The unique Emu Bay Shale biota Special Report - Geological ...

The Geological Society 

of Australia Inc 

tag 

Newsletter Number 153 

December 2009 

Feature: The unique Emu Bay Shale biota 

Special Report: Geological wonders of Mars 

Geochronology: a personal perspective 

Get ready for AESC 2010

The Australian Geologist 

Newsletter 153, December 2009 

Registered by Australia Post 

Publication No. PP243459/00091 

ISSN 0312 4711 

Managing Editor: Sue Fletcher 

Technical Editor: Bill Birch 

Production Editor: Heather Catchpole 

Send contributions to: tag@gsa.org.au 

Central Business Office 

Executive Director: Sue Fletcher 

Suite 61, 104 Bathurst Street, 

Sydney NSW 2000 

Tel: (02) 9290 2194 

Fax: (02) 9290 2198 

Email: info@gsa.org.au 

GSA website: www.gsa.org.au 

22 From the President 

23 Guest Editor’s Comment 

24 Society Update 

Business Report 

Membership Update 

From the AJES Editor’s Desk 

Education & Outreach 

Stratigraphic Column 

Heritage Matters 

Data Metallogenica 

11 AESC 2010 programme 

Design and typesetting The Visible Word Pty Ltd 

Printed by Ligare Pty Ltd 

Distributed by Trade Mailing & Fulfilment Pty Ltd 

The trilobite Redlichia 

takooensis from the Emu 

Bay Shale, Kangaroo 

Island. Specimens of this 

species are known to 

reach up to 25 cm in 

length. This particular 

specimen is 12.5 cm in 

length. Image courtesy 

John Paterson. 

14 News from the Divisions 

17 News from the Specialist Groups 

18 News 

24 Feature: The Emu Bay Shale biota 

27 Special Report: Beyond Earth: geological wonders of Mars 

30 Forum: Geochronology — a personal perspective 

33 Book Reviews 

39 Letters to the Editor 

43 Obituaries 

46 Calendar 

47 Office Bearers 

48 Publishing Details

From the President 

Where to from here: 

the economy, merger and 

Position Statement 

Over the last few months there have been numerous reports from 

government and media sources about the strength of the 

Australian economy and that the worst of the global financial crisis 

is behind us. Australia has survived the GFC relatively unscathed: our economy 

managed to avoid a technical recession, unemployment has not reached 

the heights predicted, and consumer and business confidence (and spending) 

has remained remarkably buoyant. The Federal Government claims credit and 

undoubtedly its stimulus package reduced the impact of the financial crisis. 

Importantly, the national economy was in a relatively strong position at 

the start of the GFC (unlike countries such as the US and UK), as reflected in 

the Federal government budget surpluses for the last half-dozen years or so. 

Although the merits of these surpluses relative to limited infrastructure 

investment can be debated, in a large part they were built upon the strength 

of Australia’s fortunate geological endowment in natural resources. The 

presence and development of these resources coincided with the rise of the 

emerging economies of Asia, notably China, and their almost insatiable 

demand for resources to satisfy both internal consumer needs and for 

processing into the cheap consumer goods we buy. 

An interesting consequence of this demand is that it has driven up 

commodity prices and created a scarcity of supply, resulting in activity by 

companies to develop the next tier down of lower-quality deposits. However, 

increased commodity prices within a strong economic cycle are offset by 

increased labour and infrastructure costs and such second-tier deposits may 

well remain sub-economic. GSA Executive member Jon Hronsky, in a recent 

article in the Business Section of The Australian newspaper ('Our prosperity 

depends on finding fresh resources', 12 October 2009) pointed out that our 

future prosperity, and hence our ability to navigate the next GFC, requires 

fresh resources. He noted that “the most important engine of innovation in 

the mining industry is greenfields exploration — the search for new worldclass 

mines away from current areas of production and, with this, the discovery 

of new, high-quality resources that can be extracted at lower costs — in 

terms of both capital and operating expenditure and environmental impact”. 

Thus, scarcity of resources leads to innovation and discovery of new, lowercost 

sources of mineral production. We need ongoing greenfields exploration 

if we are to maintain in the long term our national economic prosperity. 

The Position Statement by the GSA Executive Committee on climate change 

(TAG 152, p 31 and www.gsa.org.au/pdfdocuments/management/Greenhouse 

GasEmissions&ClimateChange_GSAPositionStatement_July2009.pdf) has 

generated a robust debate amongst our membership (see Letters section p 39). 

The executive has a diverse set of opinions on this issue and the document was 

crafted to meet that diversity. In society we are often told not to mention sex, 

politics and religion to avoid controversy and confrontation. Climate change is a 

topic that is increasingly debated with religious zeal by the protagonists and 

is also generating a raging national and international political debate. The 

executive recognises that this is an emotive issue 

but also that it is an issue that directly relates to 

the Earth Sciences and that the GSA needs to be 

part of the debate. Importantly, we emphasised 

that the Earth Sciences have a pivotal role to play in better understanding the 

past long-term record of the Earth and that the “GSA has insufficient 

expertise to advise on the complex matter of short-term climate impacts”. 

But we also stated that we are concerned at the increasing levels of CO 2 

and that action should be taken to reduce output. A number of groups have 

made similar statements, including the Australian Academy of Science 

(www.science.org.au/policy/climatechange-g8+5.htm), which has endorsed 

the findings in the Fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC that “the increases 

in global average temperature and sea level are unambiguous and are almost 

certainly primarily due to greenhouse gas emissions”, and the American 

Association for the Advancement of Science (see Letters section, this 

issue p 39). 

Finally, as the majority of GSA members will now realise, the AIG 

Executive Council at its 16 September meeting decided to "discontinue 

pursuing a merger with the GSA". AIG President Martin Robinson cited the 

lack of support from their members in response to the circulated merger 

documents. 

I am disappointed in this outcome as I strongly believe that a merger was 

in the best interests of both our members and our profession. Membership by 

Earth Scientists is currently dispersed amongst many professional societies 

and represented by many societies, with the Australian Geoscience Council 

providing an overarching forum. This means that we do not speak with a 

coherent voice and I believe have considerably less influence than other more 

coherent groups in political and policy influence. 

The merger negotiations have provided an opportunity for the GSA to 

review its procedures and operations and the National Executive will now be 

using this information to evaluate the services we provide in meeting the 

needs of you, the members. 

I would like to thank my co-members of the merger committee; Andy 

Gleadow, Jon Hronsky and Jim Ross, who along with the society’s Executive 

Director, Sue Fletcher, committed a tremendous amount of time and effort 

towards facilitating the merger. 

PETER CAWOOD 

President 

2 | TAG December 2009

Guest Editor’s Comment 

Come to Canberra 

‘Come to Canberra’ is the invitation that I extend to all 

GSA members, indeed to all Earth Scientists, when the 

Australian Earth Sciences Convention is held in Canberra 

from 4–8 July next year. 

The conference will be held at the Canberra Convention 

Centre, in the heart of the city, within easy walking distance of 

a wide range of accommodation and dining options. Even the 

airport is only a 15 minute drive! 

The scientific program is organised around a similar group of 

themes to those used at the AECS2008 in Perth: 

■ Resource Security: Supporting the Nation; 

■ Earth’s Environments: Past, Present and Future; 

■ Geoscience in the Service of Society; 

■ The Dynamic Earth — From Crust to Core; 

■ Life and the Solar System; 

■ Topical Symposia, including Specialist Groups. 

Each day will begin with a high-profile Plenary Speaker, including 

the Mawson Lecturer. Then the program will run as six 

parallel sessions of oral presentations, one for each of the 

themes above. 

Program clashes are an annoying feature of some large 

conferences with many parallel sessions. So, we have devised a 

program structure that is aimed at minimising such clashes by 

reducing the number of parallel sessions and by scheduling 

keynote speakers at different times throughout the day, in 

each session. 

By reducing the number of oral presentations, poster presentations 

will be much more prominent in the program which is 

also the trend at most large international conferences these 

days. Authors will be allowed just one oral presentation but 

unlimited poster presentations. Personally, I often find posters 

much more rewarding than oral presentations, because there 

is time to take in the content in a more relaxed manner and 

also to discuss the poster with the author(s). Posters will be 

available for viewing during lunch and tea breaks, as well as in 

designated poster sessions. 

We will have the usual array of social activities, including an 

icebreaker on the first evening, a student event at Geoscience 

Australia and a Geotrivia night. A highlight of the social 

program will be the conference dinner, to be held in ANZAC Hall 

at the Australian War Memorial. ANZAC Hall houses some of the 

largest exhibits at the AWM, including the famous G for George 

Lancaster bomber, and will be a memorable dinner venue. 

We will also be showcasing a range of excellent local wines at 

the dinner. 

AESC2010 is offering a range of local and regional fieldtrips, 

including the rare opportunity to go underground at Parliament 

House. Or perhaps a half day trip to enigmatic Lake George 

(where does the water go), with a visit to nearby wineries, is 

more your style 

Early-bird registration and submission of abstracts are now 

open. The deadline for abstract submissions is 15 January 2010, 

but don’t wait until the last minute — get your abstract in now! 

For full details please visit the convention website: 

www.aesc2010.gsa.org.au 

BRAD PILLANS 

Chair, AESC2010 Organising Committee 

Parliament House, Canberra. Image courtesy Brad Pillans. 

TAG December 2009|3

SocietyUpdate 

Business Report 

By now you will have received your membership renewal 

notice which included a 2010 member update and bonus 

book sale. If you haven’t received your member renewal 

pack or misplaced it please contact the office — the book sale 

is one you do not want to miss, including 50% off most of the 

AAP Memoirs series. 

Starting with the cover image I expect many palaeontologists 

are pleased to see the spectacular trilobite on the cover. 

This issue of TAG covers some of the great variety of Earth 

Science disciplines. The feature: Emu Bay Shale biota, Kangaroo 

Island: Australia’s unique window into the Cambrian world by 

John Paterson and Jim Jago is a change of pace for TAG; while 

Graziella Caprarelli’s Special Report: Beyond Earth: geological 

wonders of Mars will take you beyond our planet; and Alec 

Trendall’s personal perspective on Geochronology is sure to 

inspire musings, nods and possibly the odd letter to TAG. 

This issue the guest editor's column is from Brad Pillans, 

inviting you to Canberra for the upcoming AESC 2010 — don’t 

miss out, abstracts are now being accepted. 

Towards the end of the year the Divisions are active with 

field trips, symposia, dinners and awards. The Queensland 

Division are to be congratulated for their massive effort this year 

and for continuing to keep other GSA members outside 

Queensland informed — congratulations also for another truly 

inspirational addition to their published works with release of 

the Rocks and Landscapes of the National Parks of North 

Queensland, sure to be another hit with geologists, naturalists, 

bushwalkers, tourists, teachers and students. This guidebook is 

available for sale from the Queensland Division or the GSA office. 

The Victorian Division held 

another highly successful Selwyn 

symposium and if you still don’t 

know who was awarded the 

coveted Selwyn Award, read about 

it in this issue — a deserving recipient if ever there was one! 

At the time of writing, the South Australia Division in 

collaboration with the AIG, AusIMM and ASESG were finalising 

the South Australia Explorers’ Conference, an event that many 

members and non-members praise as an essential calendar 

activity. The South Australian’s also held their dinner and 

Awards night recently. 

For you other Divisions — we know you have news, we 

know you have been holding talks and other activities, and 

I encourage you to share your news with the other members — 

they really do want to know what you are doing. Perhaps you 

could send a short news item or report for the March issue, 

during the January downtime 

There are many GSA members who shape the GSA through 

participation on committees, sharing knowledge and giving 

lectures and attending talks. You practice in similar and 

different disciplines, you agree and disagree, and you challenge 

and inspire young scientists. Well done GSA members; you are 

part of a very special community. 

Enjoy the end of year break, read a book, write a review, go 

into the field and remember to renew your membership so you 

can stay connected. 

Best wishes for the Season. 

SUE FLETCHER 

Executive Director 

ISSUE COPY FINISHED INSERTS 

ART 

MARCH 2010 29 Jan 5 Feb 8 Mar 

JUNE 2010 30 Apr 5 May 25 May 

SEPTEMBER 2010 31 Jul 8 Aug 16 Aug 

DECEMBER 2010 29 Oct 5 Nov 12 Nov 


New members 

The GSA welcomes the 

following new members to 

the Society. May you all 

have a long and beneficial 

association with the GSA: 

ACT 

M EMBER 

John Mavrogenes 

Steven Tatham 

S TUDENT 

Brendan Hanger 

Oleg Koudashev 

NSW 

M EMBER 

Ashley Bennett 

Ryan Weller 

Ulrike Krause 

J OINT M EMBER 

Tracy Rushmer 

S TUDENT 

Claire Courtney 

Dylan Hvasanov 

Eleanor Hobley 

Elizabeth Teague 

Glen Cathers 

Matthew Pankhurst 

Thomas Bell 

NT 

S TUDENT 

Lee Ryal 

QLD 

M EMBER 

Cassie Porter 

Catherine Molloy 

Daniel James 

Danique Bax 

Derek Hatcher 

Graig Weston 

James Shulmeister 

Kendall Aleckson 

Leopoldo De Silva 

Matthew Davies 

Oscar Clark 

Sathan Sukumaran 

G R A D U AT E 

Alexander Willliams 

Brendan Mitchell 

Bronwyn Jones 

Geoffrey Cork 

Shannon Harris 

S TUDENT 

Andrew Kleeman 

Brendan Butler 

Peter Dean 

A S S O C I AT E M EMBER 

Anup Kujur 

SA 

S TUDENT 

Amanda Hopkinson 

Jye Kluske 

Shari Rankin 

Verity Normington 

TAS 

G R A D U AT E 

Thomas Jenkins 

VIC 

M EMBER 

Mark Rynhoud 

Peter Arditto 

S TUDENT 

Jozua van Otterloo 

Leonor Sorrentino-Mariconda 

Selene De Bree 

WA 

M EMBER 

David Tsiokos 

Kate Wright 

Max Rohrman 

Sarah McKie 

S TUDENT 

Alyssa Josephs 

Andrew Rowsell 

Anna Perry 

Bianca From 

Carmen Harris 

Casey Miller 

Chris Piggott 

Christopher Oorschot 

Dale Annison 

Daniel Bull 

Darren Hunt 

Glen Plummer 

Natalie Nguyen 

Ryan Johan 

Scott Drummond 

Shaun Davis 

A F F I L I AT E 

Albert Sequeira (AAP) 

Lost members 

For following members’ mail 

is being returned to the GSA 

office ‘return to sender/not 

known at this address’. Thank 

you to members in advance 

for assisting uniting members 

and their GSA mail. 

Amanda Stoltze (ACT) 

John Smith (VIC) 

Peter Henderson (QLD) 

Robert Morrison (SA) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TAG December 2009|5

SocietyUpdate 

From the AJES Hon Editor’s Desk 

Geology and music 

While the Greeks regard proportions in the movements of 

celestial bodies — the Sun, Moon, and planets — as a 

form of music, I am not sure that anyone has explored 

the relationship between geology and music, although Gustav 

Holst’s suite The Planets may link the two. I imagine that rock music 

doesn’t count, as the rock was probably rocking to and fro, perhaps 

under the influence of more than just the music. The Rolling Stones 

also do not count as they might have rolled but were not stones — 

with a sphericity and roundness that you could measure. Heavy 

metal has more to do with massive sound than massive sulfides. So 

where does that leave music and geology Here are four examples. 

The first is a modern one. Peter Zinovieff is a pioneer of electronic 

and computer music. He is also a geologist who produced the 

first geological map of the Cuillins mountains in Skye. His EMS 

company made the famous VCS3 synthesiser in the late 1960s, 

which was used by many early progressive rock bands. He also 

wrote the libretto for Harrison Birtwistle's opera The Mask of 

Orpheus. In a talk he gave recently he tried to show that these 

wildly different endeavours are not so dissimilar when it comes 

down to the nuts and bolts of their actual creation. 

My second example goes back much further: The Song of a 

Geologist by Robert Dick (1811–1866), who was a ‘baker of 

Thurso’, as well as a geologist and botanist. He was a great fossil 

hunter and collector and wrote extensively on the fossil fish in the 

Old Red Sandstone. His poem was published in the John O’Groats 

Journal, and so pleased Sir Roderick Murchison and the eminent 

band of geologists belonging to the ‘Red Lion Club’ that it was 

sung at their annual meetings. I have no idea what the tune 

was — so perhaps this counts as geology and poetry rather than 

geology and music! 

Song of a geologist 

Hammers an’ chisels an’ a’, 

Chisels an’ fossils an’ a’; 

Sir Rory’s the boy o’ the right sort o’ stuff, 

Hurrah! for the hammers sae braw. 

It’s good to be breakin’ a stone, 

The work now is lucky an’ braw; 

It’s grand to be findin’ a bone— 

A fish-bone the grandest of a’. 



Resurrection’s our trade; by raising the dead 

We’ve grandeur an’ honour an’ a’. 

May labour be crown’d wi’ success 

May prudence promulgate the story 

May scoffers grow every day less, 

Till the rocks are a mountain o’ glory. 



The deeper we go, the more we shall know 

Of the past an’ the recent an’ a’. 

Here’s freedom to dig and to learn— 

Here’s freedom to think an’ to speak; 

There’s nane ever grumbled to look at a stone, 

Aye but creatures ’baith stupid an’ weak. 



In spite of the devil we’ll dig as we’re able 

Hurrah! for the hammers sae braw. 

My third example truly qualifies as geology and music (or geophysics 

and music if you prefer). Earthquake Quartet #1 for voice, trombone, 

cello and seismograms, was composed by Andrew Michael. He 

describes it as an outgrowth of a lecture he has been giving since 

1997 entitled ’The music of earthquakes’, which mixes performance 

and lecture, music and science, acoustic instruments and computergenerated 

sounds. This piece had its premiere on 16 December 1999 

at the annual Fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union. The 

musicians at the premiere were soprano and USGS geophysicist 

Stephanie Ross, cellist and Stanford University geophysics graduate 

student David Schaff, and trombonist and USGS geophysicist Andrew 

Michael — truly mixing geology and music. 

Finally, a home-grown example. At the beginning of the 

International Year of Planet Earth (IYPE) students from 18 to 27 years 

of age were invited to participate in the IYPE Student Contest to produce 

an original written work (English or French) such as an article, 

essay or poem related to the IYPE theme ‘Earth Science for Society’ or 

to any of the ten IYPE topics. In February 2008, Lachlan O'Brien was 

selected as Australia's winner of the contest for his musical piece, 

Rondo Symbiosis — The rhythm of life. Lachlan attended the official 

international launch of IYPE in Paris, along with leading scientists and 

government representatives from 191 United Nations member 

countries. You can listen to the music on the GSA website (go to 

www.gsa.org.au/recognition/geo-awards.html and click on downloads 

under IYPE) and you will get the mp3 file and an accompanying 

document explaining the piece. Lachlan describes his composition as 

“An avant-garde piece of orchestral music serving as a metaphysical 

representation of the origin and evolution of life on the planet Earth.” 

TONY COCKBAIN 

Hon Editor AJES 


SocietyUpdate 

Education&Outreach 

This year is rapidly drawing to a close, and in heralding 

in the new year, I would like to observe that 2010 

should be a memorable one for Earth Sciences in 

Australian schools. The first review of the proposed Year 11–12 

science curriculum draft has been conducted and the GSA was 

part of this review, ably represented by long-time member and 

member of the GSA Education Specialist Group, Len Altman. 

Len was of the opinion that the first draft was something of a 

backward step for the Earth Sciences as they are taught in 

South Australia, where he teaches, although a big improvement 

for States that teach nothing at all at the senior level. 

However, it is also clear that a nationally recognised Year 

11–12 Earth and Environmental Science course is a major step 

forward for us all. As the Australian Curriculum, Assessment 

and Reporting Authority (ACARA) listens to the opinions of the 

GSA and addresses all the concerns raised in stakeholder meetings, 

2010 promises to be the best year yet for reversing the 

drift away from Earth Science teaching at senior level in 

schools. Just how much Earth Science will be in the mix, and 

whether it satisfies those already teaching Earth Science at 

senior level in South Australia remains to be seen. 

The Prime Minister’s Science 

Prize for Excellence in Teaching in 

Secondary Schools 

In mentioning the assistance the GSA received from Len 

Altman in reviewing the senior curriculum draft, I have already 

introduced the reader to a true champion of the Earth 

Sciences. Len, an experienced geologist, has been a dedicated 

teacher of Earth Sciences in South Australia for many years. 

He has also been very active in promoting the discipline 

and the career pathways it provides in many innovative ways, 

including the establishment of the Geoscience Pathways website 

and his coordination of the South Australian operations of 

the Teacher Earth Science Education Programme (TESEP), both 

of which the GSA has proudly supported in recent years. 

It is therefore with great pleasure that I relay to the GSA 

membership and Len’s peers the fact that Len has recently been 

recognised for his efforts and awarded with the Prime 

Minister’s Science Prize for Excellence in Teaching in 

Secondary Schools, made annually to a teacher who has made 

an outstanding contribution to science education in Australia. 

The award, presented to Len by the Prime Minister in Canberra, 

could not have gone to a more deserving recipient. Len exemplifies 

everything we as a community need in a teacher, and 

this has been recognised by his own community for some time. 

At his own school, Marden Senior College, there are now more 

students in geology and geoscience than any other school in 

South Australia. The award not 

only comes with a medallion and its 

associated kudos but also with a 

$50 000 grant. Congratulations Len! 

Len also acts as a mentor to trainee 

teachers and it is this cohort of teachers, entering the 

profession for the first time, that we must nurture and support. 

Len is leading by example, both as a geologist and a teacher, 

and I encourage all GSA members to follow Len's lead and 

assist teachers in your own community to teach science and 

especially Earth Science. Without teachers of the highest 

calibre, students will further disengage from science and the 

Earth Sciences will be the poorer for it. 

See https://grants.innovation.gov.au/SciencePrize/Pages/Doc. 

aspxname=previous_winners/PM2009Altman.htm for full 

details of the award. 

GREG McNAMARA 

Education and Outreach 

Send all comments to Greg McNamara at 

outreach@gsa.org.au 

The Australian Journal of Earth 

Sciences seeks new Editor 

After many years of stewardship Tony Cockbain is 

stepping down as Editor-in-Chief of AJES. 

AJES is the GSA’s flagship publication, comprising 

eight issues per year. AJES has an Editorial Board, 

consisting of the GSA President, Vice-President, a 

senior Earth Scientist and the Editor-in-Chief, and 

up to 24 associate editors who serve three-year 

terms. 

The journal will soon move to an online submission 

environment and greater use of technology will be 

introduced and supported through the Sydney office. 

This will be an exciting new chapter in the development 

of AJES — the premier international geoscience 

journal produced in Australia. 

If you are interested please contact Peter Cawood 

for a position description. 

pcawood@fnas.uwa.edu.au 

TAG December 2009|7

SocietyUpdate 

Stratigraphic Column 

Defining Igneous Units and other things 

In October I was invited to a New South Wales Geological 

Survey mapping workshop in Orange to talk about how we 

define lithostratigraphic units in Australia. Of course, this 

was mostly revision for the Survey geologists, but it was also a 

great opportunity for me to see some rocks and regolith first 

hand, and to see how geologists operate in the digital age. We 

were able to look at examples and discuss as a group how to 

deal with various aspects of defining units. I’d like to share 

some of the discussion with TAG readers. 

Firstly, a reminder or three: 

■ lithostratigraphy is the element of stratigraphy that deals 

with the description and systematic organisation of rock 

bodies into units, on the basis of lithological properties 

(Salvador (Ed) 1994, International Stratigraphic Guide). 

This applies to any kind of rock body, not just sediments; 

■ any existing defined unit can be redefined to take account 

of new data (geophysical, drill core, fossil or radiometric 

dating etc), and if there are undefined units in common 

use in an area you are mapping, you can define them 

(acknowledging the previous work done); 

■ the guidelines, definition form and approval process for 

defining units are there to help you communicate your very 

valuable observations as clearly as possible. They are intended 

to provide advice and peer review rather than a bureaucratic 

hurdle. 

We spent some time talking about the importance of type sections 

and type areas, and how useful they are as typical examples 

for geologists new to an area, and how the lack of a type 

section can lead to confusion and contention. The various uses of 

Adaminaby over the years and over various map sheets and State 

borders was raised. Splitters and lumpers will have different 

views, but good unit definitions should make consensus easier. 

Other discussion points included: 

■ the value of making definitions available for digital download 

through the Australian Stratigraphic Units Database, as 

well as in a publication. Any published source will always be 

acknowledged in the database; 

■ why it is important to give reasons for the age of a unit, or 

provide reference details for more information, rather than 

just baldly state an age; 

■ when to use lithological terms vs Formation When there is 

a dominant lithology. 

We also covered various aspects of igneous units such as: 

■ do existing names have to be changed to conform with IUGS 

nomenclature Only if misleading, or if redefining the unit, 

but new unit names should certainly follow current IUGS 

guidelines; 

■ what proportion of volcaniclastics can you have in a Volcanic 

Group It depends on whether they are demonstrably primary 

volcanics or not. If not, they should only be a minor component; 

■ can you include high-level intrusives in volcanics Yes, it has 

been done in NSW; 

■ how is a suite defined An igneous suite is a group of 

igneous units with common textural, mineralogical and 

compositional characteristics, or a sequence of such 

characteristics, based initially on field, then on petrographic, 

and finally on compositional data. It is the analogue of a 

lithostratigraphic group, except that one of the constituents 

is designated the ‘type’ for a suite (or supersuite). The ages 

of constituent units do not have to be part of the criteria for 

allocating them to a suite/supersuite. However, setting up a 

suite/supersuite implies that the constituents are at least 

cogenetic, although not necessarily comagmatic. New 

suites/supersuites should not use the same geographic name 

as any of their constituents, but renaming of existing suites 

and supersuites is not required; 

■ do you have to group igneous units No. Suite nomenclature 

need only be used where it has practical value. If there is 

insufficient information to group them, intrusive units should 

remain ungrouped. The use of subsuites is discouraged, as 

is the creation of suites and supersuites with only one 

constituent unit; 

■ the term ‘Complex’ can be used where field work establishes 

that there have been complex multiple intrusions, variable 

contamination, or diverse types of igneous rock irregularly 

mixed or with highly complicated relations, such that the 

components or their order of formation cannot be readily 

mapped. ‘Complex’ can also be used for mixed metamorphic 

units and complicated sedimentary units such as melanges. 

As something already under consideration in other States such as 

the Northern Territory and Western Australia, I also introduced 

the topic of Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs), and whether the 

components should be linked using suite nomenclature, or left as 

provinces. In NSW this question is unlikely to arise until a lot 

more of the Cenozoic basalts are better characterised geochemically 

and dated, but the matter is more pressing elsewhere. 

I’m always on the look out for opportunities to talk to 

people face to face, so please let me know about any workshops 

or meetings that I might attend in your area, or any 

stratigraphic feedback you have. 

CATHY BROWN 

National Convenor, Australian Stratigraphy Commission 

c/- Geoscience Australia 

GPO Box 378, Canberra, ACT, 2601 

cathy.brown@ga.gov.au or cathyeb@netspeed.com.au 

Guidelines on defining lithostratigraphic units are available 

from links on: www.ga.gov.au/oracle/stratnames/index.jsp 


SocietyUpdate 

Heritage Matters 

As I pondered what is important for this issue’s TAG 

column, the excellent and free journal Earth Heritage 

arrived from the UK. This journal is published twice 

yearly by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, Natural 

England Scottish Natural Heritage and the Countryside Council 

for Wales. This issue has articles on geoconservation and the 

climate, geology trusts, the open day at British Geological 

Survey, landscapes and wallpaper, geodiversity in Scotland and 

information on museums. The back issues can be downloaded 

from the website http://home.btconnect.com/ seaburysalmon/ 

and follow the prompts to Earth Heritage. Any one interested 

can also contact the editor to be put on the mailing list. 

The article that really caught my eye was on cave 

conservation. As many of you know, caves and karst are a 

particular passion of mine, so an article about a project to use 

cavers to monitor caves registered as SSSI (Sites of Scientific 

Significance) was of immediate interest. Regular monitoring of 

the SSSI is carried out by Natural England staff as a rule, but 

few are experienced or trained for underground work, especially 

in the non-tourist caves or sections of caves. 

Monitoring of sites is something that is done very poorly in 

Australia. Few agencies see it as part of their role and merely 

bemoan degradation. Even in the more-regularly visited 

National and State parks, where management is very evident, 

degradation is poorly understood or managed. A case in point 

is the Loch Ard Gorge area in Port Campbell National Park, 

Victoria, where graffiti is still being carved into soft rock near 

the steps and on the cliffs on the beach (see photo). Although 

things have improved over the past five years, and cleaning 

back of such damaged areas has occurred, when I visited in 

October 2009, I noticed there were still some 2009 dates 

carved into the rock. The use of trained volunteers to assess the 

status of sites is a way of dealing with budget constraints as 

well as fostering improved awareness of the fragility of some 

sites. 

Nevertheless, these sites include some major tourist 

attractions and their geological values are often poorly 

presented to the general tourist public. The situation is better 

in some States than others. Victoria is particularly bad in this 

regard; but work done by GSA members in other States has 

been more successful. We need to value our iconic sites as well 

as the more mundane sites. The overuse of shotcrete and 

vegetation on the battered edges of road cuttings are a case in 

point. 

Last month the Victorian Division awarded its prestigious 

Selwyn Medal to Bernie Joyce. Bernie has been a stalwart 

advocate for Geological Heritage and conservation for several 

decades. His hard work continues in retirement but it is good to 

see the society recognising his contribution to geology. 

Congratulations Bernie! 

SUSAN WHITE 

Graffiti carved in soft limestone, Loch Ard Gorge Victoria, photographed 

4 October 2009. Image courtesy Nicholas White. 

TAG December 2009|9

SocietyUpdate 

Data Metallogenica 

Allan White’s legacy: the Australian Geoscience Thesis Database 

Although probably best known for his work on granites 

with Bruce Chappell, the late Allan White was also the 

energy and originator behind assembling the 

Australian Geoscience Thesis Database. Together with his colleague 

Amarendra Changkakoti at the University of Melbourne, 

he developed the first fully comprehensive listing of Australian 

geoscience theses through AMIRA International project P874. 

Allan White’s legacy in this enterprise will long be 

remembered and should be gratefully acknowledged by all 

Australian geologists for many generations to come. 

In some ways, it is astounding that such a listing had not 

been developed before to maximise the value of previous 

Australian thesis research. However, the compilation was not 

only completed but is now available to geoscientists worldwide 

through the Geoscience Thesis Database button on the home 

page of AMIRA’s Data Metallogenica website 

www.datametallogenica.com. 

The project was sponsored by a number of Australian 

companies and geological surveys, including Anglo American, 

BHP Billiton, Copperstrike, NSW Department of Primary 

Industries, Fugro, GSWA, Newcrest, Newmont, NTGS, Oxiana, 

Perilya, PIRSA, Rio Tinto, Terra Search, Xstrata, Vale and Zinifex; 

it was completed in late 2007. An update will be completed 

in 2010. 

Some quick facts on the database: 

■ over 10 500 thesis citations from 24 universities, including 

departments now closed; 

■ over 1600 abstracts of economic geology theses; 

■ the oldest thesis listed is The continental geology of Fiji by 

WG Woolnough from 1904; 

■ the greatest number of theses derive from the University of 

Sydney (1111), followed by the University of Adelaide (980) 

and the University of Western Australia (979); 

■ over 750 theses focus on areas outside Australia; 

■ almost 1000 theses have geophysical topics, and more than 

800 have structural geology topics; 

■ approximately 800 theses deal with gold, 400 with copper 

and 300 with zinc. 

The database can be quickly and easily searched using a range 

of criteria. Basic listings by author, date, thesis type, university 

and title are free to the public through the website, which all 

GSA members are encouraged to visit and use. The “free text” 

search option is particularly useful when titles are not fully 

known. 

Sponsors of the original P874 project (and also subscribers 

to Data Metallogenica) are able to perform more sophisticated 

searches by including: 

■ mineral commodities; 

■ over 30 science disciplines (eg igneous geology, hydrocarbon 

geology, palaeontology, geochemistry, volcanology); 

■ the Australian State or overseas country where the research 

was focused; 

■ abstracts for economic geology theses. 

We are grateful to those who contacted us in the last year or 

so to add missing theses or provide corrections, and trust this 

will continue in order to maintain the currency of the database 

into the future. 

We believe that GSA members will find this asset of great 

relevance, whatever their field of geoscience. 

Please note that members of the Geological Society of 

Australia pay only $110 pa (inc GST) for individual (personal) 

subscriptions to DM: half price. DM is not-for-profit and your 

contributions go directly to maintenance and development of 

the database and to providing you with a better service and 

faster growth. 

For more information please contact: Alan Goode, DM 

Project Director, AMIRA International 

(alan.goode@amirainternational.com; ph 03 8636 9957). 

ALAN GOODE 

DM Project Director 

AMIRA International 


Australian Earth Sciences Convention 

AESC 2010 Earth systems: 

change, sustainability, vulnerability 

4–8 July 2010, Canberra 

The GSA invites you to Canberra to 

attend the AESC 2010. 

The AESC has six main themes: 

■ Dynamic Earth: from crust to core 

■ Earth's Environments: past, present and 

future 

■ Life and the Solar System 

■ Geoscience in the Service of Society 

■ Resource Security: supporting our 

nation 

■ Topical 

Plenary speakers 

Belinda Robinson, CEO of Australian 

Petroleum Production & Exploration 

Association Limited (APPEA); 

Martin Brasier, Professor of 

Palaeobiology, Oxford University; 

Mawson Lecturer (to be announced). 

Theme: Dynamic Earth: 

from crust to core 

Co-convenors: Russell Korsch, Geoscience 

Australia; Peter Cawood, University of 

Western Australia and Nick Rawlinson, 

Australian National University. 

Geodynamic evolution of Australia 

from Archean cratons to Quaternary 

basins 

The Australian continent consists of a 

fascinating amalgamation of terranes 

that spans the geologic time scale. What 

roles have the various tectonic processes, 

including intracratonic and interplate, 

played in its assemblage How has it 

been affected by the formation and 

breakup of past supercontinents Have 

surface processes influenced the 

architecture of the lithosphere How are 

neotectonic processes shaping the 

contemporary landscape These and 

many other questions fall within the 

realm of most subdisciplines of the Earth 

Sciences. 

The restless Earth: plate tectonics, 

mantle dynamics and core processes 

This session covers a diversity of topics, 

from inner core evolution, the nature of 

the geodynamo, the coupling of mantle 

circulation and plate tectonic processes. 

Recent insights from geodynamic 

modelling constrained by multidisciplinary 

datasets are particularly 

welcome. 

Intracratonic processes in 

lithospheric evolution 

Although plate margins play a significant 

role in the shaping of continents, 

intracratonic processes can also have a 

major impact (eg the Alice Springs 

Orogeny of central Australia). Issues that 

could be addressed include the 

importance of convective instability of 

the mantle lithosphere versus far field 

forces in driving an intracratonic event; 

the role of pre-existing structures such 

as faults and terrane boundaries in the 

accommodation of deformation; 

deciphering the nature of intraplate 

deformation from interplate-related 

deformation, and the subsidence 

mechanism for intracontinental basins. 

Understanding Earth structure using 

geophysical and geochemical 

techniques 

The rapid development of new 

techniques, coupled with increases in 

computing power and improved data 

acquisition, have allowed geophysicists 

to illuminate the deep Earth with 

unprecedented resolution using a variety 

of methods such as seismic (eg reflection 

and refraction profiling, tomography) and 

magnetotellurics. Similarly, improved 

geochemical analyses of rocks now 

exposed at the Earth's surface provide 

valuable constraints on the composition 

of the deep crust and mantle. Together 

with recent results from rock physics, we 

are now on the brink of being able to 

elucidate the physical and chemical state 

of the Earth's interior in great detail. 

Linking geodynamics to minerals 

and energy resources 

The formation of mineral and energy 

resources can often be linked to 

concurrent geodynamic processes which 

affect the entire lithosphere. For 

example, the metallogenic Macquarie Arc 

in New South Wales probably formed as 

a result of magmatism associated with 

the evolution of an intraoceanic island 

arc. Understanding such processes can 

help provide new insight into the 

creation of these resources. 

Theme: Earth's Environments: 

past, present and future 

Co-convenors: Patrick De Deckker, 

Australian National University; Brad 

Opdyke, Australian National University; 

Lisa Worrall, Geoscience Australia and 

Neville Exon, Australian National 

University. 

High-resolution geological archives 

of past climate change. 

There is an urgent need to gather highresolution 

information from natural 

archives, especially for the Holocene, a 

period of time which saw significant 

climatic shifts, sometimes even very 

rapid ones. Marine as well as terrestrial 

archives that are well dated can thus be 

compared and inform us on past climatic 

phenomena of direct relevance to 

climate modellers and environmental 

managers. 

TAG December 2009|11

Water resources, viability and threats, 

with emphasis on groundwater 

Water is arguably our most precious 

resource, and it is essential that we 

understand the distribution, movement 

and quality of groundwater and surface 

water. Groundwater is an integral 

component of the hydrologic cycle, and 

we need to understand recharge and 

transport rates, interactions with surface 

water, ages and the impacts of climate 

change and anthropogenic activities in 

rural and urban areas. 

The Australian arid–semiarid zone: 

processes, changes and long-term 

history 

With the current climatic scenarios of 

increasing drought over a large part of 

Australia, there is a need to define past 

climatic shifts that affected the 

boundary between the arid and semiarid 

zones of this continent. We need to 

determine the shifts that occurred in the 

past, the rates of change and relevant 

amplitudes. Such information will be of 

great relevance for predicting future 

climatic shifts and trends that will affect 

vegetation and the nature of the 

regolith, including groundwater and 

surficial water. 

The IODP and the marine record in the 

Australian region 

Australia has recently rejoined the 

Integrated Ocean Drilling Program. The 

meeting will take place soon after the 

IODP Expedition 325 (Great Barrier Reef 

Environmental Changes) and papers on 

this expedition and other IODP 

expeditions are invited. 

The Brian Logan Symposium 

Brian Logan was an influential 

sedimentary geologist in WA over many 

years. This symposium is designed to 

give students and friends of Brian an 

opportunity to present research 

influenced by his work. 

Theme: Life and the Solar System 

Co-convenors: Graziella Caprarelli, 

University of Technology; David Wacey, 

University of Western Australia and Marc 

Norman, Australian National University. 

Keynote speakers include: 

■ Malcolm Walter, UNSW: ‘Oxygenating 

the Earth: were Archean stromatolites 

constructed by cyanobacteria’; 

■ Jennifer Heldmann, NASA Ames: 

‘Latest results from NASA's LCROSS 

(Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing 

Satellite) Mission: exploring the permanently 

shadowed craters of the Moon's 

South Pole’; 

■ Kliti Grice, Curtin University: ‘Novel 

approaches to investigating major events 

in the evolution of life’; 

■ Mark Van Zuilen, University of Bergen, 

Norway: ‘21st century advances in the 

study of Archean life’. 

The Pilbara Archean Drilling Project — 

an update 

Following on from the highly successful 

session at AESC 2008, contributions 

detailing putative signs of life and clues 

to early Earth environments are 

particularly welcome. 

21st century advances in the study of 

Archean life 

The last decade has seen an explosion of 

new techniques and significant 

improvements in techniques that have 

greatly aided the study of Archean life. 

We welcome research using (but not 

limited to) SIMS, TEM, SEM, synchrotron 

radiation, lasers, and molecular 

techniques. 

Stromatolites past and present 

This session aims to bring together 

researchers investigating both modern 

and ancient stromatolites and microbial 

mats to increase our understanding of 

stromatolite ecosystems and better 

evaluate the biogenicity of ancient 

examples. 

Novel approaches to investigating 

major events in the evolution of life 

Contributions that elucidate key 

moments, conditions, or events that 

exerted a major influence on the 

evolution of life are invited. This could 

include contributions in palaeontology, 

palaeoecology, geobiology and 

geochemistry, and encompassing all 

periods of Earth history. 

Australian analogues of Mars 

The Australian continent provides useful 

physical and geological analogues that 

can help us understand the processes 

that shaped the surface of Mars. 

Geological and geomorphological 

analyses of Martian and Australian 

landscapes, descriptions of analogue 

field programs, and developments in 

robotic exploration and analysis would 

be especially suitable. 

Planetary systems and habitability 

These sessions seek to present an 

integrated view of the formation and 

early evolution of planets and related 

bodies. We invite presentations that use 

geochemical or geophysical data, 

numerical models, or interpretation of 

mission datasets to clarify the structure 

and temporal evolution of nebular disks, 

planet formation and early 

differentiation, volcanism, tectonism, 

surface processes, and planetary 

atmospheres. Contributions that 

examine the astonishing diversity of 

planets, including rocky bodies, gas and 

ice giants, comets, meteorites, and 

exoplanets, and fundamental aspects of 

habitability are welcome. 

The impact of impacts 

Australia has some of the most ancient 

crust on Earth, where meteoritic impacts 

have left their marks throughout its 

history. Descriptions and models of 

impact crater morphologies, the impact 

process, and the effects of impacts on 

planetary environments are invited. 


Planetary science and education 

This session seeks to raise the awareness 

of planetary science as a vehicle for 

science education, and to link with other 

education sessions at the conference. 

Open sessions that include workshop 

activities will be considered. 

Theme: Geoscience in the Service 

of Society 

Co-convenors: Dianne Tompkins, CSIRO 

Exploration & Mining; Phil Cummins, 

Geoscience Australia and Paul Tregoning, 

Australian National University. 

Oral and poster presentations are 

welcome across the broad theme, 

including geological hazards, education, 

geotourism etc. Planned symposia 

include: 

New science for a changing natural 

hazard landscape 

One of the most important ways in 

which Earth Science contributes to 

society is through an appreciation of 

natural hazards and their consequences. 

Hazard profiles have changed 

dramatically in recent years, due to 

changes in both our perception of 

geological hazards with long recurrence 

times, as well as actual changes in 

meteorological hazards driven by climate 

change. The potential consequences are 

also changing rapidly, with the 20thcentury 

population explosion leading to 

increased concentrations of vulnerable 

people in areas exposed to natural 

hazards. How can Earth Scientists 

respond to these by changing the way 

we do science and ensuring our 

knowledge is utilised for the public 

good 

This symposium will cover specific 

natural hazard and risk assessment case 

studies, adaptation of existing 

investigative techniques to informing 

communities of hazards as well as the 

development and use of new tools for 

studying and identifying natural hazards. 

Education 

Earth Science education is critical for 

students at all levels from kindergarten 

through to tertiary education. From a 

young age, students need to understand 

something of the world around them on 

a local, regional and global scale and 

how the Earth’s systems work. In 

addition, they need to understand the 

effect that human habitation has had on 

these systems and what can be done, 

where necessary, to minimise the 

impact. This ensures that the next 

generation of decision makers and 

leaders is sufficiently knowledgeable to 

make informed decisions no matter what 

their job, career choices and lifestyle. 

As a consequence of exposure to these 

ideas and topics at primary and middle 

schools one of many positive benefits is 

that more high school students will have 

the information they need to decide to 

take up the option to study Earth and 

Environmental Sciences in Years 11 and 

12 and at a tertiary and research level if 

they so wish. This subtheme seeks to 

explore the different pathways to 

increasing and supporting Earth Science 

education and how individuals and 

organisations can support this 

endeavour. In a country with a large 

resource-based economy it is important 

that everyone has a basic understanding 

of where and how the wealth and jobs 

are generated, and also how to make 

responsible decisions for themselves, 

their community and their world. 

Theme: Resource Security: 

supporting our nation 

Co-convenors: Frederick Cook, 

EARTHECONX; Barry Fordham, FrOGTech; 

David Giles, University of Adelaide; 

John Mavrogenes, Australian National 

University and Greg Corbett, Australian 

Institute of Geoscientists. 

Keynote Speaker: David Campbell, Vice 

President, Exploration, Waratah Coal: 

Galilee Basin development (tbc). 

Exploration geosciences 

Includes precompetetive data, decision 

making in exploration (concept-datadiscovery), 

and deep exploration 

(targetting and technologies). 

Mineral systems 

Commodity specific, eg gold, base 

metals, IOCG, porphyry Cu–Au, as well as 

process specific, eg magmatic, 

hydrothermal/orogenic, 

hydrothermal/basins etc. 

Energy — Oil and gas, coal, 

geothermal and uranium 

Uranium Mineral Systems: geology and 

exploration (Convenors: Subhash Jaireth, 

Roger Skirrow). The presentations will be 

by researchers based at universities, 

CSIRO, geological surveys and 

exploration companies. There will be 

one session exclusively on exploration 

techniques and the rest will be on 

the geology of major uranium systems/ 

deposits. 

AIG Symposium 

One-full day symposium 

Theme: Topical 

The five themes will be supplemented by 

a Topical strand that can accommodate a 

full-day or half-day symposium 

including: 

Palaeomagnetism — Phil Schmidt, CSIRO 

Exploration & Mining 

AuScope — Bob Haydon, AuScope. 

The remaining sessions are open to 

Specialist Groups whose activities are 

not included in the main program. 

Abstracts close: 

15 January 2010 

Join us in Canberra 

4–8 July. 



News from the divisions 

Queensland 

Geoscience at the EKKA! 

For the second time, the GSA, Qld Division and 

AIG, Qld Branch combined to run an event 

promoting geoscience in the community as part 

of National Science Week in August 2009. 

As in 2008, the Queensland National Science 

Week Coordinating Committee organised the 

National Science Festival which ran at the 

Brisbane Showgrounds from the 6–15 August 

2009. The AIG and GSA combined to run a 

joint exhibition booth in the Science Pavilion, 

alongside CSIRO, QUT, UQ, Young Scientists of 

Australia and other organisations. 

While again this was a huge undertaking for 

GSA/AIG, the EKKA subcommittee was able to 

incorporate all the previous preparation work, 

posters and materials, last year’s improvement 

suggestions and experiences to assemble an 

even more interesting display aimed at the 

general public, both young and old, promoting 

the importance and value of geoscience in the 

community. Various volunteers and supporters 

provided stunning specimens to attract people 

from all walks of life to “feel and touch” geoscience. 

School classes showed a strong interest in 

our “hands-on” display. 

Booth ready for business: setup done by 

Gregg Webb, Friedrich von Gnielinski, Mark Berry 

and Paul Blake. 

Top attractions on the two spacious layout 

tables were a Diprotodon femur bone, fossilised 

ripple marks, fossil mud cracks, volcanic bombs, 

columnar-jointed rhyolite, false and real fossil 

wood and various mineral ores from major 

deposits from around the State. 

This year we also included glass display cabinets 

with valuable specimens from private collections, 

some QUT specimens and historical 

specimens from the Geological Survey of 

Queensland. The most prominent specimen, 

which attracted a fair amount of media attention, 

was a ~3.47 billion year old stromatolite 

fossil from WA (courtesy of QUT), representing 

one of the oldest fossilised lifeforms on record. 

The EKKA subcommittee wishes to thank all 

contributors for the loan of their valuable 

specimens. Good specimens go a long way to 

having a meaningful display and the kids, in 

particular, were thrilled to be able to touch 

some “really cool stuff”. 

About 1000 science show bags from 2008, 

which had not been distributed last year, were 

sold out this year including a brochure on 

Careers in Geology, also containing a mineral 

and rock sample for identification. With 

appreciation we mention that GSA Sydney 

again supplied brochures, posters and other 

materials as handouts for the display. 

We also took the opportunity to offer GSAQ’s 

Rocks and Landscapes booklet series for sale. 

Despite lower audience numbers, the committee 

is still happy with selling $1079 worth of 

books at the booth alone. This certainly helped 

to recoup costs for setting up the display. 

The booth was manned for 10 days by a combination 

of volunteer AIG/GSA members, supplemented 

by Earth Science students from QUT and 

UQ. Yet again it was very encouraging to see the 

commitment and dedication of all the volunteers, 

each and every one of them adding their 

personal touches (meteorites in pockets, stories 

and tales from fieldwork etc). It was a pleasure 

organising the event, having this big group of 

people gladly offering their time to share their 

passion for geosciences with the general public, 

in particular the young generations and future 

scientists. A big thank you to all volunteers and 

students, who helped this event become a great 

success for AIG and GSAQ. 

Whilst a formal post-mortem of the event has 

yet to be held, I think it is fair to say it was a 

tremendous success and raised the profile of 

geoscience to a large cross section of 

Queenslanders. Even though crowd numbers 

were well down compared to last year, the 

EKKA subcommittee had the impression that 

a larger number of the public visiting the 

pavilion and in particular our booth, were 

actively seeking science information and were 

not just casual visitors passing through. 

This year our display also attracted some great 

media attention, spurred by a GSA media 

release. The media release and media contacts 

led to various television and radio broadcasters 

inviting GSAQ to give a number of interviews, 

three live broadcasts (4ABC Brisbane, ABC 

Southern Qld and ABC Central Qld — all 

handled by Friedrich von Gnielinski) and also a 

kids’ science TV show, which filmed a segment 

with Gregg Webb at the booth. 

FRIEDRICH VON GNIELINSKI 

EKKA Sub-committee coordinator 

Education subcommittee 

report: student medals 

presented at the EKKA 

Also at the EKKA this year, GSA Qld division 

presented its annual awards to high school 

students who achieve outstanding results in 

Earth Sciences in Year 12 and to the highest 

achieving Earth Science undergraduate from 

UQ and QUT (no nomination was received from 

JCU this year!). GSAQ saw it fitting to present 

its student medals in the Science pavilion on 

“people’s day”. For this purpose we had hired 

the stage near the booth and invited the recipients 

and their guests to the EKKA (including 

entry passes). The turnout to the presentation 

was great, however most attending were GSAQ 

members rather than general public. 

University undergraduate medals for 2008 are: 

Larissa Hansen, University of Queensland and 

Lisette Brittan, Queensland University of 

Technology. 

High school medal winners for 2008 are: 

Gold medal: Frances Potter, Spinifex State 

College, Mount Isa. 

Silver medal: Michael Cruickshank, Brisbane 

Boys College. 

Bronze medals: Teagan Walsh, Pioneer State 

High School, Mackay; Nicholas Davison, 

Brisbane Grammar School; Alexander Turton, 

Brisbane Grammar School; Simon Mahler, 

Brisbane Boys College; Kendall Messer, 

Townsville Grammar School; Peter Deagon, 

Redlands College. 

Certificates of excellence: 

Rhys Volant, Townsville Grammar School; 


Recipients of medals and certificates for 2008 at the presentation, Brisbane Exhibition Ground. 

From left: Frances Potter, Teagan Walsh, Peter Deagon, Laurie Hutton (GSA Medals Convenor), 

Elizabeth Kippen, Larissa Hansen (at rear), Nicholas Davison, Michael Cruickshank, 

Jack Murday (at rear), Benson Poon. 

Rachel Ford, Pioneer State High School, 

Mackay; Elizabeth Kippen, Redlands College; 

Will Baskerville, Brisbane Grammar School; 

Jack Murday, Brisbane Grammar School; 

Benson Poon, Brisbane Grammar School; 

Fred Croker, Brisbane Grammar School; Michael 

McConnachie, Brisbane Grammar School. 

LAURIE HUTTON 

Education subcommittee and awards coordinator 

Victoria 

Report from the 2009 

Selwyn Symposium 

The Geological Society of Australia Victoria 

Division presented a highly successful Selwyn 

Symposium on the ‘Origin of the Australian 

Highlands’. This year’s symposium was held at 

the School of Earth Sciences at the University 

of Melbourne, on 24 September 2009. 

The symposium attracted a full house of 

delegates — around 120 — including many who 

travelled from other States to attend the symposium. 

The day began with an interesting plenary 

address by Mike Sandiford, who set the 

tectonic scene of the Australian Highlands. 

Many fascinating talks followed over the 

course of the day, and each session concluded 

with a discussion forum which provided the 

opportunity for lively debate. The GSAV would 

like to thank all the invited speakers: Mike 

Sandiford (UniMelb), Ian Roach (ANU), Cliff 

Ollier (UWA), Paul Green (GeoTrack), 

John Webb (LaTrobe), Fons Vandenberg (DPI), 

Guy Holdgate (UniMelb), Max Brown 

(Canberra), Graham Taylor (Canberra), 

Bernie Joyce (UniMelb), Ian Duddy (GeoTrack), 

and Colin Pain (GA). 

The symposium was followed by the annual 

Selwyn Medal Award ceremony, which was 

presented to Bernie Joyce for 2009. Following 

the ceremony, the annual Selwyn Lecture was 

held in the JH Mitchell Theatre at the 

University of Melbourne. Cliff Ollier presented 

his views on mountain building, complete with 

many spectacular photos of mountain ranges 

around the world. The presenters and many 

others then attended the Selwyn Dinner at 

University House. 

To purchase copies of the Selwyn Symposium 

extended abstracts ($41.25 each, with many 

colour figures) please contact Stephen 

Gallagher: sjgall@unimelb.edu.au or the GSA. 

The GSA(Vic) would like to thank the following 

people of the Selwyn organising committee for 

their hard work in making the day a success: 

Stephen Gallagher, Malcolm Wallace, Guy 

Holdgate, Martin Norvick. 

ALISON FAIRMAID 


Bernie Joyce receives GSA 

Victoria Division Selwyn 

Award for 2009 

Bernie Joyce was presented with this year’s 

Selwyn Medal by David Cantrill, Chair GSA 

(Victoria Division), at a special ceremony during 

the Geological Society of Australia Victoria 

Division’s 2009 Selwyn Symposium, held at the 

University of Melbourne on 24 September. 

David Cantrill, Chair of the Victoria Division, 

presenting Bernie Joyce with the Selwyn Medal 

during the recent Selwyn Conference. Image 

courtesy Erin Matchan. 

The Selwyn Medal is awarded in recognition of 

significant, high-calibre contributions in any 

field of Victorian geology. The award is named 

in honour of Sir Alfred Richard Cecil Selwyn, an 

eminent colonial Victorian pioneering geologist 

and founder of the Geological Survey of 

Victoria in 1852. 

Bernie Joyce is presently Honorary Principal 

Fellow and Associate Professor, School of Earth 

Sciences, at the University of Melbourne. His 

long association with this university as a 

teacher and researcher began in 1962. 

For over 40 years Bernie has studied the Newer 

Volcanics of Victoria, producing a number 

of research papers and field guides and 

supervising many associated student research 

projects. He has also worked on regolith 

landform mapping of the western Victorian 

volcanic plains, and produced an assessment 

of volcanic risks and hazards in south-eastern 

Australia. 

He is the former Chair of the Australian 

Heritage Commission Natural Evaluation Panel 

(Victoria), and is currently a member of the 

National Trust (Victoria) Landscape Committee, 

working on problems associated with volcanic 

landscapes. 

He has worked on the morphotectonics of 

the central Victorian Highlands, and the 

neotectonics of south-eastern Australia. In liaison 

with the Cooperative Research Centre for 

Landscape Environments and Mineral 

Exploration (CRC LEME), universities and the 

Geological Survey of Victoria, he mapped and 

interpreted the regolith of central Victoria, and 

published reports with the Survey. 

Bernie co-authored the Geomorphology chapter 

of the 2003 edition of Geology of Victoria and 

contributed to the 1988 and 1976 editions. 

For over 12 years he has been a member and 

chair of the Victorian Government’s 

Geomorphology Reference Committee. He was 

Convener of the national Standing Committee 

for Geological Heritage of the GSA from 1983 

to 2004. He is a founding member of the 

Subcommittee for Geological Heritage, GSA 

Victoria Division. 

Recently Bernie has made contributions to 

historical studies in geology. He was Chair of 

the GSA Earth Sciences History Group (ESHG) 

from 2006 to 2008. He proposed, organised 

and coordinated the very successful ESHG 

conference in Melbourne in November 2007. 

He is presently publishing geological history 

articles and setting up a geological history 

website. He coordinates the ‘History of the 

Geology Department Project’ at the University 

of Melbourne. 

He is currently studying the landforms of the 

Western Victoria Volcanic Province to see 

what they tell about future volcanic risk, and 

also how best to look after the landscape 

heritage of the plains. Following Bernie’s 

recommendation in 2004, the United Nations 

Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation 

(UNESCO) declared Australia’s first geopark, 

the Kanawinka Global Geopark, in 2008. 

During his career Bernie has authored or coauthored 

over 320 papers, books and reports 

including more than 30 refereed papers. 

Bernie was the proud recipient of this year’s 

Selwyn Medal. Family, friends and colleagues 

were quick to congratulate him on his richly 

deserved award. A dinner at University House 

concluded Bernie’s special day. 

ROGER PIERSON 

School of Life and Environmental Sciences 

Deakin University 

The Bruce Webb Medal is awarded for leadership 

that has advanced the Earth Sciences 

and/or for contributions to the advancement of 

knowledge either within South Australia, or 

from a South Australian base. The 2009 winner, 

Keith Johns, is a former South Australian 

Director General of Mines and Energy. Keith has 

made a major contribution to the geology and 

mineral resources of South Australia, and their 

historical aspects, over more than six decades. 

Keith is a foundation member of the Society 

and has served on the Divisional committee. 

The Walter Howchin Medal is awarded to a 

researcher (35 years and younger) in the early 

stage of their career and distinguished by their 

significant published work in the Earth 

Sciences within South Australia, or from a 

South Australian base. The 2009 winner of the 

Howchin Medal is Anthony Reid (Primary 

Industries and Resources, South Australia) for 

his significant contributions in understanding 

the evolution of the geologically complex 

Gawler Craton. 

Jim Jago (University of South Australia) gave 

the after-dinner speech entitled ‘The Cambrian: 

a wonderful period’. This dealt with the changing 

concepts of the Cambrian and the 

Cambrian time scale, the types of faunas and 

the new work on the Big Gully fauna on 

Kangaroo Island (Australia’s equivalent of the 

Burgess Shale fauna). 

JIM JAGO 

Anthony Reid (left) receiving the Howchin Medal 

from Patrick Lyons, Chair, GSA SA Division. 

Image courtesy Jim Jago. 

South Australia 

Webb and Howchin Medals 

awarded at annual dinner 

The SA Division held its annual dinner at the 

Historian Hotel on 20 August, at which time 

the Bruce Webb medal was awarded to Keith 

Johns and the Walter Howchin medal was 

Merylin Webb presenting the Webb Medal to 

awarded to Anthony Reid. 

Keith Johns (left). Image courtesy Jim Jago. 


Preminary notice 

Sprigg Symposium/ 

Field trip, Arkaroola 

Date change from 

4–7 June 2010 to 11–14 June 2010. 

In the last issue of TAG there was a 

preliminary notice concerning the Sprigg 

Symposium. Since then the SA Division 

have discovered that the June long 

weekend in SA is the following weekend 

(11–14 June) which is when we had 

intended to go to Arkaroola. 

The South Australian Division is planning 

to hold the next Sprigg Symposium as a 

combined field trip/conference at Arkaroola 

over the June long weekend in 2010. This 

will provide participants with not only an 

opportunity to examine some of the geology 

of the area, but also to see some of the 

splendour of the Northern Flinders Ranges. 

Field leaders will probably include Wolfgang 

Preiss, Steve Hore, and Steve Hill. 

If you are interested, would you please 

email: grahamandcarol@bigpond.com 

GRAHAM TAYLOR 

Symposium Convenor 

News from the 

Specialist Groups 

Sedimentologists’ 

Specialist Group 

I just wanted to write a quick note to supplement 

what has been posted on the ASEC 

website (www.aesc2010.gsa.org.au/) for 

those in our Specialist Group. Please have a 

look at the website and you can see the sessions 

that have been put on the program. 

Although it is not set in stone, we are hoping 

Bill Ruddiman, Jim Zachos and J Fred 

Read will be joining us at the meeting. 

One thing I would like to highlight is the 

Special Symposium to celebrate the life and 

work of Brian Logan. This was an idea that 

was hatched around the campfire in the 

midst of a field trip to the Devonian Reef 

Complex of the Canning Basin last July. If 

you worked with Brian or have some science 

to share that would link with Brian Logan’s 

career, please do send in an Abstract. You 

will also note on the website that there are 

special sessions planned for groundwater, 

high-resolution climate records, and 

Australian arid zone studies. I would love to 

see a large number of people from this 

Specialist Group attending the meeting. 

The Abstract deadline is set for mid-January 

so start thinking seriously about it. By the 

time this edition of TAG arrives, the holiday 

season will be upon us, so there really is not 

that much time before the Abstracts are 

due. Also, the Specialist Group will be 

awarding travel grants to students who are 

presenting talks or posters at the AESC, so 

encourage your students to apply. 

BRADLEY OPDYKE 

Chair, Sedimentology Specialist Group 

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NEWS 

Reg Sprigg and the Ediacara 

fauna: an extraordinary 

discovery 

Many GSA members will be aware that 

legendary South Australian geologist Reg 

Sprigg (1919–1991) is widely recognised for 

his 1946 discovery of the world famous 

Ediacara fossil fauna, the basis of the modern 

Ediacaran Period. Sprigg described the 

Ediacara fossils in well-known, pioneering 

papers (Sprigg 1947, 1949). Fedonkin et al 

(2007) have examined Sprigg’s original field 

notes and confirm that Reg made the 

discovery on 31 May 1946, with a return visit 

to the discovery site on 20 December 1946. 

In a paper published about the discovery 

many years later, Sprigg (1988, p 50) discussed 

how a letter about the discovery was 

subsequently sent to Nature on 15 October 

1947, but rejected by the highly-regarded 

British journal. The information is repeated in 

Sprigg (1989, p 201), an autobiographical 

volume published by the author. Sprigg also 

implied that the international geological 

community in the late 1940s simply was not 

interested and did not appreciate the importance 

of the discovery. This event and its 

implications have been the subject of recent 

extensive discussion in Turner and Vickers- 

Rich (2007) and Turner and Oldroyd (2009). 

Consequently, it comes as a great surprise to 

learn that Nature had indeed published a 

letter about the Ediacara discovery (Sprigg, 

1948) during this pioneering period, and that 

Sprigg as well as many other geologists 

subsequently demonstrated no knowledge of 

its publication. 

The rediscovery of Sprigg (1948) raises the 

obvious question: how could this have 

occurred with a journal as prominent as 

Nature Presumably, it happened because the 

paper was substantially ignored at the time of 

publication, and thus over subsequent years, 

to the extent that it was forgotten by everyone, 

including the author. For example, it is 

not listed in Teesdale-Smith’s (1959) bibliography 

of South Australian geology. Moreover, 

most authors of this note (David Oldroyd, Pat 

Vickers-Rich and Susan Turner) have been 

considering the fate of this paper since 2003 

(published or not) and had even unsuccessfully 

contacted the management of Nature. 

Sprigg (1948) has been rediscovered as a 

consequence of work undertaken by author 

Kristin Weidenbach, who recently published 

an excellent biography of Reg Sprigg 

(Weidenbach, 2008), reviewed by David 

Branagan in the June 2009 issue of TAG 

(TAG 151, p 39). 

Since publication of Weidenbach’s work, 

Beach Petroleum has been funding the 

organisation of Reg’s papers. As a result of 

this support, Weidenbach rediscovered 

Sprigg’s (1948) paper along with 

correspondence in Reg’s personal files. 

In addition to a copy of Sprigg’s (1948) 

‘Letter to Nature’, the recently-rediscovered 

papers confirm that an initial submission to 

Nature was made on 15 October 1947. In a 

response dated 4 November 1947, Nature 

acknowledged receipt of the submission 

and provided comments from an unnamed 

referee. This correspondence (incomplete in 

the Sprigg files) advised that, if modified as 

suggested, the ‘Letter’ would be published. 

Presumably Reg resubmitted a revised ‘Letter’ 

on 15 December 1947, the date shown in 

the published communication and it was 

published in this revised form. 

Sprigg (1948) is brief. The exact locality of 

Ediacara is not mentioned, but Reg noted 

that Sir Douglas Mawson and students, as 

well as himself, had collected hundreds of 

fossil specimens showing soft tissue. He 

concluded by stating that: 

“Now that a considerable amount of new 

material is available for description and comparison, 

it is hoped that a more compete study 

of these intriguing forms will be possible. 

Criticisms and suggestions would be most 

helpful in the continuation of this study.” 

Labelled photos of Beltanella and Dickinsonia 

are also published. 

The life and times of Reg Sprigg are proving 

to be as fascinating after his death as they 

were during his incredibly productive life. 

Dickinsonia costata from the 

Brachina Gorge, Flinders Ranges, 

South Australia. Image courtesy 

Wikipedia (original uploader 

Verisimilus), released under the 

GNU Free Documentation License. 

Legendary South Australian 

geologist Reg Sprigg 

(1919–1991). Image courtesy 

Sprigg family collection. 

Despite the rediscovery of Sprigg (1948), 

Reg’s implication that the international 

geological community in the late 1940s 

simply did not appreciate the importance 

of the Ediacara fossil discovery, remains fully 

justified. 

BARRY COOPER, DAVID OLDROYD, 

SUSAN TURNER and PAT VICKERS-RICH 

REFERENCES 

Sprigg, RC, 1947, ‘Early Cambrian() jellyfishes from 

the Flinders Ranges, South Australia’ Transactions of 

the Royal Society of South Australia 71, p 212–224. 

Sprigg, RC, 1948, ‘Jellyfish from the Basal Cambrian in 

South Australia’ Nature (10 April 1948) 4093, 

p 568–569. 

Sprigg, RC, 1949, ‘Early Cambrian ‘jellyfish’ of 

Ediacara, South Australia and Mount John, Kimberley 

district, Western Australia’ Transactions of the Royal 

Society of South Australia 73, p 72–99. 

Sprigg, RC, 1988, ‘On the 1946 discovery of the 

Precambrian Ediacarian fossil fauna in South 

Australia’ Earth Sciences History 7, p 46–51. 

Sprigg, RC, 1989, Geology is fun: recollections by Reg 

Sprigg, published by the author, 349 pages. 

Teesdale-Smith, EN, 1959, Bibliography of South 

Australian Geology: Includes all literature up to and 

including June 1958 South Australian Department of 

Mines and Geological Survey, 240 pages. 

Turner, S, and Oldroyd, D, 2009, ‘Reg Sprigg and the 

discovery of the Ediacara Fauna in South Australia: its 

approach to the high table’ in Seposki, D, and Ruse, M, 

(Eds) The paleobiological revolution. Essays on the 

growth of modern paleontology, University of Chicago 

Press, Chicago & London, p 254–278. 

Turner, S, and Vickers-Rich, P, 2007, ‘Sprigg, Glaessner 

and Wade and the discovery and international recognition 

of the Ediacaran fauna, in Vickers-Rich, P, and 

Komarower, P, (Eds) IGCP 493: The rise and fall of the 

Ediacaran biota. Prato conference Proceedings. 

Geological Society London Special Publication 286, 

p 443–445. 

Weidenbach, K, 2008, Rock star: the story of Reg 

Sprigg — an outback legend, East Street publications, 

333 pages. 


New chairperson for 

Australian IGCP committee 

Cec Murray has retired as Chairperson of the 

Australian National Committee for the 

International Geological Program. The new 

Chairperson is Pat Rich, School of 

Geosciences, Monash University, Wellington 

Road, Clayton, VIC 3800, email: 

Pat.Rich@sci.monash.edu.au. 

Community toasts 

Lindsay Gilligan 

Farewell dinners were held in Maitland and 

Sydney for Lindsay Gilligan, Director of the 

Geological Survey of NSW. 

The Sydney dinner was fittingly held at the 

Kirribilli Club — de facto home to the Sydney 

Mining and Exploration Discussion Group 

(SMEDG). Peter Lewis MC’d at the Kirribilli 

Club dinner and speakers included Brad 

Mullard, Executive Director, Mineral Resources, 

Industry and Investment NSW; James Johnson, 

Chief Onshore Energy and Minerals Division, 

Geoscience Australia and Russell Meares, 

Exploration Manager, Malachite Resources 

Limited. 

As well as an impromptu ‘toast from the 

workers’, toasts were given by Graham Carr, 

Chief Scientist, CSIRO Exploration and Mining; 

Alan Coutts, Chief Executive Officer, NSW 

Food Authority and Ted Tyne, Director, Mineral 

Resources, PIRSA. 

The evening was a clear display of the high 

regard Lindsay is held in the Minerals community, 

his leadership at the Survey will be sorely 

missed, but we look forward to his continued 

contribution and leadership in the geoscience 

community and wish him well for the future. 

INSET: Lindsay Gilligan. Image courtesy of 

Geological Survey of NSW. 

ABOVE: Peter Buckley (left with microphone) 

reminisces about the move to Maitland and 

Lindsay’s leadership. Peter Lewis is the MC. 

Image courtesy Mal Bunny. 

South-east Asian Gateway 

Evolution (SAGE) Conference 

Report 

14–17 September 2009, 

Royal Holloway University of London 

The South-east Asian Gateway Evolution 

(SAGE) conference focused on south-east Asia 

and in particular on the evolution of the site 

of the Indonesian throughflow between the 

Pacific and Indian oceans, the only low-latitude 

link between the world’s oceans. 

The Indonesian throughflow bestrides the 

collision zone between Australia and southeast 

Asia, which developed about 25 million 

years ago. The collision is the latest in a series 

of collisions and additions of continental 

fragments that were progressively rifted and 

dispersed from the Gondwana supercontinent, 

which migrated northwards and collided to 

form present-day east and south-east Asia 

during the last 400 million years. The complex 

geological development of the south-east 

Asian region has contributed to both ancient 

and modern biological complexities in the 

region and has had significant influence on 

both regional and global climate change. 

This is the region in which Alfred Russel 

Wallace observed striking biogeographic distributions 

of organisms and where he delineated 

his famous Wallace’s Line, a biogeographic 

boundary between Australian and 

Asian faunas and floras. The region is also a 

centre of maximum modern diversity of both 

marine and terrestrial biota and of an unusually 

high faunal and floral endemicity, as well 

as being where Wallace independently developed 

his theory of evolution. The multi-disciplinary 

conference brought together a wide 

range of Earth and life scientists to explore 

the nexus between geology and biology and 

to discuss the geological, biological and climatic 

evolution of the region. 

The conference was attended by almost 200 

participants from 20 countries. A total of 84 

oral and 51 poster presentations were made 

over the three days. Australia was well represented 

(11 participants). Two of the three 

plenary keynote papers were by Australians 

and four of the total 10 keynote presentations 

were by Australian participants. Ian 

Metcalfe (University of New England, 

Armidale, NSW) presented the first plenary 

keynote paper in which he outlined the 

Palaeozoic–Mesozoic tectonic, biogeographic 

and palaeogeographic history of the region, 

including the complex Gondwana dispersion 

and Asian accretion of continental blocks 

and the opening and closure of three Tethyan 

ocean basins. 

This was followed by Robert Hall (Royal 

Holloway, University of London, the principal 

conference organiser) who outlined the Late 

Mesozoic and Cenozoic plate tectonics, 

crustal flow and palaeogeography of the 

region and the Indonesian throughflow. Hall 

suggested that the complex nature and weak 

crustal structure of the region has made it 

difficult to interpret in terms of traditional 

plate tectonics and he invoked a new “jelly 

and biscuit” model. 

The third plenary keynote paper was by 

David Bellwood (James Cook University, 

Townsville, Queensland) who discussed 

marine biodiversity in space and time. 

Bellwood discussed the Indo-Australian 

archipelago marine “bulls-eye” biodiversity 

hotspot and the hypotheses competing to 

explain it. He suggested that no single model 

is sufficient to explain the biodiversity 

hotspot, and that understanding it will 

require input from a wide range of disciplines 

including tectonics, palaeontology, evolution 

and ecology. He then posed the question 

“why are we interested in areas of high biodiversity 

and does biodiversity actually matter”. 

He suggested that continued health of 

the reefs in the region does not necessarily 

require high biodiversity, and that only a few 

key species are required to maintain reefs in 

a healthy condition. 

The third Australian keynote paper was by 

Stephen Williams, also from James Cook 

University, titled ‘An integrated framework 

for assessing the vulnerability of biodiversity 

to climate change: prioritising research and 

adaptation strategies’. Williams discussed 

frameworks to assess the vulnerability of 

species to global climate change and then 

used climate change modelling to predict 

the effect on species (using examples from 

rainforests of the north-east Australian wet 

tropics) which could then flow on to targeting 

management and conservation of 

specifically-identified geographic regions. 

The fourth Australian keynote paper, by 

Moyra Wilson (Curtin University, Perth), 

discussed south-east Asian carbonates as 

tools for evaluating environmental and 

climatic change over the last 50 million years. 

Wilson outlined how changing geochemical 

signatures in marine skeletons and carbonates, 

and changing biotas and textures reveal 

environmental and climate changes on annual, 

decadal, 1000 and 10 000-year timescales. 

Wim Spakman, who on day one had delivered 

a superb keynote on the mantle structure 

of south-east Asia inferred from seismic 

tomography, had his work cut out as session 

chair on day two. Two UWA papers by 


Group photograph of participants at the South-east Asian Gateway Evolution Conference (SAGE), Royal Holloway, University of London. 

Image courtesy James Hammerstein (Earth Sciences Department, RHUL). 

David Haig and Myra Keep on the Timor 

collision, which followed the paper by Mike 

Audley-Charles on the Volcanic Banda 

forearc-Australian continental margin 

collision in Timor, led to very lively discussion 

on the Timor collision (in particular regarding 

the timing of the collision) which spilled over 

and completely consumed the afternoon tea 

break! 

In addition to the scientific papers and posters 

presented at the meeting, a special public 

guest lecture on “Darwin and Wallace: the 

true story” was delivered by John van Wyhe of 

Cambridge University. The talk outlined the 

lives of both Darwin and Wallace and dispelled 

some of the myths surrounding these 

two independent proponents of evolution by 

natural selection. The controversy surrounding 

publication of Darwin’s and Wallace’s work 

and speculations on “lost or delayed letters” 

and perceived lack of credit to Wallace for 

evolutionary theory were discussed. The conference 

dinner was held in the impressive 

Founders Building of Royal Holloway immediately 

following the public lecture. 

Invited and selected papers from the meeting 

will be published by the Geological Society of 

London Special Publications with a provisional 

title “The south-east Asian gateway: history 

and tectonics of Australia–Asia collision”, 

with editors Robert Hall, Michael Cottam and 

Moyra Wilson. A biological Special 

Publication will be a multi-authored volume 

edited by David Gower, Ken Johnson, James 

Richardson, Brian Rosen, Lukas Rüber, and 

Suzanne Williams. 

For further details of the meeting please 

visit: http://sage2009.rhul.ac.uk/index.html 

I would like to gratefully acknowledge 

support from the conference organisers to 

attend the SAGE meeting and also ongoing 

support from the University of New England 

and Macquarie University for ongoing 

research on south-east Asia. 

IAN METCALFE 

University of New England 

Armidale 

IGCP 572 “Permian–Triassic 

Ecosystems” (2008–2012) and 

its activities in 2009–2010 

Looking into the past, life on Earth has 

undergone at least five major mass 

extinctions in the past 550 million years. 

The sixth, and potentially the worst, is now 

said to be in progress. Despite widespread 

upheaval, marine ecosystems have recovered 

from every Phanerozoic catastrophe. These 

pre-historical biotic crises are natural global 

experiments that provide lessons for us in 

effective ecological management; not only in 

predicting the possible impact of defaunation 

events on the marine ecosystems, but also, 

perhaps, in revealing ways to help accelerate 

the post-event restoration of the devastated 

ecosystems. 

In this regard, we, together with more than 

130 researchers from 26 countries around 

the world, proposed the IGCP 572 to study a 

severe extinction event that occurred during 

the Permian–Triassic (P/Tr) global warming 

event (~252 million years ago). By analysing 

the post-extinction reconstruction of marine 

ecosystems in the Early Triassic we hope to 

determine how marine ecosystems recover 

after global-scale natural crises. 

The P/Tr extinction resulted in dramatic 

elimination of >90% marine species and 

>70% of land life. The possible causes 

include: increased carbon dioxide 

concentrations and global marine anoxia, 

hypercapnia (CO 2 poisoning), a bolide impact, 

rapid global warming, and plume-induced 

volcanic eruption. Some of these triggers 

(eg global warming) are observed in the present. 

Thus, the proposed study has tremendous 

relevance to today’s concerns regarding the 

extent to which human activity has influenced 

the loss of marine habitats and species. 

Our objective in understanding the biotic 

response to the past crisis should be to 

develop a general understanding of the 

recovery mechanisms of marine ecosystems 

following the P/Tr crisis at a global scale 

from the low (eg south China) to high (eg 

Greenland, New Zealand) palaeolatitude 

regions. The ultimate aim of the IGCP 572 

is to provide insights to help manage the 

current defaunation event and subsequent 

recovery of marine ecosystems. Specifically 

we aim to: 

1. utilise stratigraphically-important fossil 

groups to establish robust biostratigraphic 

frameworks for the Early Triassic sequences 

worldwide, to enable accurate, high-resolution 

global correlation; 

2. elucidate the recovery patterns of various 

fossil groups by conducting phylogenetic 

analyses to help minimise sampling biases, 

thus determining the true timing of recovery 

of various clades; 

3. utilise palaeoecological, palaeontological 

(body and trace fossils), and sedimentological 

information to fully document marine communities 

throughout the recovery interval in 

a variety of environments from shallow to 

deep habitats and tropical to temperate 

climate zones, and construct a novel database 

of global P/Tr ecosystem types; 

4. analyse community structures, and test 

and further refine a global palaeoecological 

recovery model that has been recently 

proposed (eg Twitchett, 2006) and forming 

the basis of part of this project; 

5. assess the roles of the so-called disaster 

taxa, Lazarus taxa and refugia in the 

recovery communities, and determine the 

relationships between microbial structures 

and metazoa within a single community 

and between microbialite and metazoan 

communities; 

6. utilise geochemical signatures (carbon, oxygen 

and sulphur isotopes, and biomarkers) as 

independent indicators of environmental and 

climate changes during the recovery stages in 

different habitats and climate zones; 

7. reveal catastrophic events recorded in the 

Early Triassic successions and elucidate their 

relationships with those triggering the P/Tr 

mass extinction as well as effects on the 

Early Triassic ecosystems by integrating 

geochemical, palaeontological and 

sedimentological data; 


8. elucidate the factors controlling the 

recovery rates of benthic communities in 

various habitats and climate zones, 

determine what are the similarities and 

differences in the response of the marine 

ecosystem to biotic crises at different scales, 

and assess climate effects on the restoration 

of a defaunated marine ecosystem. 

The P/Tr mass extinction not only caused the 

largest crash in global biodiversity since the 

Cambrian explosion, but also dramatically 

re-directed the course of subsequent biotic 

evolution. Consequently, it is largely responsible 

for much of the structure of marine 

ecosystems today. In fact, some triggers of 

the P/Tr extinction event such as oceanic 

anoxia, influx of hydrogen sulphide, global 

warming and plume-induced volcanic eruption, 

still influenced the Early Triassic oceans 

millions of years after the event itself. As a 

result, deleterious environmental conditions 

prevailed throughout much of the Early 

Triassic. These widespread deleterious oceanic 

and climate conditions almost certainly 

influenced the timing and shape of the 

recovery following the P/Tr extinction. 

These conclusions are derived from studies of 

the western US, northern Italy and a few 

other regions; few comprehensive Triassic 

recovery studies have been conducted in 

other parts of the world. In South China, the 

P/Tr successions are extensively exposed and 

well constrained by multiple fossil groups. In 

this region almost all types of depositional 

setting (ie nearshore, open platform, ramp to 

offshore basin) seen in modern tropical 

oceans were present in the P/Tr transitions. 

Unfortunately, the Early Triassic recovery of 

ecosystems in this region remains poorly 

constrained, despite several past efforts 

(eg Knoll et al, 1996; Lehrmann, 1999; Lu 

and Wu, 2000; and McGhee et al, 2004). No 

recovery data have been reported from the 

remaining regions proposed in this project 

(ie, Japan, Russian far east, southern Tibet, 

elsewhere in Asia, western Australia, New 

Zealand, Greenland-Spitsbergen). These 

regions were also located at different climate 

zones from low-latitude tropic to highlatitude 

cold zone. Thus, the data from the 

above regions are crucial to success in 

formulating a global recovery model. 

Quantifying biotic recovery is not easy. Based 

on detailed palaeoecological studies of the 

recovery communities, one of the proposers 

(Twitchett 1999, 2006) formulated a novel 

recovery model that attempts to quantify 

recovery rates and process using empirical, 

palaeoecological data only. This model will be 

further tested and refined/rejected/replaced 

during the proposed project. 

To achieve the above eight aims, this fiveyear 

IGCP project (2008—2012) will undertake 

the following studies: 

● global latest Permian to Middle Triassic 

biostratigraphy [Aim 1]; 

● recovery pattern of fossil goups and 

preservational and sampling biases [Aim 2]; 

● recovery model of palaeo-communities 

[Aims 3, 4, 7]; 

● community ecologic analysis [Aims 3, 4, 5]; 

● early Triassic microbial community [Aims 3, 

5, 7]; 

● collapse and re-building of P/Tr reefs [Aims 

4, 7]; 

● palaeophysiology of P/Tr mass extinction 

and its aftermath [Aims 4, 7]; 

● biomarker studies of the P/Tr successions 

[Aims 6, 7]; 

● isotopic geochemistry of the P/Tr transition 

[Aims 6, 7]; 

● restoration traits of marine ecosystems and 

comparison with modern defaunation event 

[Aim 8]. 

For more detailed descriptions of these studies 

see project website: www.igcp572.org. 

ZHONG QIANG CHEN 

University of Western Australia 

REFERENCES 

Knoll, AH, et al, 1996, ‘Comparative Earth history and 

Late Permian mass extinction’ Science 273, p 

452–457. 

Lehrmann, DJ, 1999, ‘Early Triassic calcimicrobial 

mounds and biostromes of the Nanpanjiang Basin, 

South China’ Geology 27, p 359–362. 

Lu, L, and Wu, RSS, 2000, ‘An experimental study on 

recolonization and succession of marine macrobenthos 

in defaunated sediment’ Marine Biology 136, 

p 291–302. 

McGhee, GR, et al, 2004, ‘Ecological ranking of 

Phanerozoic biodiversity crises: ecological and taxonomic 

severities are decoupled’ Palaeogeography, 

Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 211, p 289–297. 

Twitchett, RJ, 1999, ‘Palaeoenvironments and faunal 

recovery after the end-Permian mass extinction’ 

Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 

154, p 27–37. 

Twitchett, RJ, 2006, ‘The palaeoclimatology, palaeoecology 

and palaeoenvironmental analysis of mass 

extinction events’ Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, 

Palaeoecology 232, p 190–213. 

IGCP 521 

Black Sea–Mediterranean corridor 

during the last 30 ka: sea-level 

change and human adaptation 

(2005–2009) 

Project outline 

The Black Sea–Mediterranean corridor, a 

series of interconnected and restricted basins 

including the Caspian, Azov, Black and 

Marmara seas, and the eastern Mediterranean, 

is a major region of interest for 

geoscientists investigating the role that 

restricted basins play in regional and global 

climate. The region is additionally important 

for studies that attempt to understand the 

migrations of humankind into Europe prior 

to, and after the most recent ice age. 

This project includes as its geographic focus 

the Black Sea and Sea of Marmara, and 

attempts to understand the connections 

between these basins and those of the 

Caspian and Mediterranean seas over the 

past 30 000 years. During this time, oscillation 

of water levels in the Black and Caspian 

seas were generally synchronous with global 

sea-level and climatic conditions, yet there 

is also a growing body of evidence that 

indicates one asynchronous period of 

regression and infill from the Younger Dryas 

to the early Holocene. 

The complexity of this history is reflected in 

the uncertainties in neo-tectonic history, 

evidence for human migration patterns, and 

debate among workers investigating sealevel 

change. A report by Shcherbakov (1991) 

describing the ‘instantaneous flooding of the 

Crimean Shelves’ was the first description of 

the flooding of the Black Sea by 

Mediterranean-sourced water following the 

most recent glaciation. This hypothesis was 

later independently corroborated by Ryan et 

al (1997), but the latter work became 

famous, and the focus of discussion. 

Instigation of IGCP 521 followed Ryan et al’s 

(1997) work in an attempt to understand the 

evidence put forward by workers from a 

range of disciplines including archaeology, 

marine and structural geology, palaeontology 

and geochemistry. 

PhD student Tony Nicholas and supervisor 

Allan Chivas are the principal Australians 

involved with IGCP 521. Nicholas is 

completing the first studies using amino acid 

racemisation (AAR) dating on molluscs from 

this region under the supervision of Chivas 

and C Murray-Wallace (University of 

Wollongong), supported by Fink et al 

(ANSTO). These studies are of Last 

Interglacial (~125 ka) and the post-glacial 

sea-level and environmental history of the 

Black Sea. Chivas is the leader of the IGCP 

521 geochemistry working group. The AAR 

(Murray-Wallace) and geochemistry (Chivas) 

facilities at UoW were used in this study, 

and U/Th dating was undertaken at the 

University of Queensland. 


Fifth plenary meeting and field 

trip, Izmir and Çanakkale, 

Turkey, 22–31 August 2009 

This conference was held on the Aegean 

coast of western Turkey, at Izmir and 

Çanakkale. It was jointly organised by Kadir 

Has University, Istanbul; Dokuz Eylül 

University, Izmir; Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart 

University, Çanakkale; and the Avalon 

Institute of Applied Science, Canada. Further 

financial assistance was provided by INQUA 

and IGCP–UNESCO–IUGS. 

The majority of workers attending the conference 

were from countries bordering the 

Black Sea, principally from Romania, 

Bulgaria, Ukraine, Russia and the host 

country, Turkey. Eighty one extended 

abstracts, including 23 poster presentations, 

were accepted for the conference, covering 

a broad spectrum of topics. This multidisciplinary 

status is a significant aspect 

of this particular project, which attempts 

to draw conclusions on the recent 

palaeoenvironmental history of this region. 

Keynote talks were given by Yücel Yilmaz 

(‘Active tectonics and the consequent morphology 

of the Western Anatolian–Aegean 

region)’ and Pavel Dolukhanov (‘Climate, sealevel 

dynamics and human colonisation of the 

Caspian and Black Sea coastal areas’). 

Additional oral presentations of note were 

given by Valentina Yanko-Hombach et al 

(‘Response of biota to methane emissions in 

the Black Sea’), Oya Algan et al (‘Evidence of 

low sea-level at the ancient Theodosius 

Harbour, Yenikapi-Istanbul, during the 

Holocene’), Helmut Brückner et al 

(‘Sedimentological and geoarchaeological 

evidence for sea-level fluctuations: 

examples from western Turkey and 

Greece’) and Ivar Murdmaa et al (‘Postglacial 

transgressive–regressive cycles of the Black 

Sea: evidence from the north-eastern shelf’). 

Two oral presentations were made by Nicholas 

et al, (‘Chronology of an Early Holocene 

transgressive Black Sea’ and ‘Last Interglacial 

Kerch Strait: an aminostratigraphic 

perspective’). 

Field trips were undertaken over six days to 

a number of coastal locations. These included 

Miletus, Troy, Ephesus, and Gelibolu. Evidence 

for rapid sedimentation was observed at 

these archaeologically important sites, 

originally set in shallow estuarine settings, 

and now completely silted. 

This project has been very successful in 

establishing interdisciplinary and international 

collaboration between workers and 

institutions. Due to this success the project 

may be extended for a further year, with the 

final conference for this project likely to be 

held in Rhodes, Greece (Aegean Sea, Eastern 

Mediterranean) in 2010. 

Nicholas and Chivas gratefully acknowledge 

partial financial support from the Australian 

UNESCO committee for the International 

Geological Correlation Program. 

WA (TONY) NICHOLAS and ALLAN R CHIVAS 

Roman history: 

a geotourism experience 

As a geologist, one of the joys of visiting 

well-known historic sites is the personal 

interpretation of sites underpinned by both 

geology and geomorphology. 

This was certainly my recent experience on 

discovering Hadrian’s Wall located in the 

north of England. Extending some 73 miles 

(80 Roman miles, 117 km) from Bowness on 

the Solway Firth in the west to Wallsend on 

the River Tyne in the east, this solid stone 

fortification was constructed around 

120–130 AD to follow a pre-existing Roman 

road named the Stanegate. As a consequence 

of a decision by Roman Emperor Hadrian to 

withdraw his occupying forces from what is 

now known as Scotland, the purpose of this 

construction was to ‘draw a line in the sand’ 

to keep unruly northern ‘barbarians’ out of 

the Roman Empire and to protect the local 

province from attack. The wall and its various 

fortifying structures (eg milecastles) were 

maintained for some 300 years until abandonment 

at the start of the fifth century. 

Hadrian’s Wall is now a World Heritage Site. 

The best preserved and most visited sections 

of the Wall traverse some distinctive and 

prominent landforms, the strategic nature of 

which was clearly recognised and exploited 

by the Romans when they designed and sited 

the Wall. 

Of particular interest is a middle section of 

the Wall located near milecastle 42 along the 

escarpment of the Whin Sill, which is a 

dolerite intrusion of Late Carboniferous age. 

The prominent outcrop provided the Romans 

with an obvious defensive site for many 

kilometres. 

The ‘Whin Sill’ is a descriptive name meaning 

a layer of hard black rock (known locally as 

‘Whin’). The descriptive label of ‘sill’ was later 

adopted by the early geological fraternity to 

describe all similarly layered bodies of 

igneous rocks worldwide. 

In more recent times, the dolerite (known 

locally as whinstone) of the Whin Sill, which 

was quarried from sites such as the now 

disused Cawfields Quarry, has been used to 

surface roads throughout the region. The 

rock has a high Polished Stone Value, making 

it well suited for surfacing roads. Until 

government authorities stepped in to protect 

the heritage value of the Wall, in one nearby 

section in particular, the Wall itself became 

victim to quarrying. 

Nowadays Hadrian’s Wall is a hugely popular 

tourism attraction, with many visitors walking 

its entire length, or visiting individual 

sections and fascinating and important 

excavation sites such as Vindolanda. 

The Hadrian’s Wall World Heritage Site is but 

one example of how a mainstream tourist 

visit can be transformed into an enriching 

geotourism experience for both the typical 

tourist and the discerning geoscientist alike. 

ANGUS M ROBINSON 

Managing Partner, Leisure Solutions® 

At milecastle 42 of Hadrian's Wall, looking west along 

the escarpment of the Whin Sill across to Cawfields 

Quarry. Image courtesy Angus M Robinson. 


Feature 

The Emu Bay Shale biota, Kangaroo Island: 

Australia’s unique window into the Cambrian world 

This year marks the centenary of the discovery of the 

world-famous, Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale fossil 

site in the Canadian Rockies by Charles Doolittle 

Walcott. The 505 million-year-old shale, discovered on 31 

August 1909, includes a variety of weird and wonderful marine 

creatures, and with 100 years of collecting and research has 

become one of the best-known and most spectacular archives 

of Cambrian life on the planet. 

It also marks the anniversaries of some other milestones in 

Cambrian palaeontological research, including the discovery of 

the early Cambrian Chengjiang biota in south China 25 years 

ago (1984) and the publication of Stephen Jay Gould’s bestseller 

Wonderful Life: the Burgess Shale and the nature of history 

20 years ago (1989). Of course we must not forget the 

publication of Charles Darwin’s On the origin of species 150 

years ago (1859), in which he devoted numerous pages, albeit 

implicitly, to the discussion of the Cambrian explosion of life — 

the phase in Earth’s history that represents a proliferation of 

marine life and the first appearance of most of the animal 

groups familiar to us today, including those with preservable 

hard parts (such as shells or skeletons) and those that could 

burrow and mix the sediment (the bioturbators). 

Australia is celebrating its own Cambrian anniversary in 

2009, as it is 30 years since the first description of fossils from 

the lower Cambrian Emu Bay Shale on the north coast of 

Kangaroo Island, South Australia by Martin Glaessner (1979, 

Alcheringa 3: 21-31). You may well ask why we should celebrate 

this publication. The reason is because the Emu Bay Shale is 

currently Australia’s, in fact the Southern Hemisphere’s, most 

informative Burgess Shale-type (or BST) deposit. 

So what is a BST deposit It represents a unique glimpse or 

“snapshot” of Cambrian marine life through the exceptional 

preservation of fossils — generally referred to as a Konservat- 

Lagerstätte (or conservation deposit) — especially those that 

display “soft parts”, such as eyes, appendages and guts. Typically 

these soft parts are lost to the fossil record that mostly favours 

the preservation of only hard parts, such as shell and bone. 

BST preservation is still not fully understood and is further 

complicated by the fact that preservational modes differ from 

site to site throughout the world. However, a common theme 

amongst most, if not all, BST deposits is the presence of anoxic 

sediments and little to no oxygen at the sediment-water 

interface in order to retard microbial activity and, in turn, decay 

of soft tissues during burial and early diagenesis. These unique 

Cambrian strata cropping out along the northern coastline of Kangaroo 

Island, immediately to the east of Big Gully. It was at this site in 1954 that 

Brian Daily first discovered ‘soft-bodied’ fossils from the Emu Bay Shale. 

Image courtesy John Paterson. 

The trilobite Estaingia bilobata from the Emu Bay Shale at Buck Quarry. 

This locality yields literally thousands of complete specimens of this trilobite 

species. This particular specimen represents a moult resulting from the animal 

shedding parts of its exoskeleton, including the 'free cheeks' (or the sides of the 

head). Image courtesy John Paterson. 


conditions result in the preservation of a substantially larger 

percentage (~80%) of the community when compared to the 

vast majority of other, more conventional, fossil deposits. 

The discovery of the Emu Bay Shale 

Fossils were first discovered in the Emu Bay Shale near Emu Bay 

jetty (the type section of the formation) by Reg Sprigg in 1952. 

These fossils were reported two years later (Sprigg et al, 1954), 

which happened to be the same year that Brian Daily discovered 

the first ‘soft-bodied’ fossils from coastal outcrop situated 3 km 

east of Emu Bay at a locality referred to as Big Gully (Cooper and 

Jago, 2009). In December 1956, Martin Glaessner, Mary Wade 

and Brian McGowran collected material from Big Gully, but it 

would be a further 23 years until descriptions of some of these 

fossils were finally published by Glaessner (mentioned above). 

The biota received little attention during the 1980s and 

early 1990s. A few publications (Conway Morris and Jenkins, 

1985; Jell in Bengtson et al, 1990; McHenry and Yates, 1993) 

documented the taxonomy, morphology (including soft parts) 

and predatory injuries of the trilobite Redlichia takooensis 

(a species much sought after by fossil collectors due to its large 

size, up to 25 cm in length, see cover image this issue), and 

described for the first time the frontal appendages (or “claws”) 

of the famous Cambrian predatory arthropod Anomalocaris. 

In 1991, Chris Nedin (then a PhD student at the University 

of Adelaide) commenced his studies at Big Gully and later published 

several papers on various species of the biota, plus 

aspects of fossil preservation and the palaeoenvironment 

(Nedin, 1995, 1997, 1999; Briggs and Nedin, 1997; Nedin and 

Jenkins, 1999). More recent publications on fossils from the Big 

The worm Palaeoscolex antiquus from the Emu Bay Shale at Buck Quarry. 

Worms of this kind represent early members of a group (or phylum) known as 

the priapulids (or penis worms) that exist today. Image courtesy John Paterson. 

Gully site include a reinterpretation of the enigmatic species 

Myoscolex ateles as an annelid worm (Dzik, 2004), and the 

description of two new trilobites (Paterson and Jago, 2006). 

Recent activities 

In September 2007, a new era in Emu Bay Shale research 

commenced with the excavation of a new inland site, now 

referred to as Buck Quarry, approximately 500 m south of the 

original coastline locality at Big Gully. This has proved to be very 

successful with significant new species being discovered and 

documented by an international team of workers: Mike Lee 

(University of Adelaide), John Paterson (University of New 

England), Jim Jago (University of South Australia), Jim Gehling 

(South Australian Museum), Greg Edgecombe (Natural History 

Museum, London) and Diego García-Bellido (Instituto de 

Geología Económica, Madrid). 

Preliminary results have been presented at the Fourth 

International Trilobite Conference (Toledo, Spain, June 2008; 

Paterson et al, 2008) and the International Conference on the 

Cambrian Explosion (Banff, Canada, August 2009; García- 

Bellido et al, 2009; Paterson et al, 2009). There is a much greater 

diversity at Buck Quarry than at the original coastal locality, 

with over 40 species now known, many of which are new and 

yet to be named and described. Better preserved soft-bodied 

structures of several previously known species have been found. 


The aptly-named Big Gully locality on the northern coast of Kangaroo Island, 

with palaeontologists and South Australian Museum volunteers excavating 

Emu Bay Shale fossils from Buck Quarry in the foreground. Image courtesy John 

Paterson. 

In terms of abundance and diversity, arthropods dominate 

the biota, with trilobites being the most common fossils; we 

have uncovered literally thousands of specimens of the trilobite 

Estaingia bilobata. The present project has more than doubled 

the number of arthropod species. Other members of the biota 

include algae, sponges, a variety of worms, hyoliths, brachiopods, 

a shell-less mollusc and a number of enigmatic forms. 

Two papers describing new forms are in press or recently 

published in Palaeontology (García-Bellido et al, 2009; Paterson 

et al, in press); several other papers are in an advanced stage of 

preparation. 

The current project has been supported by an ARC Linkage 

grant through Adelaide University with Beach Petroleum and 

the South Australian Museum as industry partners. Other 

support has come from SeaLink and the University of South 

Australia. The Buck family has generously allowed access to the 

site. Natalie Schroeder, Mike Gemmell, Ronda Atkinson, 

Glenn Brock, John Laurie, Dennis Rice and Aaron Camens have 

provided substantial assistance in collecting fossils. 

JOHN R PATERSON 1 and JIM JAGO 2 

1 University of New England 

2 University of South Australia 

REFERENCES 

Bengtson, S, et al, 1990, ‘Early Cambrian fossils from South Australia’ Memoirs of 

the Association of Australasian Palaeontologists 9, p 1–364. 

Briggs, DEG, and Nedin, C, 1997, ‘The taphonomy and affinities of the problematic 

fossil Myoscolex from the lower Cambrian Emu Bay Shale’ Journal of Paleontology 

71, p 22–32. 

Conway Morris, S, and Jenkins, RJF, 1985, ‘Healed injuries in early Cambrian 

trilobites from South Australia’ Alcheringa 9, p 167–177. 

Cooper, BJ, and Jago, JB, 2009, ‘The discovery of the Emu Bay Lagerstätte, a Burgess 

Shale-type biota from Kangaroo Island, South Australia’ International Commission 

on the history of Geological Sciences, Symposium 34, Fossils and Fuel, Program and 

Abstracts, p 28–30. 

Dzik, J, 2004, ‘Anatomy and relationships of the early Cambrian worm Myoscolex’ 

Zoologica Scripta 33, p 57–69. 

García-Bellido, DC, et al, 2009, ‘Isoxys and Tuzoia with soft-parts from the Emu Bay 

Shale: comparison with material from other Cambrian Lagerstätten’ International 

Conference on the Cambrian Explosion, Abstract Volume, p 72. 

García-Bellido, DC, et al, 2009, ‘The bivalved arthropods Isoxys and Tuzoia with 

soft-part preservation from the lower Cambrian Emu Bay Shale Lagerstätte 

(Kangaroo Island, Australia)’, Palaeontology 52, p 1221–1241 

Glaessner, MF, 1979, ‘Lower Cambrian Crustacea and annelid worms from Kangaroo 

Island, South Australia’ Alcheringa 3, p 21–31. 

McHenry, B, and Yates, A, 1993, ‘First report of the enigmatic metazoan 

Anomalocaris from the Southern Hemisphere and a trilobite with preserved 

appendages from the early Cambrian of Kangaroo Island, South Australia’ Records 

of the South Australian Museum 26, p 77–86. 

Nedin, C, 1995, ‘The Emu Bay Shale, a lower Cambrian fossil Lagerstätten (sic), 

Kangaroo Island, South Australia’ Memoirs of the Association of Australasian 

Palaeontologists 18, p 31–40. 

Nedin, C, 1997, ‘Taphonomy of the early Cambrian Emu Bay Shale Lagerstätte, 

Kangaroo Island, South Australia’ Bulletin of the National Museum of Natural 

Science, Taichung, Taiwan 10, p 133–141. 

Nedin, C, 1999, ‘Anomalocaris predation on nonmineralized and mineralized 

trilobites’ Geology 27, p 987–990. 

Nedin, C, and Jenkins, RJF, 1999, ‘Heterochrony in the Cambrian trilobite Hsuaspis’ 

Alcheringa 23, p 1–7. 

Paterson, JR, et al, in press, ‘Nektaspid arthropods from the lower Cambrian Emu 

Bay Shale Lagerstätte, South Australia, with a reassessment of lamellipedian 

relationships’ Palaeontology. 

Paterson, JR, et al, 2009, ‘The Emu Bay Shale revisited: new discoveries from a lower 

Cambrian Lagerstätte in South Australia’ International Conference on the Cambrian 

Explosion, Abstract Volume, p 49–50. 

Paterson, JR, and Jago, JB, 2006, ‘New trilobites from the lower Cambrian Emu Bay 

Shale Lagerstätte at Big Gully, Kangaroo Island, South Australia’ Memoirs of the 

Association of Australasian Palaeontologists 32, p 43–57. 

Paterson, JR, et al, 2008, ‘Early Cambrian arthropods from the Emu Bay Shale 

Lagerstätte, South Australia’ in: Rábano, I, Gozalo, R, and García-Bellido, D, (Eds) 

Advances in Trilobite Research, Cuadernos del Museo Geominero 9, Instituto 

Geológico y Minero de España, Madrid, p 319–325. 

Sprigg, RC, Campana, B and King, B, 1954, ‘Kingscote map Sheet. South Australia. 

Geological Survey. Geological Atlas 1: 253 440 (4 mile) series, sheet s153-16. 


Special Report 

Beyond Earth: 

geological wonders of Mars 

Astronaut Harrison H Schmitt, the first and (for now) only 

scientist to walk on the Moon, described the 

difficulties he, a field geologist, encountered trying to 

collect rock samples and take measurements on the Moon 

(Schmitt, 2009). He reported not being able to judge distances 

properly, and having to get accustomed to identifying minerals 

and rocks through the varnish and surface erosion caused by 

the impact of micrometeorites. Thanks to his geological knowledge 

he could understand the processes at work and identify 

the rocks and minerals he was examining. 

Humans have not yet landed on Mars. However, the first 

geologists travelling there will not be totally surprised: modern 

observations of the surface of Mars date back to the 

19th century Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli, who 

described linear features on the surface that he called “canali” 

(improperly translated into English as “canals”, instead of the 

correct “channels” or "grooves"). Maps of Mars were published 

by the late nineteenth to early twentieth century American 

businessman turned astronomer Percival Lowell in a 

comprehensive atlas (Lowell, 1895). 

The 1971 orbiter Mariner 9 returned images that, although 

fuzzy by current standards, showed some of the most impressive 

geological features ever described on a planetary body: 

the largest volcano in the solar system, Olympus Mons; the 

extensive chasmata of Valles Marineris; the difference between 

the cratered and ancient southern hemisphere and the flat 

expanses of the northern hemisphere. Images were sufficiently 

detailed to allow the first geological identification of major 

FIGURE 1: The Valles Marineris imaged by the High Resolution Stereo Camera 

aboard Mars Express at a resolution of 12 m per pixel. Image courtesy Mars 

Express, ESA, DLR, FU Berlin (G Neukum). 

S Y M P O S I U M A N N O U N C E M E N T 

14th International Symposium on Deep Seismic 

Profiling of the Continents and their Margins. 

29 August - 3 September, 2010; Cairns, Australia 

The Specialist Group in Solid Earth Geophysics (SG2), together with symposium 

partners including IGCP Project 559, cordially invites you to participate in the 

14th International Symposium on Deep Seismic Profiling of the Continents and their Margins. 

The symposium will be held in the tropical north Queensland coastal city of Cairns from Sunday 29 August to Friday 3 

September, 2010. As in previous symposia, the focus will be on using controlled seismic sources to resolve the architecture 

of the crust and upper mantle as well as on the use of passive seismic imaging techniques to resolve fine structural detail. 

If you are interested in presenting oral and/or poster presentations, please send your name and full contact details to 

seismix10@ga.gov.au. 

Further information will be posted on the symposium web site at www.earthscrust.org (and follow the links) 

later in 2009 and emailed directly to those who submit expressions of interest. 


Big geological features on Mars are really big: the Valles Marineris extends 

3000 km, is at one point 600 km across and up to eight km deep. Mosaic of 

images created by the Viking Orbiters in the 1970s. Image courtesy Viking 

Project, USGS, NASA. 

stratigraphic units synthesised in the first comprehensive 

global geological map of Mars (Scott and Carr, 1978), and in 

the classic 30 Mars Chart (MC) 1:5 000 000 scale maps. Humans 

finally had a definite appreciation of the fact that big 

geological features on Mars are really big! 

More difficult was the identification of smaller, subtler 

features. These features started becoming evident with the 

1975–1982 Viking program which landed rovers in Chryse 

Planitia (22.48° N, 49.97° W), and Utopia Planitia (47.97° N, 

225.74° W). The Viking program also collected many orbiter 

data sets, including images used to produce regional maps of 

Mars (Greeley and Guest, 1987; Tanaka and Scott, 1987), as well 

as a series of 126 1: 500 000 maps on a transverse Mercator 

projection (Mars Transverse Mercator: MTM) and a digital image 

model of the surface (the Viking MDIM), complemented by the 

Viking digital terrain model (DTM), still used in scientific papers 

to generate relief images at regional scale and for geological 

interpretations. 

The landers returned images of a "magnificent desolation" 

different from that experienced by humans on the Moon, but 

no less fascinating. At both landing sites, the landscape was 

characterised by boulder-strewn deserts (Fig 1), with a pinkish 

sky due to suspended particles, but no sign of life (Mutch et al, 

1976a & b). Observation over the course of one year (Jones et 

al, 1979) at the Viking 2 lander site also showed the formation 

of frost. 

With Mars Global Surveyor (MGS), a NASA orbiter which 

operated from 1997 (when it entered Martian orbit) until 2006, 

the Martian surface was imaged to unprecedented detail. The 

Mars Orbiter Camera in its narrow angle mode provided images 

with a resolution as good as 1.5 m/pixel. The coverage of high 

resolution images was not complete, but the data were useful 

to observe details in areas of geological interest. These data 

showed for the first time the layers of volcanic rocks in the walls 

28 | 

TAG December 2009

of Valles Marineris (McEwen et al, 1999); allowed scientists to 

calculate unexpectedly young ages (tens Ma) for the lavas 

erupted from Arsia Mons (Hartmann et al, 1999), the oldest of 

the Tharsis Montes (eg Caprarelli and Leitch, 2009, and refs 

therein); and showed features — such as gullies — interpreted to 

be due to freshwater erosion (Heldmann et al, 2005). Overall, 

the Mars Global Surveyor mission demonstrated that Mars is a 

geologically active planet, on which volcanic and tectonic 

processes occurred until very recent times, and where water and 

aeolian erosion are widespread. 

The NASA Mars Odyssey (2001–present) and ESA Mars 

Express (2003–present) missions overlapped with some of the 

lifetime of Mars Global Surveyor. The combined observations and 

data sets from all three missions have opened our eyes to a world 

of geological complexity deserving of close scrutiny. The data 

returned from all these missions are packed with information. 

Among other things, they have helped clarify the importance of 

extensional tectonics and fissure volcanism throughout the 

geological history of the Martian southern hemisphere 

(Caprarelli et al, 2007); further constrain and understand the 

distribution of water and ice on the surface of the planet and in 

its subsurface; demonstrate the existence of gypsum in the north 

polar region (Fishbaugh et al, 2007), and of hematite and 

sulphate-rich deposits in the sub-equatorial regions of 

Mars (Glotch and Rogers, 2007). Apart from their scientific significance, 

data sets from these missions are instrumental for 

updating and producing new map series: images from the High 

Resolution Stereo Camera on board Mars Express provide data 

useful for topographic maps at various scales (Fig 1). 

Subsequent ongoing NASA missions Mars Exploration Rover, 

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and the Scout Program Phoenix 

lander (which terminated its operations on 10 November 2008, 

although the possibility of reactivation of the lander is not 

excluded), have furthered our knowledge of the Martian surface 

with imagery as good as 25 cm/pixel (High Resolution Imaging 

Science Experiment), by direct analysis of soil, rocks and ice 

along sub-equatorial regions and in the arctic. The data 

returned so far will provide many years of scientific analysis and 

interpretation. 

Most of the past and planned missions to Mars have the 

search for water and life as their primary objectives. In addition 

to these searches, however, all the data in the increasingly 

ponderous global Martian database provide geological information, 

and can be interpreted from a geological perspective. 

The data thus far returned to Earth clearly highlight a geologically 

varied, complex and active planet that represents the next 

frontier of geological studies. Based on his first-hand 

experience in space exploration, Schmitt (2009) indicated that 

at least one field geologist should be part of each crew landing 

on Mars. Pioneering human investigation on a new planet is 

clearly a task for one of the most ancient scientific crafts — that 

of field geologists. 

GRAZIELLA CAPRARELLI 

University of Technology, Sydney 

REFERENCES 

Caprarelli, G, Leitch EC, 2009, ‘Volcanic and structural history of the rocks exposed 

at Pickering crater (Daedalia Planum, Mars)’ Icarus 202, p 453–461. 

Caprarelli, G, et al, 2007, ‘A description of surface features in north Tyrrhena Terra, 

Mars: evidence for extension and lava flooding’ Icarus 191, p 524–544. 

Fishbaugh, KE, et al, 2007, ‘On the origin of gypsum in the Mars north polar region’ 

J Geophys Res 112, E07002, doi: 10.1029/2006JE002862. 

Glotch, TD and Rogers, AD, 2007, ‘Evidence for aqueous deposition of hematite- and 

sulfate-rich light-toned layered deposits in Aureum and Iani Chaos, Mars’ J Geophys 

Res 112, E06001, doi: 10.1029/2006JE002863. 

Greeley, R, and Guest, JE, 1987, USGS Map I-1802-B. 

Hartmann, WK, et al, 1999, ‘Evidence for recent volcanism on Mars from crater 

counts’ Nature 397, p 586–589. 

Heldmann, JL, et al, 2005, ‘Formation of Martian gullies by the action of liquid 

water flowing under current Martian environmental conditions’ J Geophys Res 110, 

E05004, doi: 10.1029/2004JE002261. 

Jones, KL, et al, 1979, ‘One Mars year: Viking lander imaging observations’ Science 

204, p 799–806. 

Lowell P, 1895, Mars, Houghton Mifflin, New York. 

McEwen, AS, et al, 1999, ‘Voluminous volcanism on early Mars revealed in Valles 

Marineris’ Nature 397, p 584–586. 

Mutch, TA, et al, 1976a, ‘The surface of Mars: the view from the Viking 1 lander’ 

Science 193, p 791–801. 

Mutch, TA, et al, 1976b, ‘The surface of Mars: the view from the Viking 2 lander’ 

Science 194, p 1277–1283. 

Schmitt, HH, 2009, ‘From the Moon’ Scientific American 301, p 36–43. 

Scott, DH and Carr, MH, 1978, USGS Map I-1083. 

Tanaka, KL and Scott, DH, 1987, USGS Map I-1802-C. 


FORUM 

Geochronology — a personal perspective 

One of the (few) nice things about 

reaching 80 is that there’s a lot of 

life to look back on. So when TAG 

invited me to contribute an article on some 

aspect of geochronology I decided to review 

its role in my own career, and to affirm that I 

see it as the most significant contributor to 

increased understanding of the Earth during 

my lifetime. 

At school, amongst the Chiltern downs north 

of London, I was taught geology by a master 

with an infectious delight in Chalk fossils, 

and through his encouragement entered 

Imperial College (IC) in London in 1946. The 

strong focus there on Precambrian geology 

was sharpened for me by Robert Shackleton, 

the lecturer in petrology. When he moved to 

Liverpool in 1949, he suggested that I go 

there for my PhD, and so began two memorable 

years working on Dalradian rocks in the 

west of Ireland and the south-west Scottish 

Highlands. In 1951, while writing my thesis, a 

chance came to spend a summer on the 

island of South Georgia; but I was soon 

shipped home with a damaged leg after a 

crevasse fall. Luckily, I returned to South 

Georgia in 1953, and with that work written 

up I joined the Colonial Service, and was 

posted to the Geological Survey of Uganda 

(GSU) as a Field Geologist in 1954. 

The Director of the GSU seemed to dislike me 

on sight, and sent me to map in Karamoja, as 

far as possible from the Survey’s headquarters 

in Entebbe. Life in isolated bush camps 

for my wife and I during the next seven years 

never lacked interest: we saw few white visitors, 

and got on well with the local 

Karimojong herdsmen. The area was a high 

arid savannah plain of ‘basement’ gneisses 

on the edge of the Gregory Rift Valley, dotted 

with volcanic mountains rising to over 

3000 m. It was pristine, thinly-populated 

Africa and fascinating to map, although 

I found it frustrating not to know the ages 

of the rocks I was mapping. When Uganda 

seemed headed for independence we made 

plans to move on with our three children, 

and I successfully applied for a job as petrologist 

with the Geological Survey of Western 

Australia (GSWA). 

At school I was already familiar with the 

pioneering geochronological work of Arthur 

Holmes, mainly through his Principles of 

physical geology (Holmes, 1944). Although 

that work had been done at IC (Lewis, 2000) 

there was no special interest in geochronology 

there in my student years; neither was 

there at Liverpool. Geochronological support 

for mapping in Uganda was never available, 

but the Survey had a serendipitous visit in 

1960 from Norman Snelling, fresh from a 

PhD in Canberra. Snelling talked about 

the new Rb-Sr method, emphasising the 

potential of the “whole-rock isochron” 

approach of Compston and Jeffery (1959). 

A thumbnail of isotope 

geochronology 

A thumbnail sketch of this follows for readers 

who would appreciate a reminder of the 

basic principles of isotope geochronology. 

The Rb-Sr method is based on the radioactive 

decay of 87 Rb to 87 Sr, with a half-life of 4.88 

x 10 10 years. A newly crystallised granite will 

have a low and uniform initial 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratio, 

but as time passes, the decay of 87 Rb steadily 

raises that ratio; faster within minerals 

(eg biotite) that have a high Rb/Sr ratio, and 

more slowly within minerals (eg plagioclase) 

with low Rb/Sr. Any later measurement of 

87 Sr/ 86 Sr relative to Rb content in biotite 

from the granite will give a good age for its 

crystallisation; provided that subsequent 

cooling was fairly quick. 

The analysis is performed using Thermal 

Ionisation Mass Spectrometry (TIMS), which 

involves complete dissolution of the sample, 

wet chemical separation of the Rb and Sr in 

ion-exchange columns, and ionisation of the 

resultant material by heating on a filament 

in the mass spectrometer. The results are 

conveniently shown by plotting the analysis 

on a graph with x= 87 Rb/ 86 Sr and y= 87 Sr/ 86 Sr; 

the age can then be calculated from the 

slope of a line joining the analysis to a point 

on the y–axis assumed to be the initial 

87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratio. 

If the granite body remains hot (>300 o C) for 

a significant time after crystallisation, or is 

reheated during later metamorphism, the 

radiogenic 87 Sr will leak out of the biotite. 

In this case a number of separated minerals 

(eg biotite, plagioclase, K-feldspar) with 

different Rb/Sr ratios are analysed. If these 

analyses plot along a straight line, this is 

called an isochron (or more correctly a 

“mineral isochron”), and the age derived from 

its slope is taken to be the time of most 

recent cooling; which may be much younger 

than its first crystallisation. It is still possible, 

however to “see through” such younger thermal 

events by analysing whole-rock samples 

scattered over the outcrop area of the granite; 

if those analyses plot on a straight-line 

“whole-rock isochron”, the age calculated 

from its slope may be assumed to be the 

original intrusive age of the granite. 

In Perth in 1962 it was a relief to work for 

a Director, Joe Lord, open to rational communication. 

The recently-expanded GSWA was 

systematically mapping the State at a scale 

of 1:250 000. Part of my job as petrologist 

was to visit most of the field parties each 

season, discuss with them issues of rock 

identification and nomenclature, take 

samples back to Perth, and prepare petrology 

reports. The field staff were enthusiastic and 

competent, I became familiar with the 

Precambrian geology of Western Australia 

at first hand, and also saw how much the 

mapping needed geochronological support. 

I knew from Snelling that Peter Jeffery was 

the physicist who, influenced by Sir Marcus 

Oliphant, had set up and led the very successful 

geochronology group in Perth in the 

late 1950s, so I rang him soon after my 

arrival. He explained that his group had been 

disbanded, and suggested that I contact Bill 

Compston at the ANU if I was interested in 

getting geochronological support for GSWA 

mapping. When I met Compston in Perth 


shortly afterwards I found him sympathetic 

to this need, and during the later 1960s a 

good liaison was maintained which resulted 

in a number of geochronological projects 

based on Rb–Sr work. The published results 

are listed by de Laeter and Trendall (1979). 

Productive as that ANU cooperation was, the 

GSWA still needed a local geochronological 

partner. In 1968 I heard that John de Laeter, 

also a PhD student of Peter Jeffery, had been 

appointed to head the Physics Department at 

the Western Australian Institute of 

Technology (WAIT, now Curtin University of 

Technology) in Perth. I contacted John, and 

Joe Lord and I went to discuss the possibility 

of establishing an additional partnership 

with the GSWA. We quickly agreed on a 

simple strategy: project plans to be fully 

discussed in advance; GSWA to be responsible 

for sample collection and physical 

processing; WAIT to do the wet-chemical 

processing and mass spectrometry; and 

interpretation and publication to be joint. 

The appearance of SHRIMP 

Initial pilot projects went well and this new 

partnership progressed steadily and is still in 

operation. Highlights along the way included 

the appointment of a geochronologist (now 

two) to the GSWA, addition of the Sm–Nd 

and U–Pb methods to the original Rb-Sr 

focus, and most importantly, the appearance 

of the Sensitive High-Resolution Ion 

MicroProbe (SHRIMP), the brain-child of Bill 

Compston. This tool, used for zircon analysis, 

has become the tool of choice for better 

understanding the chronology of early-Earth 

history. A simplified explanation (see Ireland 

et al, 2008, for an authoritative account) of 

the advantages of this method follows. 

First; use of the double decay of U to Pb 

( 235 U to 207 Pb and 238 U to 206 Pb) serves as 

a built-in check on the significance of the 

results. Second, the crystal structure of 

zircon makes it, by comparison for example 

with 87 Sr in biotite, highly retentive of 

the radiogenic Pb isotopes. Both these 

advantages also existed in the 1970s when 

the U–Pb decay scheme was applied to both 

whole-rock samples and separated minerals 

(including both multiple and single-crystal 

zircons), using the same ion-exchange 

extraction and TIMS analysis used for the 

Rb–Sr method. 

Alec Trendall mapping Aptian deep water volcaniclastic turbidites on South Georgia, 1951. 

Image courtesy Alec Trendall. 

In contrast to those earlier methods, the 

zircons selected for SHRIMP analysis are 

separated from the rock sample and mounted 

in epoxy disks. These are then ground and 

polished so that a median planar crosssection 

of each zircon is exposed on one of 

the flat faces of the disk. Mounted under 

vacuum in SHRIMP, the crystal is bombarded 

by a narrowly-focused ‘primary’ beam 

(usually about 20 micrometres in diameter) 

of oxygen ions, which ‘sputter’ the zircon 

into a complex mix of ions. These ‘secondary 

ions’ are then accelerated and focused, first 

through an electrostatic analyser, which 

ensures that the required ion species pass 

through to the deflecting magnet and the 

collector in the same way as in TIMS 

analysis. 

Analysis of a single 20 micrometre spot typically 

takes about 20 minutes. A small piece 

of a standard zircon of known age is included 

in every SHRIMP mount, and is routinely 

analysed at the start and end of a 24-hour 

session, a well as at intervals throughout 

that period. Thus the additional strengths of 

SHRIMP are that it cuts out time-consuming 

chemical processing of samples, and it can 

analyse age structure within individual 

zircons, providing evidence for unravelling 

the early history of the sampled rock. The 

potential for continuing development of 

SHRIMP applications is immense. 

The first SHRIMP came to Perth in 1993 and 

two now operate side-by-side at Curtin 

University, in the John de Laeter Centre for 

Mass Spectrometry. I emphasise that this 

TAG December 2009 | 31

short article is a personal story, taking no 

account of the parallel developments in 

geochronology outside Western Australia. The 

latter have been well covered in the landmark 

2008 Thematic Issue of AJES (55, 6/7), 

for which the first seed was sown by the 

Society’s Editor-in-Chief, Tony Cockbain. 

The importance of 

geochronology 

Since becoming involved with geochronology 

in the 1960s I have been fascinated by the 

way that it necessitates both intellectual and 

practical cooperation between traditionally 

compartmentalised sciences — physics and 

geology — and how individuals involved in 

the discipline, entering it from one side or 

the other, handle the problems that 

inevitably arise in the cooperative process. I 

conclude that the more physicists go and 

look at rocks on the ground, and the closer 

the mapping geologists get acquainted with 

the physicists’ sophisticated and expensive 

machines, the more smoothly and effectively 

the whole process works. For my part, I was 

lucky that John de Laeter and Bill Compston 

invited me into their laboratories so that 

I could get hands-on Rb–Sr and U–Pb 

experience. Although by inclination and 

instinct a geologist wedded to the field, 

I count 24-hour analytical sessions with the 

Perth SHRIMP, watching good data flow from 

a stably-operating machine as it opens a 

window on events on Earth billions of years 

ago, as some of the most scientifically 

satisfying experiences of my career. 

So why do I rate geochronology as the most 

significant contributor to increased understanding 

of the Earth during my lifetime 

It is simply because it has provided a reliable 

scale of measured time within which Earth 

history can be objectively analysed: no such 

scale existed when I started out on my 

geological career. One has only to imagine 

how current understanding of the geology of 

Australia, or the dynamics of the Earth as a 

whole, would be impoverished if isotopic/ 

radiometric methods of determining rock 

ages had never been discovered and 

developed. 

Any regrets I am disappointed that 

geologists remain too conservative to accept 

the opportunity that a reliable time scale of 

years offers to abandon the time-honoured 

tradition of applying names to arbitrary 

divisions of time, especially for the 

Precambrian: those names are not needed, 

they divert attention from more significant 

research, and they lead us to think we understand 

the early history of the Earth better 

than we in fact do. I have made this point 

before (Trendall, 1966; 1991), but few are 

listening out there. I remain hopeful that 

time will bring change. 

ALEC TRENDALL 

REFERENCES 

Compston, W and Jeffery, PM, 1959, ‘Anomalous ‘ 

common strontium’ in granite’ Nature, 186, p 702–703. 

de Laeter, JR, and Trendall, AF, 1979, ‘The contribution 

of geochronology to Precambrian studies in Western 

Australia’ Journal of the Royal Society of Western 

Australia 62, p 21–31. 

Holmes, A, 1944, Principles of physical geology, 

Thomas Nelson & Sons, London, 532 pages. 

Ireland, TR, et al, 2008, ‘Development of SHRIMP’ 

AJES 55, p 937–954. 

Lewis, C, 2000, The dating game, Cambridge University 

Press, 253 pages. 

Trendall, AF, 1966, ‘Towards rationalism in 

Precambrian stratigraphy’ Journal of the Geological 

Society of Australia 13, p 517–526. 

Trendall, AF, 1991, ‘The “geological unit” (gu) — 

a suggested new measure of geologic time’ 

Geology 19, 195. 

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Book Reviews 

Stratigraphy terminology 

and practice 

Jacques Rey and Simone Galeotti (Eds) 

Editions Technip, Paris 

2008 

165 pages 

ISBN 978-2-7108-0910-4 

As we already have the International Stratigraphic 

Guide (ISG), why, it could be asked, do we need 

another book like this The foreword explains that 

“this is one of those educational books that take 

off where the ISG stops,” and that it would inspire 

students by presenting stratigraphy in a narrative 

format and making a seemingly boring subject 

come alive. The ISG is deemed to be incomplete or 

poorly adapted to current needs, which is true 

enough and explains why a third edition is in 

preparation, although it probably won’t see the 

light of day for some years. 

Does it succeed in inspiring readers and making 

stratigraphy come alive Not really. While it is a 

bit more readable than the ISG, and therefore 

welcome, the text is still generally pedestrian, 

although it varies according to the authorship of 

particular chapters. I had hoped for a less formal 

style, such as in R C Selley’s Ancient sedimentary 

environments or the Stratigraphic Columns in TAG, 

but it reads more like a standard text book. 

However, the book should be evaluated on what it 

actually contains, and on who could benefit from it. 

This work is a translation of the French 

Stratigraphie – terminologie française initiated by 

the French Committee of Stratigraphy. Different 

sections were translated by different people, and 

the translations, while usually adequate, are variable 

in quality and in places leave something to 

be desired. For example, we have grammatical 

errors such as “thousand of meters”, “a supplementary 

information”, “submultiples” instead of 

“subdivisions”, “evolutive” instead of “evolutionary”, 

“eustatism” instead of “eustacy”, ”chain 

building“ instead of “mountain building”, and even 

“Pays-Bas” for “Netherlands”. While translational 

stumbles occur throughout, they are most 

numerous in chapters two (‘Lithostratigraphy’) 

and seven (‘Specific stratigraphies’). 

There are other pitfalls in translating a book. 

Being of French origin, it naturally contains examples 

from France, eg the Grès de Fontainebleau 

and Calcaire de Comblanchien formations, and a 

facies diagram from the Paris Basin (in French). 

More seriously, while all countries in theory follow 

the ISG, in practice they have their local idiosyncrasies. 

Australia differs in such things as the use 

of the term beds and in suite nomenclature for 

igneous rocks. France also has its differences, as 

exemplified in the definition of suite in the glossary: 

“The name of a suite is composed by the 

term ’Series’ followed by a descriptive adjective, 

such as Plutonic, Granitic, Metamorphic, etc, and 

the name of a geographic locality”. In English we 

have the reverse order, use ‘Suite’ instead of 

‘Series’, and use of the adjective is not mandatory. 

Some terms are not used in this country, eg bank, 

assise, sequences of objects. Australian users of 

this book would need to cross-check with the ISG 

and Australian procedures when clarifying the 

stratigraphic rules. 

The stated main objective of the editors is to 

clarify and standardise stratigraphic vocabulary, by 

introducing, advocating or advising against the use 

of certain words or expressions (eg high resolution 

stratigraphy, allostratigraphy, improper use of 

biochron). Thus they comment on the various terms 

in use, and try to walk a tightrope between etymological 

rigour and general acceptance. The various 

sections are presented in the same way: definition 

of the method, basic vocabulary, and practical 

implications. Words in bold italic in the text are 

defined in the glossary at the back. Both coloured 

and non-coloured figures illustrate the text. 

The chapters deal successively with lithostratigraphy 

(here including sequence stratigraphy and 

cyclic stratigraphy), chemostratigraphy, magnetostratigraphy, 

biostratigraphy, isotope 

geochronology, specific stratigraphies (plutonics, 

metamorphics, Precambrian, superficial units, and 

volcanics), chronostratigraphic units, and the 

geological time scale. 

In chapter two, ‘Lithostratigraphy’, the authors go 

into greater detail than the ISG in some subjects 

such as well logs and the seismic method. However, 

the naming, definition and publication of lithostratigraphic 

units is scant compared to the ISG, 

and therefore not a substitute for the ISG. The 

explanation of seismic stratigraphy, not treated at 

all in the ISG, is a good summary of concepts and 

terms for those not familiar with the subject. No 

firm recommendations are given for defining or 

naming seismic units — this is not surprising, as 

there is currently no internationally-agreed 

scheme for doing so. Cyclostratigraphy, caused by 

astronomical Milankovitch cycles, is not even mentioned 

in the ISG, but is also summarised here. 

The book covers what many geologists are mostly 

concerned about, but then goes on to cover aspects 

of stratigraphy of great interest to geochemists, 

geophysicists and palaeontologists. Of these, 

chemostratigraphy, most often based on stable isotope, 

trace element or organic carbon abundances, 

is not dealt with by the ISG, and its inclusion here 

will be useful to some specialists and those who 

want to know about its various techniques. 

The magnetostratigraphy chapter deals with magnetic 

polarity units (based on reversals in the 

Earth’s magnetic field) and measurement procedures 

in better and much greater detail than the 

ISG. It does not of course mention the magnetosomes 

(TAG 141, p 11) recently approved for use in 

Australia. Similarly, in biostratigraphy, where the 

ISG concentrates on biostratigraphic units, this 

book gives the subject a wider treatment. 

Chapter seven, ‘Specific stratigraphies’, is a mixed 

bag of etceteras, with sections on plutonics, 

metamorphics, Precambrian time subdivision 

(which really belongs in chapter nine), superficial 

units, Quaternary stratigraphy, and volcanic terrains. 

Lithodemic nomenclature (à la North 

American Code of Stratigraphic Nomenclature) is 

recommended for plutonic and metamorphic 

rocks, except that Irvine’s classification is recommended 

for layered intrusions. However, 

Australian readers should be aware that the 

Australian Stratigraphy Commission has adopted a 

suite nomenclature of igneous rocks for use in this 

country (TAG 127, p 19–20). 

The last two chapters discuss chronostratigraphic 

units and the geological time scale respectively. 

The latter includes the theoretical and practical 

aspects of the time scale, including GSSPs and 

radiometric dating issues. The Cenozoic biostratigraphy 

chart contains lettering so small it cannot 

be read even with a magnifying glass! 

In a nutshell, this book does not replace the 

International Stratigraphic Guide, but is complementary 

to it and should be read in conjunction 

with it (which is its intention). Non-stratigraphers 

needing a quick reference source for lithostratigraphy 

will find the ISG sufficient. However, this 

new book contains a good deal of supplementary 

material on a wide range of stratigraphic topics, 

and will be useful to teachers, specialists in 

stratigraphy, and those who want an overview of 

relatively new or fast-developing subjects like 

sequence stratigraphy, cyclostratigraphy, 

chemostratigraphy, magnetostratigraphy, isotope 


geochemistry, and others. Despite its deficiencies 

mentioned above, there is therefore a place for it 

in organisational and some private libraries. 

ALBERT BRAKEL 

Australian Stratigraphy Commission (ACT) 

The real McKay: the remarkable 

life of Alexander McKay, 

geologist 

D G Bishop 

Otago University Press, Dunedin 

2008 

252 pages 

ISBN 978-8-7732-2233 

Life as an exploration geologist was tough in the 

19th century, and especially so in New Zealand 

with its mountainous, bush-clad and often cold 

and rainy terrain. Life as a child in a Scottish 

crofting family was, however, probably even 

tougher and therefore a good preparation for 

Alexander McKay’s adult career. All of which, and 

much more, is described in this fascinating new 

biography of the famous pioneering geologist. 

Author Graham Bishop is no stranger himself to 

the rigours of field geology in steep and heavilybushed 

terrain (he climbed Mt Cook in 1961), 

being one of the New Zealand Geological Survey’s 

premier field-mapping structural geologists during 

the second half of the 20th century. With attendant 

interests as diverse as mountaineering and 

writing poetry, Bishop is well suited to analyse 

and understand the complex character that was 

Alexander McKay (who also wrote poetry, some of 

which is printed in an appendix of the book), and 

to share these insights with us, as he does, in 

direct, well-crafted prose. At the same time, and 

given the relative lack of historical documentation 

for some critical parts of McKay’s career, this book 

represents a dogged exploration effort of its own. 

McKay himself left an unfinished and unpublished 

291-page, typewritten account of his childhood in 

Scotland, emigration to New Zealand, and his early 

days in New Zealand and (briefly) Australia, written 

when he was in his seventies. In order to flesh this 

account out, Graham Bishop has visited the village 

of Carsphairn (near the crest of the Scottish uplands, 

in Galloway), where McKay was born in 1841, the 

third of 10 children. Nearby lies the Woodhead lead 

mine that sustained the village between 1838 and 

1852, and Braidenoch, an isolated moorland farm 

where young Alex lived for four years to avoid a 

typhoid epidemic in his birth village. 

The book opens with the appropriately-titled 

chapter ‘Scotland – an austere beginning’, in 

which Bishop describes these and other circumstances 

of McKay’s childhood days, and his acquisition 

of carpentry skills to accompany his shepherding 

experience. It was, however, the existence 

of a village library, fostered by Colonel Cathcart, 

owner of the Woodhead mine, which opened 

Alexander’s eyes to the wider world outside the 

Scottish uplands, including the arousal of his 

interest in gold mining from descriptions of the 

California gold rush. 

Alexander decided to follow his elder brother, who 

emigrated to New Zealand in 1863, sailing from 

Glasgow on the Helenslee, which took 79 days to 

make the journey to Bluff at the south end of 

South Island, New Zealand. Bishop writes that 

“when McKay arrived in 1863, New Zealand was 

still a frontier land for Europeans”, as indeed it was. 

War with the native Maori was still in progress in 

North Island, and where McKay had landed, the 

roads were little more than wagon tracks, walking 

being the main method of getting anywhere. 

Starting on the Otago goldfields, and as an agricultural 

worker without any scientific training, by 

1883 McKay had established himself as an essential 

field geologist within the Geological Survey, 

engaged in fieldwork in rugged terrain throughout 

New Zealand, and having already published 50 

scientific papers! This remarkable achievement 

was aided by McKay’s luck in falling in with 

Canterbury provincial geologist Julius von Haast, 

who in turn recommended him to James Hector 

(the founding Director of the Geological Survey) 

as an excellent fossil collector, for which purpose 

he was thenceforward employed. 

To learn more of the fascinating details of 

McKay’s development from agricultural worker 

and gold fossicker to respected scientist you obviously 

have to read Graham Bishop’s book in full, 

which I strongly recommend that you do. 

Australian readers may be particularly interested 

in chapter six, which contains an account of a 

brief trip that McKay took to Queensland in 1864 

in order to try his luck at gold mining near 

Clermont. McKay suffered from the heat, and may 

even have contracted malaria during this trip — 

which in part explains his decision to return to 

New Zealand in time for Christmas 1865. 

The real McKay is attractively produced, with very 

readable layout and good choice of pictures. I saw 

no typos, so the book has also been carefully 

proofed. Some readers will applaud that the footnotes 

are gathered at the end of the book, whereas 

others (including me) would prefer to have had 

them in their proper place at the bottom of the 

relevant page. And seeing as a reviewer has to 

find an obligatory nit to pick, here it is. The location 

of the number “6” on the aerial photograph 

of the Hollyford–Routeburn valleys (p 134) is 

misplaced, for it falls on the Hollyford River flats 

whereas the caption describes it as: “McKay 

camped at the bushline...not far below Harris 

Saddle”. This will be an easy matter to correct in 

the book’s reprinting, which is sure to occur! 

This is an exceptional book that will be enjoyed by 

all readers with interests in geology, exploration 

or history, or all three. And even more so by those 

who know a little about the geology of New 

Zealand, for they will be familiar with some of the 

science highways and byways that Graham Bishop 

explores through the eyes of McKay’s career. 

However, and as the author writes in the preface, 

the book is mainly “about a man, his trials, tribulations, 

achievements and personality”, which is 

precisely why it generates a compelling interest 

for the general reader, too. 

That McKay was a giant of 19th-century New 

Zealand geological science has always been 

sensed, but never has it been so well described 

and accounted for as it is in Graham Bishop’s 

delightful new book. 

BOB CARTER 

James Cook University 

Climate change and groundwater 

W Dragoni and BS Sukhija (Eds) 

Geological Society of London 

Special Publication 288 

The editors claim that this volume provides a 

glimpse into issues, assessment requirements, and 

environmental problems related to groundwater 

usage and climate change. It delivers. But, since 

groundwater systems are large, and diffuse slowly, 

they also record past climates and yield clues as 

to what might happen in the present-day context. 

Several papers in this volume offer interesting historical 

correlations. 

There are 13 papers in the book. Two are reviews; 

Dragoni and Sukhija summarise current knowledge 

and directions for future research. They also discuss 

the uncertainties implicit in the scale of change 

and their hydrological expression. This is a bucket 

of reality which should be read by all: global 

warmers, deniers and politicians. Salgot and Torrens 

discuss the factors affecting management, scarcity 

and reclamation of supply, and collateral issues 

including salinity and pollution. If you want a 

checklist of factors and pathogens, then this 

chapter is for you. The case example from the 

Mediterranean carries implications for Australia. 


Two papers relate to a great extent to ancient history, 

hydrological response and modern recharge 

and change in usage over time. The case studies 

are from Canaan, as well as a review of spring 

history in central Greece. Both papers provide 

information which should be acceptable for inclusion 

in International Panel on Climate Change 

(IPCC) reports where proxy evaluations of past climates 

tend to be underdone. There are some very 

clear messages here. 

A case study in Spain (Espinar et al) demonstrates 

the impact of solar cycles using spectral analysis, 

along with some depressing trends in piezometric 

surfaces. 

Three papers present studies of recharge histories 

and relationships to past and present climate 

changes; one in Pakistan and two in India. The 

Pakistan case is perhaps the most interesting 

paper in the book. Each recharge study is comprehensive 

as well as depressing because it is clear 

that we can very easily mismanage the aquifers 

involved by silly policy or demand pressures from 

users. The techniques used in these studies, along 

with the isotopic observations, are exemplary. 

I was, however, a little worried by Sukhija’s conclusion 

that deep, confined aquifers be used to 

cover drought conditions above — when movement 

is 1 km/1000 years, and in need of very 

careful use and recharge balancing. Human greed 

might step in and destroy the resource. This does 

seem to happen a lot. 

Two papers consider model studies in terms of 

predicted climates and water movements, including 

links to surface systems, with examples from 

Canada and East Asia. Both these papers show 

how previous climate optima and minima have 

been impressed in the water system and current 

changes will not be different. These things take a 

long time to work through. 

Three papers consider water-balance case studies in 

karst and related systems using examples from 

Bulgaria and southern Italy. These papers are 

absolutely depressing given the dependence on 

groundwater. Groundwater provides 86–99% of 

drinking water in Italy, the exact proportion 

depending on region. Every Australian should read 

the two Italian papers — Australian governments 

need to undertake the kind of research involved 

and then move fast. I wonder how Italy will get by 

But, at least they know what they are dealing with. 

This is an interesting and overdue book. It offers 

much food for thought. Managers need a copy 

because much is applicable in Australia. The historical 

studies stress the long-term impacts and 

reactions of climate change and mismanagement. 

Those who would fix climate change by carbon 

capture or emission reduction can forget it: the 

water system is too big, too long-term, and has 

already begun to react. The message of this book: 

get moving on adaptation to changing circumstances. 

Failure to do this, in the past, led to the 

death of civilisations. 

DAVID LEAMAN 

Leaman Geophysics, Hobart 

Devonian reef complexes of the 

Canning Basin 

Phillip Playford, Roger Hocking and Tony Cockbain 

Published by the Geological Survey of Western 

Australia 

444 pages 

ISBN: 978-1-74168-233-5 

Price $77 (inc GST) plus shipping — order from 

www.dmp.wa.gov.au/GSWApublications 

GSWA Bulletin 145, Devonian Reef Complexes of 

the Canning Basin, is an outstanding publication 

that is beautifully presented in a box set incorporating 

a 444-page book and eight fold out maps, 

all for the remarkable price of $77. This is exceptional 

value, but more importantly, it is a work of 

exceptional science that brings together over 50 

years of work by the authors Phil Playford, Roger 

Hocking and Tony Cockbain. 

The Canning Basin reef complexes have been variously 

described as “The Great Devonian Barrier 

Reef” or “Devonian Great Barrier Reef”. One only 

has to look at the beautiful cover picture on the 

presentation box showing the world-renowned 

“classic face” of the reef complex at Windjana 

Gorge to appreciate how apt these names are. This 

breathtaking scene reveals the complete transition 

from flat-bedded back-reef and reef-flat limestones 

through massive reef-margin on into 

steeply dipping marginal slope deposits — a truly 

spectacular set of geological relations. 

The publication provides a complete and comprehensive 

coverage of all aspects of the field geology 

of the Canning reefs, including lithostratigraphy, 

sequence stratigraphy and cyclicity, diagenesis, 

structure and biostratigraphy as well as an 

outline of the different types of platform margins 

and marginal-slope debris deposits. The book also 

includes sections on mineralisation, including the 

well-known Mississippi valley-type lead–zinc 

mineralisation; on siliciclastic conglomerates, which 

are intercalated with the reefs; and on palaeo-karst 

features, which include the effects related to 

Permian Gondwana glaciation. The biostratigraphy 

section is complemented by three appendices on 

conodonts (Gil Klapper), ammonoids (Becker and 

House) and palynology (Geoff Playford). 

Furthermore, the book contains a section of some 

130 pages detailing the key locations within the 

reefs to highlight the important geological features 

that are well exposed in the region. 

All sections of the book are complemented by 

high-quality illustrations, almost all of which are 

in colour (apart from some historic black-andwhite 

photographs). These figures include measured 

sections, sketches and maps of key locations 

and relations, and a spectacular set of photographs 

ranging from aerial vistas, through field 

shots of outcrop features, to thin sections of the 

constituent components of the limestones. 

The fold out maps are at scales ranging from 

1:500 000 to 1:25 000 and cover the exposed 

extent of the reef complexes. 

The depth, diversity and quality of the publication 

ensure that this is a book of general interest that 

should appeal to a wide spectrum of the Earth 

Science community. Certainly if you are interested 

in carbonate systems, whether from geologic, geomorphologic 

or applied perspectives, this is a 

must-have publication. But it should also appeal 

to anyone interested in how high-quality field 

work can be used to document fundamental 

insights into Earth processes. The text is well written 

and will be accessible to a broad cross-section 

of the community from specialist researchers to 

the general public, and I’m sure it will be appreciated 

by science teachers and students and those 

members of the public with an interest in environment 

and landscape. 

We owe Phil Playford, Roger Hocking and Tony 

Cockbain our thanks for undertaking and completing 

the monumental task of documenting this 

unique and world-class piece of geological real 

estate, and for presenting the results in such an 

accessible manner. Phil in particular, who has literally 

spent a lifetime mapping and studying the 

reefs, is to be congratulated. We also owe a debt 

to the Geological Survey of Western Australia for 

supporting and facilitating this work for over half 

a century. 

Geology, like many aspects of our modern society, 

seems to place increasing emphasis on hot topics 

and short funding cycles with immediate highimpact 

outcomes. We are fortunate that some 

individuals and organisations take a longer-term 

view to ensure lasting and high quality results. 

This publication is an outstanding example of the 

value of classic descriptive, field-based geology 

and we are fortunate in Australia to have such 

strong and active State, Territory and National 

Geological Surveys filled with dedicated scientists 

documenting our geological heritage. 

PETER CAWOOD 

School of Earth and Environment 



Tony Cockbain standing on a dip slope of Sadler 

Limestone on the west flank of McWhae Ridge. 

The 41° dip is primarily depositional. Photo by 

Phil Playford, 1968 (Figure 141 in the bulletin, 

in colour). 

Postscript: For those interested in a shorter field 

guide to the Canning reefs, I recommend 

Guidebook to the geomorphology and geology of 

the Devonian Reef Complexes of the Canning 

Basin, Western Australia by Phillip Playford, 

Geological Survey of Western Australia, Record 

2009/5, 72 pages. This is available as a free PDF 

download from www.dmp.wa.gov.au/gswa. 

Dynamics of crustal magma 

transfer, storage and differentiation 

C Annen and GF Zellmer (Eds) 

Geological Society of London Special Publication 304 

2008 

ISBN 978-86239-258-8 

Special Publication 304 was born of a session at 

the 2006 AGU Fall Meeting comprising 69 posters 

and oral presentations. Only about nine of those 

made it into the volume, along with three invited 

papers. Despite the broad scope implied by the 

title, all but two of the papers deal with arcs of 

some sort, and the only two papers dealing specifically 

with granites both come from the Tuolomne 

intrusive suite. Several of the papers in this volume 

refer to U-series isotopes, and a review paper 

on the subject would have been a useful inclusion. 

The book contains very few typographical errors, 

or errors in the references or to the diagrams and 

tables: those few that I did find do not interfere 

with the meaning or prevent the reference being 

easily located. The diagrams are clear and welldesigned 

(with a few exceptions). The reference 

lists are impressively up-to-date (as recent as 

2007). The introduction by Zellmer and Annen is 

particularly valuable, dealing with each section of 

the book via a background and then the contribution 

of this volume. It is a very good summary of 

the latest thinking on the dynamics of magma 

transfer, storage and differentiation, and a useful 

entry into the literature. 

The first section of the volume (Magma transfer: 

from mantle to surface) comprises a paper by 

Zellmer using a global Holocene database to make 

first-order inferences about correlations between 

magma viscosity and several parameters, and a 

paper by Cigolini and others on Stromboli. While 

some are sure to quarrel with Zellmer’s estimates 

for their own backyards, the paper should stimulate 

regional and detailed studies. The paper by 

Cigolini and others is very densely written, and 

with an introduction more like a laundry list, the 

importance of Stromboli is not readily apparent. 

The second section (Dynamics of magma 

transport) comprises a mathematical model for sill 

formation by Bunger, an exhaustive treatment by 

Wright and Klein of the dynamics of magma supply 

at Kilauea, and a study of the Popocatepetl 

volcano in Mexico. In the paper by Bunger, neither 

the introduction nor the conclusions present a 

case for the relevance of the model to real rocks. 

The paper by Wright and Klein is let down by 

some badly reproduced and designed figures, some 

of which are so packed with information that any 

patterns or highlights are obscured. 

The third section (Magma reservoir dynamics) consists 

of a superb summary by Jerram and Martin 

on the importance of understanding crystal populations 

in igneous systems, and a paper by Ban 

and colleagues on a short-lived stratified magma 

chamber beneath a volcano in Japan, which adds 

to the growing evidence for magma mixing and 

mingling in arc systems. 

The fourth section (Processes of silicic melt generation) 

comprises five papers, four of them from 

the western United States, and one from the Izu 

Bonin arc. Dosseto and others use recent findings 

from U-series isotope studies on arc volcanic rocks 

to infer timescales for a range of modelled 

processes, and show (not surprisingly perhaps) 

that chamber geometry exerts a strong influence 

on the time taken for crystallisation of magma. 

Gray and others look at the Tuolumne Intrusive 

Suite, once regarded as a consanguineous zoned 

pluton. They build on recent geochronology to 

examine plausible petrogenetic processes, and 

make some useful comments on the way that 

intrusions such as these are mapped and subdivided, 

and what the subdivisions mean. Notably, their 

trace element plots show a great deal of scatter, 

which in older rocks could easily (and erroneously) 

be attributed to the effects of metamorphic overprinting. 

Following on, Burgess and Miller examine 

the voluminous Cathedral Peak Granodiorite, the 

largest unit of the suite. They document a very 

dynamic, and possibly short-lived, system. 

Leeman and colleagues look at the problem of 

deriving large volumes of low δ 18 O rhyolites from 

the upper crust, and the role of basalt intrusion in 

the Snake River Plain–Yellowstone area. Their 

models point to rather unspectacular melt fluxes, 

which casts some doubt on hot spot models for 

the volcanic rocks. 

Should you buy this book Most people working in 

the fields of igneous petrology and geochemistry, 

or volcanology will probably want their library to 

have a copy, but I suspect that only those with a 

detailed interest in arc systems will make sustained 

use of the book. However, for the remainder, 

most will find at least some of the papers 

very helpful. 

STEVE SHEPPARD 

Geological Survey of Western Australia 

Department of Mines and Petroleum 

The internal structure of fault 

zones, implications for mechanical 

and fluid-flow properties 

CAJ Wibberley, W Kurtz, J Imber, RE Holdsworth 

and C Collettini (Eds) 


2008 

Faults are typically not discrete planes, but zones 

of deformed rock with complex internal structure. 

This has profound implications for the way we 

assess fluid migration; faults may act as conduits 

for enhanced fluid flow or as barriers to fluid flow. 

This qualitative observation is not new to geologists 

who have worked on primary gold deposits. 

What this book provides is a wealth of quantitative 

global observations in a series of papers 

authored by mostly Europe-based geologists (there 

is one Australian and one American paper). The 

book commences with an informative review and 

continues with papers describing mature research. 

Whilst frequently mentioning applications to 

petroleum science and seismicity, one of the 

papers also mentions metal mineralisation. Some 

papers using observational science favour processes 

driven by high fluid pressures, others using 

computer modelling conclude that fluid migrates 

into deformation induced dalliances. The topic 

clearly remains controversial. The presentation and 

quality are excellent, as we have come to expect 

from this book series by the Geological Society of 

London. 

JULIAN VEARNCOMBE 


Landscape evolution: denudation, 

climate and tectonics over different 

time and space scales 

K Gallagher, SJ Jones and J Wainwright 


2008 

The famous postulate, that the present is the key 

to the past is nowhere more relevant than in geomorphology. 

We observe modern processes of 

landscape change (denudation, tectonics, volcanism 

etc) and then use these processes to infer 

both short and long-term changes in the landscape. 

Sound easy Well, not really, as this book 

well demonstrates. 

Published in 2008, this book is the result of a 2004 

William Smith conference (presumably the same 

William Smith whose geological map “changed the 

world”), but annoyingly nowhere in the book does it 

say where the conference was held, nor does it 

divulge the number and identity of the participants. 

I would guess, from the predominance of UK 

authors and conference sponsors, that it was held 

somewhere in the UK but it would have been nice 

to be informed. That it took a few years for the 

book to materialise is reflected in the general lack 

of post-2004 citations, but that does not really 

detract from the quality of the work. 

The overall theme of the conference (and this 

book), was to investigate links between denudation, 

climate and tectonics by focusing on: 

1. how the geologic record preserves the nature 

and variability of erosion processes on a wide 

range of spatial and temporal scales (from years 

to millions of years); 

2. how this record can be interrogated through 

field and laboratory observations; 

3. how physical models can be integrated with 

these observational data to provide deeper 

insights into links between surface processes, climate 

and tectonics. 

Flipping through the book, I was initially somewhat 

overwhelmed and disappointed by the diversity of 

scales, approaches and topics contained in the 11 

main chapters. Was this just a rag-bag of papers 

with no unifying theme However, the overview 

chapter, by the editors, helped to bring it all 

together and reminded me that there was indeed 

connectivity. 

Without going into detail, here is a flavour of the 

chapters: 

● timescales of tectonic landscapes; 

● geomorphological equilibrium in dryland 

environments; 

● modelling cockpit karst landscapes;¨ 

● debris flows and hillslope evolution — 

continuous or catastrophic; 

● limits to resolving catastrophic events in 

Quaternary fluvial deposits; 

● links between fluvial history and solar activity; 

● insights into bedload transport from flume 

experiments; 

● inferring bedload transport rates from 

stratigraphic successions; 

● denudation chronology and evolution in the 

Eastern Pyrenees; 

● major controls on landforms in southern Africa; 

● submarine erosion of canyons. 

OK, so modelling cockpit karst landscapes (which 

have a morphology like the inside of an egg carton) 

is not my bag, but as a geomorphologist and 

geologist I found something of more than passing 

interest in most of the chapters. 

While this book will appeal to geomorphologists, 

this is not so much a book that should be on a 

geologists’ own bookshelf, as one that should be 

on a geologists’ library bookshelf. 

BRAD PILLANS 

Structurally complex reservoirs 

SJ Jolley, D Barr, JJ Walsh and RJ Knipe (Eds) 

Geological Society London Special Publication 292 

2007 

488 pages 

This volume is another in the series of excellent 

special publications put out by the Geological 

Society. The volume was inspired by the 

Structurally complex reservoirs conference held in 

London in February–March 2006, and comprises 25 

papers. These papers emanate from the recognition 

that many modern petroleum exploration and 

production companies have portfolios including 

reservoirs that are highly fractured and faulted. 

The initial paper is an introductory one that provides 

context to the rest of the volume and is a good 

overview for anyone unfamiliar with the topic. The 

collection of papers covers recent and outstanding 

issues pertaining to complex reservoirs, and can be 

broadly subdivided into four areas; (i) structural 

complexity and fault geometry, (ii) detection and 

prediction of faults and fractures, (iii) the subdivision 

of reservoirs into sub-reservoirs/compartments along 

with storage– transmissivity characteristics, and 

(iv) critical factors affecting complex reservoirs. The 

volume is concluded by a section that gives some 

idea as to the directions and priority areas for future 

research and exploration, both of which will further 

enhance our understanding of complex reservoirs. 

Many of the papers deal with the current ability 

to model the features of reservoirs, with the 

volume as a whole presenting many of the 

technical issues confronting modelling and 

subsequent application of model outputs. A workflow 

of the reservoir structural geologist is given, 

and covers topics such as detection, mapping and 

prediction of faults; fault-property modelling and 

flow modelling of reservoir production. 

It is of interest that much of the information is 

gained from data-acquisition techniques, such as 

3D-seismic definition and mapping of faults and 

other structures. Although this knowledge is 

commonplace in the petroleum industry, 3Dseismic 

is an emerging and important technique 

in the minerals industry, and I have personally 

been involved in very exciting programs using this 

technology for mineral exploration. In this sense, 

the papers are very pertinent to exploration in 

general and the concepts and techniques are 

definitely not restricted to petroleum reservoirs. 

The parallels between mineral exploration and 

petroleum exploration are very important and 

much closer than many people appreciate. Original 

basin formation geometries and structures 

commonly localise subsequent hydrothermal mineral 

systems, and the reactivation of structures 

such as growth faults is often integral to this. 

The localisation of high-permeability stratigraphic 

units commonly focuses inflow of mineralising 

fluids. Most mineral systems worldwide owe their 

presence to structure at some scale, and the 

knowledge of many aspects of fault initiation, 

growth and interaction has been sourced — at 

least partly — from the study of sedimentary 

basins. 

Reading this volume also made me aware of the 

similarity in problems faced by both minerals and 

petroleum industries. For example, there is recognition 

that the failure to define the geometry, kinematics, 

scale and connectivity of fault systems is 

commonly a major source of error in modelling 

complex reservoirs. This is also the case in mineral 

exploration, and can be the result of pressures on 

geologists and geophysicists to quickly produce 

definitive maps rather than benefiting from data 

from a variety of techniques. Given the current 

financial crisis, I predict we will see more and more 

of these errors as the minerals industry cuts costs. 

Overall, this is an excellent volume, enhanced with 

abundant colour diagrams and case studies. The 

strong focus toward modelling may put some of 

the more pragmatic geologists off, but this should 

not be a deterrent. I would recommend it to people 

in industry and research, and to workers in both the 

petroleum and minerals exploration industries. 

BRETT DAVIS 

Consolidated Minerals 


Books for review 

Please contact the Geological Society of Australia Business 

Office (info@gsa.org.au) if you would like to review any of the 

following publications. 

New for December 2009 

From the Geological Society of London 

www.geolsoc.org.uk/bookshop 

SP316 Palaeoseismology: historical and 

prehistorical records of earthquake ground 

effects for seismic hazard assessment 

K Reicherter, AM Michetti and PG Silva 

SP319 Sediment-hosted gas hydrates: 

new insights on natural and synthetic systems 

D Long, M Lovell, JG Rees and CA Rochelle 

SP320 Periglacial and paraglacial processes 

and environments 

J Knight and S Harrison 

SP324 Thermochronological methods: from 

palaeotemperature constraints to landscape 

evolution models 

F Lisker, B Ventura and UA Glasmacher 

Re-advertised 

The following books are published by the Geological Society of 

London, www.geolsoc.org.uk/bookshop but are available from 

the GSA for review, contact info@gsa.org.au 

TMS003: Ostracods in British stratigraphy 

JE Whittaker and MB Hart 

SP313: Underground gas storage 

DJ Evans and RA Chadwick 

SP309: The future of geological modelling in 

hydrocarbon development 

A Robinson, P Griffiths, S Price, J Hegre and A Muggeridge 

SP308: Geodynamic evolution of East Antarctica 

M Satish-Kumar, Y Motoyoshi, Y Osanai, Y Hiroi and K Shiraishi 

SP307: Fluid motions in volcanic conduits 

SJ Lane and JS Gilbert 

SP306: The nature and origin of compression 

in passive margins 

H Johnson, AG Dore, RW Gatliff, RE Holdsworth, ER Lundin, 

JD Ritchie 

SP303: Biogeochemical controls on 

palaeoceanographic environmental proxies 

WEN Austin and RH James 

SP302 Structure and emplacement of 

high-level magmatic systems 

K Thomson and N Petford 

SP298: Tectonic aspects of the 

Alpine–Dinaride–Carpathian system 

S Siegesmund, B Fugenschuh and N Froitzheim 

SP294: West Gondwana 

RJ Pankhurst, RAJ Trouw, BB de Brito Neves and MJ de Wit 

SP293: Metasomatism in oceanic and 

continental lithospheric mantle 

M Coltorti and M Gregoire 

SP276 Economic and palaeoceanographic 

significance of contourite deposits 

AR Viana and M Rebesco 

SP264: Compositional data analysis 

in the geosciences 

A Buccianti, G Mateu-Figueras and V Pawlowsky-Glahn 

SP244: Submarine slope systems: 

processes and products 

DM Hodgson and SS Flint 

GEOQuiz 

1. How was the metre originally defined 

2. What happened on 29 February 1900 

3. What is an astronomical unit 

4. The names September, October, November and December come 

from roots meaning seven, eight, nine and ten. Why 

5. What was the year before 1 AD 

6. What does SI stand for 

A Christmas quiz on a miscellany of units of measurement! 

7. Pa, K and J are SI units. After whom were they named 

8. The speed of light is 186 000 miles per second. What is it in SI 

units 

9. What is the numerical value of the temperature that is the same on 

the Fahrenheit and Celsius scale 

10. How is the date of Easter calculated 

BY TOR MENTOR Answers on page 45 


Letters to the Editor 

A Curie point 

Author Robert Reid’s 1974 biography of Marie 

Curie is a compelling account of the life of this 

remarkable scientist and her physicist husband, 

Pierre. Their legendary work is well-documented, 

particularly by Marie Curie herself; she coined 

the term ‘radioactive’ and isolated and named the 

elements polonium and radium. The Curies’ 

research was conducted under appalling primitive 

conditions over many years, well before the 

effects of exposure to radiation were considered. 

Given their prolonged and direct exposure to 

high levels of radioactivity, what became of these 

scientists How long did they live and how did 

they die And what of their two daughters who 

were conceived and born during the course of 

this research Marie Curie was born as Maria 

Sklodowska in Warsaw (now Poland) on 7 

November 1867; her death in France on 4 July 

1934 from aplastic anaemia has been ascribed to 

prolonged exposure to radioactivity. The life 

expectancy of women born in Paris in 1867 was 

42 years, some five years more than elsewhere in 

France (Preston, 1978). 

Pierre Curie was born in Paris on 15 May 1859 

and died there on 19 April 1906. His death at the 

age of 47 years approximated the average mortality 

rate but his passing could not be attributed 

to the effects of radiation: he was run over by a 

horse-drawn wagon on a rainy day. 

The Curie family was exceptionally well placed 

to demonstrate the effects of chronic exposure to 

high levels of radiation in relation to the 

conception, birth and health of their children. 

Their first daughter, Irène Joliot-Curie, was born 

on 12 September 1897, just as her parents were 

launching their groundbreaking work. During 

World War I, both Marie and Irène set up, operated 

and directed some 200 French mobile X-ray 

units in the field. In 1935, Irène was awarded the 

Nobel Prize for chemistry jointly with her husband, 

for research on artificial radioactivity. Later 

in life she was diagnosed with tuberculosis but it 

was leukemia which claimed her life on 17 March 

1956. The life expectancy of women born in Paris 

in 1897 was 46 years. 

In 1903, Marie Curie’s second pregnancy ended in 

miscarriage, whilst she was cycling in the countryside. 

The couple’s second daughter, Ève Curie 

Labouisse, was born on 6 December 1904, while 

her parents were regularly handling relatively 

large quantities of radioactive substances. 

However, unlike her parents and sister, Ève did not 

pursue a scientific career; she died on 22 October 

2007 aged 103; yet the life expectancy of women 

born in Paris in 1904 was 48 years. 

What’s to be made of these observations The 

person with the highest exposure to radioactive 

substances lived to an age of 67 years, some 30 

years past her life expectancy. Her eldest daughter 

lived to an age of 59 years, some 13 years past her 

life expectancy, whilst the younger daughter lived 

to the venerable age of 103 years, some 55 years 

past her life expectancy. The husband and father 

of the family died in a traffic accident. 

If exposure to radioactivity is as lethal and 

genetically catastrophic as popular opinion would 

have it, then the Curie family is not a good 

example. Then again, neither are other pioneers 

in this field, such as Ernest Rutherford 

(1871–1937), whose passing was due to a fall 

from a tree whilst pruning. Curieux 

BOHDAN (BOB) BURBAN 

Los Angeles, 2009 

REFERENCES 

Preston, SH, 1978, ‘Urban French mortality in the 

nineteenth century’ in Population Studies (July 1978) 

32, 2, p 275–299. 

Reid, R, 1974, ‘Marie Curie’ Library of Congress 

Catalog Card No 74-3469. 

Celebrating the International 

Year of Astronomy 

Reading TAG 152, p 45, I found a letter from 

Colin C Brooks, referring to the news article I 

wrote, published in TAG 151, p 16–18, entitled: 

“Celebrating the International Year of Astronomy”. 

It was flattering to realise that somebody had 

actually read my piece. In the interest of publishing 

correct information, though, I must make the 

point that I am not an astronomer, but I have a 

PhD in Earth Sciences, and as such I am a full 

member of the Geological Society of Australia. 

I, and many other members of the Geological 

Society of Australia participating in the Planetary 

Geoscience Specialist Group, also have very keen 

interests in anything planetary, as a way to understand 

Earth and the evolution of the solar system. 

While Wegener’s words and example highlighted 

in my original piece undoubtedly can be interpreted 

to teach many and diverse lessons to us 

all, I disassociate myself from the implications 

raised in Colin Brook’s letter, regarding the specific 

case of CO 2 emissions and global climate 

change. Everybody is entitled to their opinions. 

Representing nobody but myself, my personal 

convictions on this topic, as a non-expert in the 

field of climate change and human emissions of 

CO 2 , is that in doubt (assuming there are doubts) 

the precautionary principle applies. Studying 

Venus has shown us what happens to a planet 

once a runaway greenhouse effect takes hold: 

boiling of the oceans, thickening of the 

atmosphere and unliveable atmospheric pressure 

conditions, as well as painfully hot surface 

temperatures. When that happens it is too late to 

do anything. Studying other planets might soon 

become a matter of survival: we might have to 

move to Mars one day. 

GRAZIELLA CAPRARELLI 

Peter Cawood, 

I address this to you as President of the GSA. I 

assume that you, in that position, bear a significant 

responsibility for the Position Statement, 

dated 15 July 2009, of the GSA Executive 

Committee published on p 31 of TAG Sept 2009. 

On that assumption, I call on you to resign from 

the position of President. 

How dare the Executive Committee infer that the 

Position Statement represents the scientific 

and/or political views of “…more than 2000 

Australian Earth Scientists from academic, industry, 

government and public sector research 

organisations” The Position Statement does not 

represent my views; and I think that it does not 

represent the views of many other members. 

Perhaps, as both the executive and I consider the 

issues involved to be of importance and as so 

many in the geological community also do (as 

evidenced by the unprecedented attendance at 

“Ian Plimer’s” debate at Gloucester Park), the 

Position Statement should be withdrawn until the 

views of all members have been canvassed and 

addressed. 

In particular, as a scientist and a geologist, I 

strongly disagree with paragraph three on p 31 

(except for the first sentence); with paragraph 

four; with paragraph five; with “this record 

shows….on global climate” in paragraph six; and 

with recommendation one. 

Of lesser import is the possible effect that the distribution 

of the statement could have on the willingness 

of AIG members to vote for the merger. It 

has certainly caused me to consider voting 

against the merger and to consider resigning 

from the GSA. 

JOHN DOEPEL 

The decision to discontinue merger discussions 

was made well before this statement was printed 

in TAG — the two are unrelated. Editor 


Ian Plimer again 

It may be best to just forget Ian Plimer’s book on 

climate change, and ignore the book’s few boosters 

(the latest being Peter Legge and Ross Fardon 

in the September 2009 TAG), but as Fardon has 

used my name, I will make a few comments. He 

seems to have read my very brief letter to The 

Australian but may be unaware of my review 

broadcast on the ABC’s Science Show (accessible 

at www.abc.net.au/rn/scienceshow/stories/2009/ 

2586947.htm). Anyone interested can find more 

extensive comments there. 

The book is a farrago of errors, contradictions, 

irrelevancies and conspiracy theories. Peerreviewing 

of research, flawed though it is, has 

served us well for more than a century in minimising 

the publication of bad science like this. 

Doing science well is hard work and it can be 

frustrating trying to get it published, but it is a 

system that works, and it can cope with vigorous 

debates and disputes such as those to do with climate 

change. Plimer’s book has been subjected to 

none of these rigours. It is not as if he does not 

know better as he has a significant publication 

record and an excellent record in communicating 

geology to the public. 

It is fair to ask why Plimer has not published at 

least his most significant interpretations in the 

peer-reviewed literature. I can find no such publications 

on his website. Do he and his supporters 

contend, for example, that if he submitted a wellreasoned 

manuscript to the Australian Journal of 

Earth Sciences that our Editor would reject it 

because it was unfashionable Potentially hostile 

reviews would offer no explanation. Reviewers 

make recommendations, not decisions. Whether 

or not to publish comes down to the judgement 

of the editor. 

Let Plimer and his supporters do the hard work 

and publish their interpretations in the professional 

literature, not as a book that is no more 

than a badly edited blog. Until then it is all just 

froth and bubble, but seriously and inexcusably 

misleading in the hands of a lay reader. 

MALCOLM WALTER 

Global cooling: crunch-time 

for geosequestration 

Does warming, or cooling, lie ahead There are 

two mutually-exclusive hypotheses as to the principal 

driver of global climate — people and the 

Sun. Warming equals people, and cooling equals 

Sun. Only one can be right; and policy-makers 

need to know which one. 

Today’s consensus of climatologists, policy-makers, 

scientific academies and academics is that 

Earth enjoyed a stable and benign pre-industrial 

climate. The Mediaeval Warm Period, and subsequent 

series of Little Ice Age cold periods, didn’t 

40 | TAG December 2009 

happen; and Arcadia is only now disturbed by 

people burning fossil fuels. IPCC tells us: “Most of 

the observed increase in globally averaged temperatures 

since the mid-20th century is very likely due 

to the observed increase in anthropogenic greenhouse 

gas concentrations”. Furthermore, unless 

urgent action is taken to limit CO 2 emissions, 

dangerous warming lies ahead. Here in Australia, 

CSIRO has told us that even the low end of the 

2030 range, for “annual average max temperature” 

at 10 localities around the nation, will be hotter 

than “now”. Let me repeat — there is NO chance 

that any will be cooler in 2030 than now! 

We must thank Johannes Kepler (1571–1630) for 

giving us the means to resolve this impasse. He 

recognised that each planet “sweeps out” a fixed 

area in a fixed time, as it orbits. Hence, at perihelion, 

it must travel at a greater angular velocity 

than at aphelion. We can forget the four inner 

planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars) in this 

context, because they orbit the Sun. But, like the 

Sun, the outer giants orbit the centre-of-mass 

(barycentre) of the solar system. Luckily for us, 

their orbits can be calculated well into the future. 

There are times when the collective angular 

momentum of the outer planets changes rapidly — 

when, say, two giants pass, or come into opposition 

— and the Sun is obliged to abruptly change 

the radius of its own orbit, to keep constant the 

collective angular momentum of the system. An 

active Sun results. At other times, planets are well 

separated, and thus little alter the collective torque 

applied to the Sun. A quiet Sun results. 

Theodor Landscheidt calculated that the Sun 

would enter a new quiet period about now, and 

Earth would be in the depths of another Little Ice 

Age cold period by 2030. I call it the 

“Landscheidt Minimum”. He sent his paper ‘New 

Little Ice Age instead of global warming’ to 

Nature, but it was rejected as “of insufficient 

general interest” without even going out for peer 

review. Happily, it was subsequently published 

in 2003 by Energy & Environment (14/2&3, 

p 327–50). The Landscheidt Minimum is looking 

ever more likely. The 300-year warming trend, 

from “quiet Sun” of the Maunder Minimum to 

“hyperactive Sun” of the modern era, appears at 

an end. Earth’s near-surface temperature has 

cooled slightly since its 1998 peak; and the 

global ocean has been cooling since comprehensive 

metering began in 2003. 

Solar Cycle 23 peaked in May 2000. A “normal” 

interregnum between ~11-year sunspot cycles has 

an average of 485 spotless days; but we have 

already 735 days, between 2004 and mid-October 

2009, bereft of sunspots. Long-overdue Cycle 24 

hasn’t got going; and historical observations suggest 

that an extra-late cycle will be extra weak. 

The solar wind is now sharply weakening; and 

the heliosphere is (probably) deflating as a consequence. 

The heliospheric magnetic field is also 

weakening; and the heliospheric current sheet is 

flattening out. 

These observations suggest that more galactic 

cosmic rays are now able to reach Earth; and 

indeed, more are doing just that. This means 

enhanced nucleation in the atmosphere; and 

hence, more clouds — thus reflecting to space 

more of the incoming total solar irradiance (TSI). 

There are still far fewer cosmic rays arriving than 

ice-core 10 Be proxies indicate for the depths of 

the Maunder Minimum (1645–1715); but the trend 

is there. Furthermore, little-varying TSI is but one 

means of imparting solar energy to Earth; and it 

would be unsurprising if less-magnetised plasma 

from the Sun is now entering the near-Earth 

environment at the auroral ovals. 

Until scientists declared “carbon pollution” the 

principal threat to human wellbeing, the Maunder 

Minimum had been accepted as fearsome reality. 

It is said a third the population of Europe died 

then of bubonic plague, hunger, and wars about 

food. What if Landscheidt is right The growing 

season for northern hemisphere cropland will be 

severely curtailed. In North America, the Canadian 

grain-belt probably will be lost, and the US may 

not be able to compensate. In Europe, the Alps, 

Carpathians and Black Sea make it difficult to 

move cropland south. In Asia, Himalayas and 

Tibetan Plateau form the wall. Crucially, there are 

more mouths to feed than in 1700. 

Look now at CO 2 . In the warm/wet Palaeocene- 

Eocene climate optimum, atmospheric CO 2 was 

probably about four to five times the current 

level. Hence, many of our plant genera evolved 

in a high-CO 2 atmosphere. When I worked in 

Holland, those growers near enough to Pernis 

refinery reticulated CO 2 — increasing concentration 

in their greenhouses to about 800 ppmv 

(double the ambient level), so their vegies would 

grow better. Plants like CO 2 ; indeed, it is the crucial 

plant food. 

If the Sun goes quiet, and Earth cools as predicted, 

rainfall will be reduced. The surface of the 

globe is two-thirds water, and evaporation provides 

rain. But for every 1°C that the sea surface 

cools, evaporation shrinks by 6%. Cooler is drier. 

There is a silver-lining. When atmospheric CO 2 

increases, plants need less pores in their leaves to 

let plant-food in. Hence, less water vapour 

escapes from their pores; and plants utilise available 

water more effectively. 

Lastly, if the world does cool and starvation 

becomes rampant, I see a new future. NGOs like 

Oxfam and Greenpeace will demonstrate to close 

down carbon-capture-and-storage operations for 

coal-fired power stations. I may even join the 

picket line. 

BOB FOSTER 

20 October 2009

Dear Sir 

In TAG 152, September 2009 you published 

a Position Statement on global climate. The statement 

appears to have been written by the 

Executive Committee, and states that it sets out 

the views of GSA. This implies that it is the view 

of the GSA membership, something I am sure was 

a surprise to many members, even those who 

might agree with it. The members were never 

polled on this issue, and many of those I have 

asked about it disagree with the statement either 

in its entirety, or with parts of it. I for one want to 

make it quite clear that the Position Statement 

does not reflect my view of the issues. 

COLIN PAIN 

21 October 2009 

I read with considerable disbelief the Position 

Statement on greenhouse gas emissions and 

climate change published in the September 2009 

edition of TAG. The statement undoubtedly sets 

out the views of the Executive Committee of the 

GSA and, since it is a position paper, one would 

expect that it would also reflect the majority opinion 

of GSA members whose views were sought 

and established before the statement was written. 

However, the only issue that I recall having 

recently been polled about is the proposed amalgamation 

with AIG. As the topic of anthropogenic 

global warming is contentious, I would expect that 

the committee will be eager to publish the results 

of their polling of members to remove any suspicion 

that the Position Statement is unrepresentative 

of the opinions of members of the GSA, and I 

look forward to seeing this information published 

in the next edition of TAG. I suggest that the matter 

of support for the views expressed in the 

Position Statement is of critical importance to 

members of the GSA and to the Executive 

Committee. Otherwise one might conclude that the 

committee has assumed to speak on behalf of the 

members without properly establishing the majority 

opinion; or maybe the opinions of members 

don't count. 

DAN WOOD 

Brisbane 

Dear Sir 

In the report on Climate Change in TAG 152, 

September 2009, p 31 a “Position Statement” is 

given which I presume is the position of the 

Executive Committee, but they give the impression 

they are speaking for members. If the Executive 

Committee claims to express the opinion of 

members, they might at least get it right. Here are 

my opinions: 

I believe: 

● carbon dioxide is entirely beneficial for the 

Earth’s ecosystem; 

● climate change is real and temperatures rose 

to 1998 since when there has been no global 

warming — rather a cooling; 

● the hottest recent year, 1998, was not as hot 

as temperatures in the 1930s when the planet 

survived; 

● carbon dioxide is a minor greenhouse gas, compared 

to water (there are no plans to reduce water); 

● greenhouse gases have a minor part in controlling 

the Earth’s climate; 

● the Sun is the single most important factor in 

climate control; 

● sea levels are rising at about the same rate they 

did since the end of the last glacial and pose no 

threat; 

● the Antarctic and Greenland icecaps are growing. 

I further believe that the climate alarm industry is 

generated for financial gain, as indicated in The 

Australian, October 21, Wealth p 6–7, ‘All aboard the 

carbon bandwagon’ which includes the following: 

“We’re not about saving the environment, we’re 

focused on returns…but there is no contradiction 

between the two.” 

“And if it all turns out this whole climate change 

concern is a furphy (and there’s a chance that it 

is) then no harm done. You’ve done your bit, made 

your pile.” 

“Whichever way it goes, the planet is safe, and 

you’ve got a bank balance as big as your carbon 

footprint.” 

CLIFF OLLIER 

School of Earth and Environment 


For the Executive 

I am member 1637. 

I object to the Position Statement as recently published 

in TAG and recently posted on the website. 

My grounds for objection are firstly on the basis 

of authority of representation of these views, and 

secondly on their content. 

The statement makes it clear that “This Position 

Statement sets out the views of GSA”. It should 

state “...the views of GSA’s Executive”. 

At no stage has the Executive sought to find out 

whether the members want a Position Statement, 

or whether one is possible given the range of different 

views on this issue at the moment, (judging 

by the debates in TAG!). Not even a committee set 

up to help decide what a Position Statement might 

entail, instead we get what I believe is possibly an 

unauthorised statement from only the Executive. 

The content will be read by the public who rightly 

can expect scientific guidance on the confusing 

issues they face in deciding what causes climate 

change and what solutions are possible. It is thus 

critical to get the science content correct. I do not 

think that it is. I quote from the statement: 

“Human activities have increasing impact on 

Earth’s environments. Of particular concern are the 

well-documented loading of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) 

to the atmosphere, which has been linked unequivocally 

to burning of fossil fuels, and the corresponding 

increase in average global temperature”. 

This statement implies that mankind’s burning of 

fossil fuels corresponds causally to increase in 

temperature. The statement does not explicitly say 

this but a member of the public, indeed any 

average reader, will take that to be the meaning. 

We know that this connection is not rigorously 

established. One, we know there is climate change. 

Two, we know there is an increase in carbon dioxide. 

That’s it. We should be honestly telling the 

public that there is a raging debate about whether 

the two are connected. 

But we read on for further guidance and alarmingly 

we are told in the first of the GSA recommendations 

that there are “likely social and environmental 

effects of increasing atmospheric CO 2 ” — 

making it even clearer that there is indeed a connection 

between the two. 

Of lesser concern is the weighting of the rest of 

the statement towards a plea for more research by 

geological organisations. I think we should get our 

biases sorted out before we start accepting 

research projects which will likely need to be 

politically correct before they succeed in being 

funded — and then are they scientific 

I call on the Position Statement to be withdrawn, 

and a new one released only if it has the approval 

of the members. 

PAUL WINSTON ASKINS 

Extreme weather events 

associated with climate change 

Andrew Glikson writes yet another fear-mongering 

article for TAG (‘Extreme weather events 

associated with climate change’ TAG 152, p 29). 

All the climate relationships are covered — the 

Milancovic cycle, the Antarctic wind vortex, the 

oceans and biosphere and, of course, the 310 billion 

tonnes of C emissions from fossil fuel combustion 

and land clearing since 1750, as if this 

keeps accumulating in the atmosphere. Not one 

good thing said about it, not even that it is an 

essential building block of life on Earth. I am 

waiting for the first scientist to jump up and 

claim the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for discovering, 

after 250 years, that it is actually a pollutant. 

So with all the boxes ticked, and all relationships 

pat, all in the space of one double-sided 

page including diagrams and references, is it any 

wonder that GSA elevated this work to Special 

Report status. 

To emphasise his alarm, Andrew presents a 

graph, courtesy Geo Risks Research, Munich Re, 


showing economic and insured losses 1950–2005 

which is indeed eye-catching in that bold lines 

with upward-trending exponential traits lead the 

eye to a very large spike showing losses for 2005. 

But why would Andrew cull the data at this point 

in time This TAG is a September 2009 publication. 

Perhaps work by Ryan Maue of Florida 

State University holds the key 1 . He recently published 

two graphs (CO 2 Report, Aug 2009, 

Christopher Moncton Ed) that clearly show (as 

headings): 1. Hurricane activity is at its lowest 

since satellite monitoring began (p 16), and 2. A 

very quiet start to the northern hemisphere hurricane 

season (p 17). Apart from showing a steep 

decline in tropical cyclone accumulated (TCA) 

cyclone energy from 2006 to Aug 2009, the caption 

of graph 1 states, inter alia, “Hurricanes, 

typhoons, and other tropical cyclones have 

declined recently...the Accumulated Cyclone 

Energy (ACE) index now standing at almost its 

least value in 30 years in the Northern 

Hemisphere, and also globally”. The second diagram 

(bar chart) shows absolutely no trend 

towards extreme hurricanes and part of its caption 

reads “The activity of hurricanes and tropical 

cyclones in May, June, and July 2009 just missed 

being the lowest since at least 1970...”. 

Over the years TAG’s editors have given Andrew 

Glikson a long rein to peddle IPCC propaganda 

on global warming in the name of ‘science’, and 

their decision to publish this dated, spurious 

work, is beyond belief and beyond the pale. This 

is getting very tedious. 

But I suspect that GSA had a motive — to prepare 

the ground for their Position Statement that follows 

hard on Andrew’s Special Report. 

GSA’s Position Statement on climate change is 

blatantly political and self-serving. Every single 

assertion it makes on behalf of science is contestable 

and, from what I have seen, comes with 

less scientific evidence than for other explanations. 

To say that “The Position Statement sets 

out the views of GSA... “ is misleading in the 

extreme, assuming of course that ‘of GSA’ 

includes its membership and not just its 

Executive Committee. GSA has never canvassed 

the views of its membership on this issue. Indeed, 

they have demonstrated their consistently biased 

position over the year by their choice of material 

for publication. On occasions they have even 

rebuked letter writers expressing a different 

opinion. The most blatant and recent demonstration 

of such bias was demonstrated when GSA 

rejected a scholarly paper explaining ‘Why the 

Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets are not 

collapsing’, submitted by two acclaimed 

geomorphologists, at least one of them very 

eminent, and both widely published. Thankfully, 

the paper later appeared in IAG News (#97, Aug 

2009) as well as the CO 2 Report (Christopher 

Moncton Ed). Ironically, the Victorian Branch of 

GSA thought enough of the eminent geomorphologist 

to invite him to deliver their 2009 Selwyn 

Memorial Lecture in Melbourne recently. 

For me, GSA has taken one liberty too many. I 

think that it is indeed very fortunate that the 

recent proposed merger of GSA and AIG failed 

because we now still have one institution that 

understands how science is conducted. 

AERT DRIESSEN 

22 October 2009 

REFERENCE: 

SPPI Monthly CO 2 report, Christopher Monkton (Ed), 

September 2009; www.auscsc.org.au/download/12 

The GSA’s ‘Position Statement’ on climate 

change published in the September 2009 

issue of TAG has, perhaps predictably, 

generated forceful responses from some 

members (see Letters above). The issuing of 

such statements by governing bodies of scientific 

organisations, without a general poll 

of its members’ views, is, of course, always 

going to risk offending some members. 

Objections will centre on the matter of 

principle (“I wasn’t consulted”) or on 

strong disagreement with the ‘position’, or 

both. Aside from publishing the letters of 

dissenters in TAG, we have also published 

a letter sent by the American Association 

for the Advancement of Science to US senators 

on the subject of climate change. It 

clearly represents a ‘Position Statement’ on 

behalf of a number of prestigious organisations. 

Whether they all went through a poll 

of their members in order to reach this 

‘position’ is not known. However, it seems 

clear that the AAAS executive, and probably 

those of the listed organisations, considered 

the climate change issue of such 

significance that it overrode the risk of 

upsetting members. 

PETER CAWOOD 

Letter from the American Association for the 

Advancement of Science to the US Senate, 

October 21 2009 

Dear Senator 

As you consider climate change legislation, we, as 

leaders of scientific organisations, write to state 

the consensus scientific view. Observations 

throughout the world make it clear that climate 

change is occurring, and rigorous scientific 

research demonstrates that the greenhouse gases 

emitted by human activities are the primary driver. 

These conclusions are based on multiple independent 

lines of evidence, and contrary assertions are 

inconsistent with an objective assessment of the 

vast body of peer-reviewed science. Moreover, 

there is strong evidence that ongoing climate 

change will have broad impacts on society, including 

the global economy and on the environment. 

For the United States, climate change impacts 

include sea-level rise for coastal states, greater 

threats of extreme weather events, and increased 

risk of regional water scarcity, urban heat waves, 

western wildfires, and the disturbance of biological 

systems throughout the country. The severity of 

climate change impacts is expected to increase 

substantially in the coming decades. If we are to 

avoid the most severe impacts of climate change, 

emissions of greenhouse gases must be dramatically 

reduced. In addition, adaptation will be necessary 

to address those impacts that are already 

unavoidable. Adaptation efforts include improved 

infrastructure design, more sustainable management 

of water and other natural resources, modified 

agricultural practices, and improved emergency 

responses to storms, floods, fires and heat 

waves. We in the scientific community offer our 

assistance to inform your deliberations as you seek 

to address the impacts of climate change 1 . 

American Association for the Advancement of 

Science; 

American Chemical Society; 

American Geophysical Union; 

American Institute of Biological Sciences; 

American Meteorological Society; 

American Society of Agronomy; 

American Society of Plant Biologists; 

American Statistical Association; 

Association of Ecosystem Research Centers; 

Botanical Society of America; 

Crop Science Society of America; 

Ecological Society of America; 

Natural Science Collections Alliance; 

Organization of Biological Field Stations; 

Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics; 

Society of Systematic Biologists; 

Soil Science Society of America; 

University Corporation for Atmospheric Research 

[1] The conclusions in this paragraph reflect the 

scientific consensus represented by, for example, 

the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 

and US Global Change Research Program. Many 

scientific societies have endorsed these findings 

in their own statements, including the American 

Association for the Advancement of Science, 

American Chemical Society, American 

Geophysical Union, American Meteorological 

Society, and American Statistical Association. 


O B I T U A R I E S 

Allan White 

11 January 1931–15 September 2009 

Allan White was born near Adelaide on 11 January 1931. He 

grew up on a dairy farm in the Adelaide Hills and he retained 

a love of the countryside and the Australian bush throughout 

his life. He commenced his life as a geologist as a student at 

the University of Adelaide, where he received the Tate 

Memorial Medal in 1952. There he came under the influence 

of Sir Douglas Mawson and was a member of Mawson’s last 

group of honours students. In the following year he worked as 

Mawson’s field assistant. Both as a person and as a scientist, 

Allan was undoubtedly greatly influenced by his association 

with that great Australian. For his honours thesis, Allan carried 

out mapping north of Broken Hill. He then commenced a study 

of granites and associated rocks in the eastern Mt Lofty Ranges, which he 

continued for his PhD at the University of London. He married his lifelong 

partner Heather before leaving for England in 1954. They were to have three 

children, Derek and Jacqueline born in Dunedin, and Fiona in Canberra. 

Allan was appointed a Lecturer in the Department of Geology at the 

University of Otago in late 1956. During his three years in Dunedin, Allan 

taught petrology and geochemistry and metamorphic rocks from the South 

Island’s west coast and, with DS Coombs, the early history of Dunedin Volcano. 

He was an early appointment, in June 1960, to the new Faculty of Science of 

the Australian National University. He remained in Canberra until his appointment 

to the Foundation Chair of Geology at La Trobe University in 1971, where 

he was Head of department for much of the next 17 years. After a period of 

retirement, he returned to Melbourne in 1996 as Director of the Victorian 

Institute of Earth and Planetary Sciences (VIEPS) in 1996, a position that he left 

in March 1999. Allan’s significant contributions both at La Trobe and VIEPS 

have been recognised by the establishment of the Allan White Medal, which is 

awarded each year to outstanding BSc honours graduates in Earth Science from 

the VIEPS universities. The first medal was awarded in December 1999. 

Throughout his university career, Allan White was an exceptional and 

inspiring teacher who was dedicated to both the intellectual and personal 

welfare of his students, many of whom later occupied prominent positions in 

universities, government organisations and industry. Students who worked 

closely with Allan have always regarded that experience as a special privilege. 

Allan built up the Geology Department at La Trobe University from nothing, 

and in his own image. The department reflected his personal style and academic 

convictions. There was an informal manner, great enthusiasm, things 

got done and “pussy footing” was deplored. The research in the department 

was field-based, but used all of the modern techniques that it was possible to 

utilise. There was a focus on teaching, which took place in an intellectually 

stimulating environment. Allan had studied chemistry at the University of 

Adelaide for three years as part of a double major. He felt that he had benefited 

greatly from that experience and saw it as being important for the 

undergraduates in his department. Hence geology graduates from La Trobe in 

the early days were also qualified at third year level in another subject such 

as mathematics or chemistry. It is a tragedy that in 2004 an inept administration 

at La Trobe closed what had developed into a rather special department. 

That it happened was of course a great disappointment to Allan. 

Both at La Trobe and later at VIEPS, Allan showed unique talents as a 

leader and administrator. Stories that Allan told about Adelaide show that Sir 

Douglas Mawson took a very strong line with the university administration, 

where clerks would look up to see that physically impressive 

man bearing down to make a demand of them. For 

example, Sir Douglas once asked Allan if he had received 

payment of a scholarship and, on receiving a negative 

answer, stated: “We’ll see about that!”. Mawson then 

marched to the administration building and returned a 

few minutes later with the cheque! It was an approach 

that Allan sought with some success to emulate. At one 

time Allan was Chair of the safety committee at La Trobe 

which recommended the removal of a tree that was 

blocking views at a roundabout in the parking area. 

Nothing happened, so the Chair brought in 

a chainsaw and removed the tree himself. A fence that 

had been erected between the car park and the departmental 

building suffered a similar fate. 

Allan White had a very distinguished research record 

and is an author on 100 publications. He always had wide interests in hardrock 

geology, and early in his career he published wide range of topics, including 

metamorphic rocks, structural geology, mineralogy, migmatites, granulite 

inclusions and the geochemistry of island arc volcanic rocks. Granites were 

always important and became increasingly so when he found that he could 

combine his love of field work with studies in the Kosciuszko and surrounding 

regions, mostly with students as he introduced them to looking at rocks in the 

field. In one sense Allan’s research became more focused but he did examine 

granites in a remarkably diverse way, studying their field relationships, petrography, 

mineralogy and geochemistry, understanding the importance of isotopic 

studies that were then in their infancy, and with a detailed knowledge of the 

relevant experimental results. 

Allan White was the supreme petrographer. This clearly developed from 

his early association with Mawson, who in particular was determined that 

Allan should be able to identify cordierite, which is sometimes difficult to 

recognise, in every possible type of occurrence. With his abilities as a field 

geologist, a great understanding of rocks, his skill with a petrographic microscope 

and knowledge of mineralogy, and a good appreciation of the relationships 

between the chemical and mineralogical compositions of rocks, nobody 

could have been better equipped than Allan when confronted with the problem 

of the widespread cordierite-bearing granites of south-eastern Australia. 

His work on these granites, which became known as the S-types, is a benchmark 

petrological study and the S-type granites will be his scientific epitaph. 

Such rocks provided the theme of the two-day symposium held at La Trobe 

University to mark Allan’s 70th birthday in 2001. Cordierite is a common 

mineral in contact metamorphosed shales and in fragments of such shales 

embedded in igneous rocks as products of contamination. Allan recognised 

that the cordierite in the granites of the Snowy Mountains was not a product 

of contamination, but was intrinsic to these rocks, given their Al-oversaturated 

compositions. He inferred that these features were inherited from sedimentary 

or supracrustal source rocks. The presence of these rocks in the Snowy 

Mountains had been known for many years but there was no satisfactory 

explanation prior to Allan’s work. 

Allan had a strong interest in the relationship between granites and 

mineral deposits and a special interest in the role of water in the evolution of 

granite magmas, leading to the development of volatile phases and, sometimes, 

mineral deposits. His interests in mineral deposits were both broad and 

perceptive and he greatly enjoyed his associations with mineral exploration 

geologists and mining companies. After his retirement, Allan spent a 


considerable amount of time in private mineral exploration. He was a qualified 

gemmologist, with great skills in identifying minerals and gems. He was an 

active member of the Warrnambool Gem Club, of which he was awarded life 

membership in 2007. 

Perhaps Allan White’s greatest pleasure as a geologist was to stand in the 

field, talking about rocks, and hoping for some vigorous discussion, which was 

generally forthcoming. He participated in many international field excursions and 

led several in south-eastern Australia. One excursion included a group of Chinese 

geologists who were confused by our use of the term “white mica” for the mineral 

muscovite which of course is colourless and transparent. For the Chinese it 

was colourless mica. This evolved to Allan being referred to as Professor 

Colourless, at which time Wallace Pitcher, an associate from Allan’s days as a PhD 

student in London exclaimed: “a less colourless person I have never met”. This 

brilliant use of a triple negative summed up much of Allan’s character. Allan was 

a very colourful person, larger than life, as Pitcher recognised. 

Throughout his career, Allan White made enormous contributions to the 

Earth Sciences at all levels. In recognition of these, he was awarded the Stillwell 

and Browne Medals by the Geological Society of Australia in 1988 and 1994. In 

1997 he was awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science by the 

University of Melbourne. In 2002 he was the recipient of the Mawson Lecture 

and Medal from the Australian Academy of Science – he received that honour 

on the 50th anniversary of his honours year with Sir Douglas, which greatly 

pleased him. In 2007 he was awarded the Geological Society of Japan Medal. 

Allan White was a very hard-working and dedicated man. He had great 

humour, was highly intelligent and thoughtful, open-hearted and generous, 

very strongly motivated, but modest and unassuming. He was someone who 

cared deeply about other people. After a very courageous battle with a brain 

tumour over almost three years, he passed away on 15 September 2009. He will 

be remembered as a wonderful person and a great scientist and will be sorely 

missed by his family and numerous friends. 

BRUCE CHAPPELL 

Norman James Mackay 

1923–2009 

When I joined the Bureau of 

Mineral Resources in the mid 

1950s many of us drove to Sydney 

on Friday nights to visit girlfriends 

and fiancés — a good trip would 

take a little over four hours — but 

the word was that Norm Mackay, 

who was then based in New 

Guinea, had done the trip in 

3 1 /2 hours in his open Singer 

sports car. Not surprising when 

you learn Norm was a fighter pilot 

during the war, making low-level 

attacks over Europe! 

Norm was an only child, born in Balmain, Sydney in 1923, and educated at 

Cranbrook School from where he matriculated in 1940. Being too young to be 

accepted at university, he worked in a pharmacy for a year and, on turning 18, 

joined the RAAF in 1941. After initial training in Deniliquin, he was sent to the 

UK for further training where he joined an RAF fighter squadron manned by 

Australians. 

Returning to Australia after the war, Norm attended Sydney University 

under the Commonwealth Reconstruction Training Scheme and graduated with 

Honours in geology. Joining the Bureau of Mineral Resources on graduation, for 

the first two years he was based in Canberra, but spending half of each year 

mapping in the Northern Territory with John Sullivan, first at Brocks Creek and 

later at Rum Jungle. While Norm was at Brocks Creek, Sullivan invited two 

Sydney girls, who were holidaying in Darwin, to visit the camp at Brocks Creek 

for a barbecue. Thus it was that Norm met Wilma Lange. 

Back in Canberra, Norm started to make his record-breaking trips to 

Sydney, and Wilma! They were married in early 1952 and with the prospect of 

spending the early years of marriage in a hostel in Canberra, it was not difficult 

to accept a posting to Wau in New Guinea where a house was provided. 

As Government Resident Geologist in Wau, Norm’s time was divided between 

advising prospectors and miners, keeping an eye on mining operations — Wau 

was near the Kainantu goldfields — and making mapping traverses into the 

highlands. On these traverses Norm would be accompanied by about 20 carriers 

and would walk mainly along river banks, or in the river itself where outcrop 

was best. A major such project was a reconnaissance survey of the 

Markham and upper Ramu rivers. 

After three years in Wau, Norm was appointed Senior Resident Geologist 

in Darwin attached to the Northern Territory Administration. The work here 

included supervision of geologists in Darwin and Alice Springs, inspection of 

prospects, some involving drilling programs, and location of water bores for 

various station properties. On one occasion a BMR vehicle broke down in the 

middle of the Daly River basin and, with no means of communication (they only 

had a small radio receiver), the geologist left his field assistant with the 

vehicle and walked 30 km across limestone country to the Stuart Highway, 

arriving completely exhausted and dehydrated. Norm was informed and 

immediately sprang into action, asking the local ABC radio station to broadcast 

a message so that the field assistant would know help was on its way and then 

organising and joining a plane to locate the vehicle. All went well from there 

except that the incident was broadcast on the national ABC news and Norm 

had to explain later to the Director of the BMR why he had to first learn of the 

incident on the national news! 

Norm and family returned to Canberra after five years in Darwin but were 

soon on the move again, to Perth, where Norm had accepted a position in the 

Geological Survey of Western Australia as deputy to Joe Lord. After helping Joe 

reorganise the survey, the nickel boom saw Norm join Anaconda as Perth 

manager. The situation with Anaconda was not very satisfactory so, with the 

opportunity to spend more time in the field, he set up as a consultant, mainly 

with Jones Mining and North Kalgurli Mines. 

In 1975, Norm and Wilma took a lease over an area where a road grader 

had disturbed a pegmatite containing emeralds near Wonder well on Riverina 

station, about 64 km west of Menzies. Together with Peter Goodeve and Frank 

Trask they formed Menzies Emeralds — it was more of a hobby than a business: 

Wilma did a course in gemmology and Norm learned how to cut, facet and 

polish stones (which became a hobby throughout his retirement). Emeralds 

were sold and some were exported to Israel in rough form — it was a 

successful and fun venture for many years. 

In his retirement Norm remained a keen golfer; he loved a chat or discussion 

on almost anything and was always a very welcome presence, with Wilma, 

at our “golden oldie” lunches. 

The death of his champion golfer son, Roger, in 2002, hit Norm very hard 

and his health seemed to deteriorate from then, but his good humour lasted to 

the end. Norm died on 18 March 2009 and is survived by Wilma and daughter 

Christine. 

PETER DUNN with help from WILMA and Norm’s friend PHIL RYAN 

David Brown 

Professor David A Brown died in Sydney on Tuesday 3 November 2009. He 

suffered a short illness, and was in Prince Alfred Hospital when he died. An 

obituary will appear in the March 2010 TAG. 


GEOQuiz ANSWERS (From page 38) 

1. Originally, the metre was defined by the French Academy of 

Sciences as the length between two marks on a platinum–iridium bar, 

which was designed to represent one ten-millionth of the distance 

from the Equator to the North Pole through Paris. 

2. Nothing: 1900 was not a leap year. 

3. An astronomical unit is a unit of length roughly equal to the mean 

distance between the Earth and the Sun (~150 million kilometres). 

4. The Roman calendar originally had 10 months, with the year 

starting in March. 

5. 1 BC. Neither the Julian or Gregorian calendar has a year zero. 

6. The abbreviation SI comes from the French le Système 

international d'unités. 

7. Pa, Blaise Pascal (1623–1662), French mathematician, physicist and 

philosopher; K, William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin (1824–1907), 

British physicist and engineer; J, James Prescotty Joule (1818–1889), 

English physicist. 

8. In the SI system, the metre is defined as the distance light travels 

in vacuum in 1/299 792 458 of a second. The effect of this definition 

is to fix the speed of light in vacuum at exactly 299 792 458 m/s. 

9. –40°C = –40°F 

10. Easter is observed on the Sunday after the first full moon on or 

after the day of the (northern hemisphere) vernal equinox. Go to 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter if you want to see the details. 

Coming soon in 

an AJES near you 

Adams, Cluzel and Griffin present geochemical and Sr–Nd isotope data 

for Mesozoic greywackes of New Caledonia terranes that indicate a 

forearc tectonic environment at the Eastern Gondwanaland margin, but 

support only minor continental influences. Detrital-zircon U–Pb age 

patterns for the greywackes in these terranes similarly reflect an 

active-margin tectonic environment of Late Triassic, Late Jurassic, and 

in particular mid-Cretaceous, depocentres which comprise much contemporaneous 

volcanic detritus, but also include minor sediment inputs 

from Precambrian–Early Paleozoic continental clastic rocks. The 

contemporary volcanic sources are probably now hidden in a former 

hinterland to New Caledonia, such as Loyalty and Norfolk Ridges, Lord 

Howe Rise or Marion Plateau. The older, continental sediment sources 

were probably in north-easternmost Queensland, and beyond the northern 

extremity of the New England Orogen. Such sediments could have 

been supplied on long rivers, and submarine longshore current systems 

outboard of the orogen. Alternatively, the depocentres could have been 

consolidated close to the contemporary Gondwanaland margin and then 

tectonically transported, as suspect terranes, southwards in Early 

Cretaceous times to their present New Caledonia position. 

C J Adams, D Cluzel and W L Griffin, 2009, ‘Detrital-zircon ages and 

geochemistry of sedimentary rocks in basement Mesozoic terranes and 

their cover rocks in New Caledonia, and provenances at the Eastern 

Gondwanaland margin’ Australian Journal of Earth Sciences 56/8. 

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Calendar 

2010 

1-5 February 

Specialist Group in Tectonics 

& Structural Geology 

Biennial field conference 

The Glasshouse, Port Macquarie, NSW 

www.sgtsg.gsa.org.au 

1–5 February 

6th International Brachiopod 

Congress 

Deakin University, Melbourne, Victoria 

www.deakin.edu.au/conferences/ibc/ 

6–9 April 

13th Quadrennial IAGOD 

Symposium 2010 

Giant Ore Deposits Down-under 

Adelaide, SA 

www.alloccasionsgroup.com/IAGOD2010 

20–22 April 

Caving 2010: 2nd International 

Symposiym on Block and 

Sublevel Caving 

Perth, WA 

www.caving2010.com/ 

6–7 May 

37th Symposium on the 

Geology of the Sydney Basin 

Coalfield Geology Council of NSW and 

NSW DPI 

Grande Mercure, Hunter Valley Garden, 

Polkobin 

24–27 May 

Oceans' 10 IEEE Sydney 

The Sydney Convention and Exhibition 

Centre, Darling Harbour 

www.oceans10ieeesydney.org 

4–8 July 

Australian Earth Sciences 

Convention 2010 

Earth Systems: change, sustainability, 

vulnerability 

Canberra Convention Centre, ACT 


5–9 September 

5ias Evolving Early Earth 

5th International Archaean Symposium, 

Perth 

www.5ias.org/ 

6–10 September 

Mine Waste 2010 

International Seminar 

Australian Centre for Geomechanics, 

Perth 

www.minewaste2010.com 

6–8 October 

Bowen Basin Symposium 2010 

— Back in the Black 

Mackay Entertainment Centre,, 

Queensland 

31 October–4 November 

National Groundwater 

Conference 2010 — 

the Challenge of Sustainable 

Management 

National Convention Centre, 

Canberra 

Email: groundwater@con_sol.com 

2011 

27 June–8 July 

2011 International Union of 

Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) 

General Assembly 

Earth on the Edge: Science for a 

Sustainable Planet, Melbourne 

www.iugg2011.com 

For more information on events go to 

www.gsa.org.au/events/calendar.html 

TAG 

apologises... 

TAG 152, p 21: 

34th International Geological Congress (IGC) 

AUSTRALIA 2012; the heading had the incorrect year 

in the first reference. The correct year is 2012. 


Geological Society of Australia Inc. Office Bearers 2009/2010 

MEMBERS OF COUNCIL 

AND EXECUTIVE 

President 

Peter Cawood 


Vice President 

Brad Pillans 

Australian National University 

Secretary 

Myra Keep 

School of Earth & Geographical Sciences 

Treasurer 

Fons VandenBerg 

GeoScience Victoria 

Past President 

Andy Gleadow 

University of Melbourne 

Hon Editor 

Australian Journal of Earth Sciences 

Tony Cockbain 

COUNCILLORS OF THE 

EXECUTIVE DIVISION 

Co-opted Members 

Jenny Bevan 

E de C Clarke Earth Science Museum 

Jon Hronsky 

Western Mining Services, LLC 

Russell Korsch 

Geoscience Australia 

Marc Norman 


Jim Ross 

Ian Scrimgeour 

NT Geological Survey 

Gregg Webb 

Qld University of Technology 

Chris Yeats 

CSIRO Australia 

STANDING COMMITTEES 

Geological Heritage 

National Convenor 

Susan White 

Australian Stratigraphy 

Commission 

National Convenor and 

External Territories Convenor 

Cathy Brown 


STATE CONVENORS 

ACT 

Albert Brakel 

New South Wales 

Lawrence Sherwin 

Geological Survey of New South Wales 

Northern Territory 

Pierre Kruse 

Northern Territory Geological Survey 

Queensland 

Ian Withnall 

Geological Survey of Queensland 


Wayne Cowley 

Primary Industries & Resources 


Tasmania 

Stephen Forsyth 

Mineral Resources Tasmania 

Victoria 

Fons VandenBerg 


Western Australia 

Roger Hocking 

Geological Survey of Western Australia 

DIVISIONS AND 

BRANCHES 

Australian Capital Territory 

Chair: Brad Opdyke 


Secretary: Michelle Cooper 

New South Wales 

www.nsw.gsa.org.au 

Chair: Ian Graham 

University of New South Wales 

Secretary: Dioni Cendon 

ANSTO 

Northern Territory 

Chair: Christine Edgoose 


Secretary: Linda Glass 


Queensland 

www.qld.gsa.org.au 

Chair: Gregg Webb 

Queensland University of Technology 

Secretary: Friedrich Von Gnielinski 

Mines & Energy (DEEDI) 


www.sa.gsa.org.au 

Chair: Patrick Lyons 

Lincoln Minerals Ltd 

Secretary: Jim Jago 

University of South Australia 

Tasmania 

Chair: Nick Direen 

FrOG Tech 

Secretary: Andrew McNeill 

CODES 

Victoria 

www.vic.gsa.org.au 

Chair: David Cantrill 

Royal Botanic Gardens 

Secretary: Adele Seymon 


Western Australia 

www.wa.gsa.org.au 

Chair: Chris Yeats 

CSIRO Exploration & Mining 

Secretary: Katy Evans 

Curtin University 

Broken Hill Branch 

Chair: Barney Stevens 


Secretary: Kingsley Mills 

Hunter Valley Branch 

Chair: John Greenfield 


Secretary: Phil Gilmore 


SPECIALIST GROUPS 

Applied Geochemistry Specialist 

Group (SGAG) 

www.sgag.gsa.org.au 

Chair: Louisa Lawrance 

Secretary: Craig Rugless 

Association of Australasian 

Palaeontologists (AAP) 

www.es.mq.edu.au/mucep/aap/index 

Chair: Glenn Brock 

Department of Earth and Planetary 

Sciences 

Secretary: John Paterson 

University of New England 

Australasian Sedimentologists Group 

(ASG) 

Chair: Bradley Opdyke 


Secretary: Sarah Tynan 


Coal Geology (CGG) 

www.cgg.gsa.org.au 

Chair: Wes Nichols 

Secretary: Mark Biggs 

Earth Sciences History Group (ESHG) 

www.vic.gsa.org.au/eshg.htm 

Chair: Peter Dunn 

Secretary: John Blockley 

Economic Geology Specialist Group 

sgeg.gsa.org.au 

Chair: Frank Bierlein 

Areva NC Australia 

Secretary: Oliver Kreuzer 

Regalpoint Exploration Pty Ltd 

Environmental Engineering & 

Hydrogeology Specialist Group 

(EEHSG) 

Chair: Ken Lawrie 


Secretary: Vanessa Wong 

Geochemistry, Mineralogy & 

Petrology Specialist Group 

(SGGMP) 

www.gsa.org.au/specialgroups/sggmp.html 

Chair: Chris Clark 


Secretary: Nick Timms 


Geological Education (SGE) 

Chair: Greg McNamara 

Geoscience Education & Outreach 

Services 

Planetary Geoscience Specialist 

Group (SGPG) 

Chair: Graziella Caprarelli 

University of Technology 

Solid Earth Geophysics Specialist 

Group (SGSEG) 

www.gsa.org.au/specialgroups/sgseg.html 

Chair: Nick Rawlinson 


Secretary: Richard Chopping 


Tectonics & Structural Geology 

Specialist Group (SGTSG) 

www.sgtsg.gsa.org.au 

Chair: Nathan Daczko 

Macquarie University 

Secretary: Jeff Vassallo 

Clancy Exploration 

Volcanology (LAVA) 

www.es.mq.edu.au/geology/volcan/ 

hmpg.htm 

Chair: Rick Squire 

Monash University 

Secretary: Karin Orth 

University of Tasmania 


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The Australian Geologist 

48 | TAG December 2009 Background Information 

G E N E R A L N O T E 

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