Remembering Bob Carter A GSNZ Tribute

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Fig. 4. Bob (white cap at top), while precariously perched, professing the paleoecological and sequence stratigraphic significance of the Tainui Shellbed, Castlecliff coast section, Whanganui, on a Geological Society of NZ field trip, November 1991. Photo source: Steve Abbott. Fig. 5. Bob pointing to the rootlet bed and erosion surface (NC11 sequence boundary) between the Middle Maxwell Formation and Mangahou Siltstone, Nukumaru coast section, Whanganui, 2003. Photo source: Steve Abbott. 10 Issue 19A Supplement
During that orientation trip and subsequent fieldwork Bob’s endless enthusiasm for stratigraphy and fossils was always on display. He could hardly contain the excitement of scrutinising the ecosystem of a shellbed (Fig. 4), documenting a sequence bounding unconformity (Fig. 5), liberating a delicate Poirieria with all of its spines intact, or diagnosing a beach environment of deposition from a bed of Paphies to the refrain of “because that is where it lives today on the beach behind you!” Bob’s formal university persona melted away in the field to reveal his warm soul and (at times disconcertingly wicked) sense of humour. He was a generous mentor who not only guided his students through the various stages of their studies, but taught us by example the powers of observation and critical thought (including in his role as a peerless devil’s advocate). It is satisfying to reflect on how we produced such an important contribution to sequence stratigraphy based on careful field observations recorded with a pencil, notebook, and camera (actually two 35 mm SLR cameras, one for colour slides and the other for black and white prints). #3 - Molluscan fossil collectors together Alan Beu GNS Science PO Box 30368, Lower Hutt, New Zealand 5040 a.beu@gns.cri.nz My first memory of Bob was a long time ago – in January 1963. While starting a degree at Victoria University, Wellington, I worked as Professor Bob Clark’s “lab boy” in the Geology Department, with the grand salary of £300 per year, and felt flush enough to buy a little Morris Minor. Over the Christmas holidays Graeme Wilson and I set off to collect fossils around much of the North Island. At Te Piki – with very diverse Haweran molluscs in a cutting on the road between Waihau Bay and Hicks Bay, East Cape – I was happily collecting molluscs and Graeme was collecting the dinoflagellate samples that allowed him to become an early expert in the group. Up rattled a tiny Morris 8, and out got a chap who introduced himself as Bob Carter. He was working for Charles Fleming in Paleontology, NZ Geological Survey, over the university recess, and decided to visit the remote Te Piki locality while he was up in the North Island. He was dismayed to see us there before him, assumed all the useful fossils had been collected, shared a beer or two, and then drove on. It was the beginning of a long but very friendly philosophical tussle between Bob and me about the interpretation of fossils, whether we need New Zealand stages, how stages should be defined, and so on, throughout the rest of our careers. Much later Bob introduced us all in GNS Science to the power of sequence stratigraphy and the poverty of the “global sea-level curve”, in a course he held (with the aid of some of his students such as Steve Abbott) in a rough little motel near the beach at the north end of Castlecliff, Whanganui, handy to real examples. Bob was one of the most accomplished lecturers I ever met, with flair and skill, and impressed me with little “extras” such as leaving an obvious question out of the talk, and then Geoscience Society of New Zealand 11
Page 2 and 3: Remembering Bob Carter: A GSNZ Trib
Page 4 and 5: Introduction Cam Nelson (Compiler)
Page 6 and 7: Table 1 (Continued) Some awards Som
Page 8 and 9: And so our lives diverged once agai
Page 10 and 11: ecounts the many times she was on h
Page 14 and 15: having an extra slide ready to answ
Page 16 and 17: his generosity in helping others ou
Page 18 and 19: involved. But my father had to go t
Page 20 and 21: To some extent, the Chathams offere
Page 22 and 23: #6 - All at sea with Bob Carter Lio
Page 24 and 25: Fig. 9. Participants engrossed in
Page 26 and 27: #9 - He sure made you think critica
Page 28 and 29: dodged the blow, but the fist made
Page 30 and 31: Canterbury, and remember that there
Page 32 and 33: the fossil record in helping date t
Page 34 and 35: #15 - An inspirational teacher and
Page 36 and 37: visually trace out bedding surfaces
Page 38 and 39: heading into the wilds of Fiordland
Page 40 and 41: #20 - Bold ideas about New Zealand
Page 42 and 43: [Keith] "I can’t fly down with my
Page 44 and 45: The next year Bob supervised my 4 t
Page 46 and 47: This naturally led to the suggestio
Page 48 and 49: Many memorable moments were shared
Page 50 and 51: and engaged with science conversati
Page 52 and 53: #28 - What a stimulating collaborat
Page 54 and 55: A culture of lubricating research i
Page 56 and 57: In 1987 Bob was appointed to the Au
Page 58 and 59: #32 - An incomparable teacher and c
Page 60 and 61: Even before Bob entered the debate
Page 62 and 63:
Nongovernmental International Panel
Page 64 and 65:
Nelson, C., Carter, R. 2015. Plumbi
Page 66 and 67:
Graham, I., Carter, B. 2008. Kaleid
Page 68 and 69:
2002 Carter, R.M., Abbott, S.T., Gr
Page 70 and 71:
Beaman, R.J., Larcombe, P., Carter,
Page 72 and 73:
Carter, R.M., Carter, L., Williams,
Page 74 and 75:
Duncan, R.A., McDougall, I., Carter
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Remembering Bob Carter A GSNZ Tribute

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