Presidential addresses. During this introduction there was minor
debate from the floor over the question of Appleman's time of residence in
Washington; the conclusion seemed to be about 25 years, plus or minus 10! Having endured this ordeal, President
Appleman was finally allowed to make his presentation, entitled, "Hunting
the Simple Silicate."
He
pointed out that mineralogists were able to innocently study simple silicates
for many years until they ran afoul of Roseboom's Law, that is, they did one
experiment too many and discovered the confusing complexity of silicates. Appleman then went on to elucidate these
complexities of silicate structure with comparisons of terrestrial and
extraterrestrial tridymite, with a discussion of opals, and with descriptions
of low temperature silica polymorphs.
All of this deftly presented text was illustrated with a dazzling
slideshow. He concluded that
mineralogists must continue to study the widest possible variations in nature
in order to obtain a accurate picture of real silicate structure.
154
members and guests attended and the meeting was adjourned at 9:05 p.m. so that
the attendees could appropriately fortify themselves for the annual business
meeting to follow.
Respectfully
submitted,
John
R. Keith
Annual Meeting no. 87
[minutes
lost]