GSW: 1961
MEETING MINUTES
GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF
Secretary's Report
January 11, 1961
The 817th meeting off the Society was held in the John Wesley
Powell Auditorium, Wednesday evening, January 11, at 8:00 P. M., with President
G. Arthur Cooper presiding.
The minutes of the 816th meeting were read and approved.
The Secretary announced the election of one new member: Thomas
H. Hubbard, U. S. Geological Survey,
Arnold C. Mason presented an informal communication on the
lunar symposium of the International Astronomical Union held recently in
The regular program followed:
L. L. Thatcher and C. W. Carlston --
Tritium in the hydrologic cycle. Discussed by Hack and Rubin.
Mark W. Pangborn, Jr. -- Geology and
geologists in fiction. Discussed by Kinkel and Pearson.
George H. Dury -- Hydrologic
implications of meandering valleys. Discussed by Rubin and Carlston.
Attendance: 148
The meeting adjourned at 9:50 P. M.
Frank C. Whitmore, Jr., Secretary
GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF
Secretary's Report
January 25, 1961
The 818th meeting of tae Society was held in the John Wesley
Powell Auditorium, Wednesday evening, January 25, at 8:00 P. M., with President
G. Arthur Cooper presiding.
The minutes off the 817th meeting were read and approved.
The Secretary announced the election of four new members: L.
C. Burton and
The Secretary asked members to notify the Society of changes
of address, pointing out that such changes cannot be made on the basis of
hearsay. Changes should be sent to
Margaret Cooper, Room 4226
J. Thomas Dutro presented an informal communication, calling
attention to the publication of GSA Memoir 81, Morphology, classification,
and life habits of the Productoidea (Brachiopoda) by Helen Muir-Wood and G. Arthur
Cooper. He pointed out the significance
of this work in its description of the morphology of the organisms, their
evolution and their habitat as well as its systematic contributions, and
particularly mentioned its stratigraphic importance.
The regular program followed:
John C. Goodlett -- Pollen-bearing
sediments: an embarrassment of riches.
Discussed by Knox, McGuinness, Sisler, Cloud, and an unidentified gentleman.
Thor H. Kiilsgaard --
W. H. Bradley -- Geochemical balances in the Green River
formation of
Attendance: 121
The meeting adjourned at 9:45 P. M.
Frank C. Whitmore, Jr.
Secretary
GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF
Secretary's Report
February 8, 1961
The 819th meeting of the Society was held in the John Wesley
Powell Auditorium, Wednesday evening, February 8, at 8:12 P. M., with President
G. Arthur Cooper presiding.
The minutes of the 818th meeting were read and approved.
The Secretary announced that, because of a lack of a quorum in
the Council, no new members had been elected.
He also announced that there would be no meeting on February 22.
The President informed the Society of the recent deaths of two
members, Carl G. Paulsen and Ernest F. Burchard.
In an informal communication on the role of fluorine in the
hydration of lavas, Irving Friedman tried to get in the last word in an
argument with Michael Fleischer which had formed part of the discussion of W.
H. Bradley's paper at the previous meeting.
Fleischer being absent, there was no discussion.
The regular program followed:
R. E. Wallace, N. J. Silberling, and
D. B. Tatlock - Some structural features of the
Humboldt Range, Nevada. Discussed by
Mason, Doe, Johnson, White, Hendricks, Robinson, Zen, and Waters.
W. T. Pecora - Origin of carbonatites,
L. C. Pakiser, Jr., D. P. Hill, and
H. L. Baldwin - Gravity anomalies in volcanic regions of the southern Cascade,
Range, the Snake River Plain, and Yellowstone National Park. Discussed by
Anderson, Murata, Goldich, White, and Hendricks.
Attendance: 92.
The meeting adjourned at 9:48 P. M..
Frank C. Whitmore, Jr.
Secretary
GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF
Secretary's Report
March 8, 1961
The 820th meeting of the Society was held in the John Wesley
Powell Auditorium, Wednesday evening, March 8, at 8:09 P. M., with President G.
Arthur Cooper presiding.
The minutes of the 819th meeting were read and approved.
The Secretary announced the election of eight new members:
William W. Kephart, U. S. Bureau of Mines, College
Park, Md.; E. Michael Brittingham, Annandale,
Virginia; Janet Littler and Holmes A. Semken, Jr., U.
S. Geological Survey; Roy S. Clarke, Paul E. DeSautels,
and Erle G. Kauffman, U. S. National Museum; Richard
A. Royer, Washington District, U. S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The Secretary asked for volunteers to represent the Society at
the D. C. Science Fair on Saturday afternoon, April 22, for the purpose of
selecting geologic projects worthy of the Society's commendation. The fair will
be held at McDonough Gymnasium,
The President introduced Dr. Slavko Popler of the Geological Survey of Slovenia, who is in
The President informed the Society of the death, on March 8,
of Esper S. Larsen, Jr.
Douglas M. Kinney read a memorial to George W. Stose.
In an informal communication, George Dury
presented a review of The Making of the Broads, by J. M. Lambert et al.,
published in 1960 by the Royal Geographical Society,
The regular program followed:
M. F. Kane -- Relationship between isostasy and geologic
structure in
Augusta Gansser -- On salt-domes and
mud-volcanoes. Discussed by Kiilsgaard, Neuman, Roedder, Lohman, Mason,
and Merriam.
Darrell M. Pinckney -- Veins and hydrothermal alteration in
the Boulder Batholith,
Attendance: 127.
The meeting adjourned at 9:58 P. M.
Frank C. Whitmore, Jr.
Secretary
GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF
Secretary's Report
March 22, 1961
The 821st meeting of the Society was held in the John Wesley
Powell Auditorium, Wednesday evening, March 22, at 8:05 P. M., with Vice
President Harold M. Bannerman presiding.
The minutes of the 820th meeting were read and approved.
Druid
William E. Benson presented an informal communication
concerning the first phase of experimental drilling preparatory to the Mohole
project. This phase, devoted to testing of the drilling and positioning
equipment aboard the barge Cuss I, was completed on March 15, when a
hole 1,340 feet deep was drilled in the ocean bottom in 3,100 feet of water in
the San Diego Trench off
The regular program followed:
Daniel B. Krinsley -- Limnological investigations at
Roland Brinkman -- The deformation of fossils and rocks.
Discussed by Doe and Diment.
Edwin Roedder -- Depression of the freezing point in fluid
inclusions. Discussed by Skinner, Stewart, Fournier, Pommer,
Pecora,
Attendance: 119.
The meeting adjourned at 10:00 P. M.
Frank C. Whitmore, Jr.,
Secretary
GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF
Secretary's Report
April 12, 1961
The 822nd meeting of the Society was held in the John Wesley
Powell Auditorium, Wednesday evening, April 12, at 8:10 P. M,, with President
G. Arthur Cooper presiding.
The minutes of the 821st meeting were read and approved as
corrected.
The Secretary announced the election of five new members:
Harold Downey, Bear Creek Mining Co.; John Gassaway,
W. H. Bradley presented an informal communication on Spirogyra, a remarkably preserved alga
from the
The regular program followed:
T. P. Thayer -- Some glimpses of the world chromite situation,
economic and otherwise. Discussed by Murata.
Catherine W. Skinner -- Precipitation of dolomite in
Philip H. Abelson and Thomas C. Hoering -- Fractionation of carbon isotopes by living
matter. Discussed by Sisler, Roedder, Pecora, Barton, Klemic, and
Rubin.
Attendance: 82
The meeting adjourned at 9:43 P. M.
Frank C. Whitmore, Jr.
Secretary
GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF
Secretary's Report
April 26, 1961
The 823rd meeting of the Society was held in the John Wesley
Powell Auditorium, Wednesday evening, April 26, at 8:05 P. M., with President
G. Arthur Cooper presiding.
The minutes of the 822nd meeting were read and approved.
The Secretary announced the election of two new members:
Sidney U. Barnes and Carl Hedge, both of the U. S. Geological Survey.
The Secretary announced that the Petrology Club would hold a
field trip in South Central Virginia on April 29, and. that the Pick and Hammer
Club would present a show on May 5.
Ellis Yochelson announced the
recipients of the Society's commendations for the best geologic projects at the
D. C. Science Fair. They are Brynda Whitted of
Two informal communications were presented:
Edward C. T. Chao: Metallic
spherules in tektites.
T. P. Thayer: A magnifying stereoscope for use in the field.
Discussed by White.
The regular program followed:
K. J. Murata and D. H. Richter -- Basaltic differentiation as
shown in recent
Irving Friedman -- Trends in water and deuterium content of
pumices from the 1959
D. Foster Hewett -- Distribution of
manganese. Discussed by Cloud.
Attendance: 133.
The meeting adjourned at 9:55 P. M.
Frank C. Whitmore, Jr.
Secretary
GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF
Secretary's Report
September 27, 1961
The 824th meeting of the Society was held in the John Wesley
Powell Auditorium, Wednesday evening, September 27, at 8:05 P. M., with
President G. Arthur Cooper presiding.
The minutes of the 823rd meeting were read and approved.
The Secretary announced the election of six new members: Wiley
S. Rogers, National Science Foundation; Henry D. Wagner, Publications Division,
U. S. Geological Survey; James C. Wright, Geologic Division, U. S. Geological
Survey; Joseph T. Callahan, David A. Phoenix, and Roger Wolff, Water Resources
Division, U. S. Geological Survey.
The Secretary made the following announcements:
Those who have not yet paid their 1961 dues may pay them
direct to Margaret Cooper.
The AAPG has extra copies of the program of its 1961 meeting.
Copies will be furnished free on request to GSW.
The remaining fall meetings of GSW will not adhere to the
regular schedule. Instead they will be held on October 11, November 8, November
29, and December 13.
The President introduced Miss Brynda
Whitted of
There were no informal communications.
The regular program followed:
Isidore Zietz and
Kenneth G. Books -- Remanent magnetism and
aeromagnetic interpretation of the Bearpaw Mts. area,
Paul M. Johnston -- Geology off the Greater Washington
area, D. C. In the course of Mr. Johnston’s paper, 2
informal communications were delivered – one by D. M. Kinney from the
projection booth and one by W. D. Johnston from the floor.
Bruce R. Doe – Geothermometry on the
sulfide ores at
Attendance: 158.
The meeting adjourned at 9:40 P. M.
Frank C. Whitmore, Jr.
Secretary
GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF
Secretary's Report
October 11, 1961
The 825th meeting of the Society was held in the John Wesley
Powell Auditorium, Wednesday evening, October 11, at 8:05 P. M., with President
G. Arthur Cooper presiding.
The minutes of the 824th meeting were read and approved.
The Secretary announced the election of sixteen new members
Dennis P. Cox, Harry W. Dodge, Jr., Salih Faizi, Raymond W. Fary, Jr.,
Jerald M. Goldberg, Henry E. Holt, Murray C. Gardner, Walter P. Ketterer, Kenneth F. Kothe,
Gerhard W. Leo, Humbert S. Revel, James F. Tazelaar, and Aaron J. Woloshin
of the Military Geology Branch, U. S. Geological Survey; Helene L. Baldwin and
Charles Lee Oman of the Water Resource Division, U. S. Geological Survey;
Gerald F. Paulson, U. S. National Museum.
The Secretary made the following announcements:
Those who have not yet paid their 1961 dues may pay them
direct to Margaret Cooper.
Members of the Society are invited to a meting of the
Washington Academy of Sciences on October 19.
A caucus of local members of AAPG will be held in this hall
immediately after the November 8 meeting to nominate two candidates for a
District Representative to serve from 1962 to 1964.
The President informed the Society of the deaths of Ray S. Bassler, on October 3, and of Esper
S. Larsen 3rd, on October 6.
Douglas M. Kinney presented an informal communication on the
returns from AAPG questionnaires on trends in enrollment of geology students
and on employment trends in geology during the period 1950-1960 and projected
to 1965.
The regular program followed:
M. Gordon Wolman -- Downstream effects of dams on alluvial
channels.
Charles Milton -- Progress in
Howard T. Evans -- Studies on hydrolysis reactions in solution
at the Royal Institute of Technology at
Attendance: 106.
The meeting adjourned at 10:15 P. M.
Frank C. Whitmore, Jr.
Secretary
GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF
Secretary's Report
November 8, 1961
The 826th meeting of the Society was held in the John Wesley
Powell Auditorium, Wednesday evening, November 8, at 8:05 P. N., with President
G. Arthur Cooper presiding.
The minutes of the 825th meeting were read and approved.
The Secretary announced the election of four new members: A.
R. Mooney, U. S. Navy Hydrographic Office; Charles A. Reams, U. S. Army Map
Service; Barbara A. La Heist and Barbara L. Hammond, U. S. Geological Survey.
The Secretary announced that the Pick and Hammer Club would
hold a discussion meeting on tektites on November 15, and that Roger Revelle would speak to the Washington Academy of Science on
November 17, his subject being "The tragic scissors of Pakistan."
The President informed the Society of the deaths of Arnold C.
Mason and Vaux Owen, Jr.
Before calling for the regular program, the President pointed
out that, at the previous meeting, the speakers had greatly exceeded their time
allotments; he asked that greater care be exerted in the future.
The regular program consisted of five brief talks on the
subject "Pitfalls in paleontology," as follows:
Frank C. Whitmore, Jr. -- Evolutionary stages. Discussed by
Merriam and Milton.
Erle G. Kauffman -- Variation through
time. Discussed by White and Bush.
McKenzie Gordon, Jr. -- Recurrent faunas. Discussed by Lohman, Kinkel, and Guild.
Nicholas Hotton III -- Facies vs. time, in the Beaufort Series,
William A. Oliver, Jr. -- Individual variation.
McKenzie Gordon, Jr. -- Summary. Discussed by Rubin.
Attendance: 151.
The meeting adjourned at 9:50 P. M.
Frank C. Whitmore, Jr.
Secretary
GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF
Secretary's Report
November 29, 1961
The 827th meeting of the Society was held in the John Wesley
Powell Auditorium, Wednesday evening, November 29, at 8:00 P. M., with
President G. Arthur Cooper presiding.
The minutes of the 826th meeting were read and approved.
The Secretary announced the election of ten new members:
Charles H. Morton, Bureau of Naval Weapons; Norman F. Ness,
Aeronautics and Space Administration; Paul R. Shaffer,
National Science Foundation and University of Illinois; P. R. Brett, Peter R. Buseck, Charles W. Burnham, John P. deNeufville,
J. J. Fawcett, and Thomas C. Hoering, of the
Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington; Mrs. Esper S. Larsen 3rd, U. S. Geological Survey.
The Secretary announced a meeting of the Washington Academy of
Sciences, to be held on November 30, at which Richard H. Bolt, National Science
Foundation, would speak on "Planning resources for Scientific
Progress."
The President announced the slate of candidates for office in
1962, as presented by the nominating committee:
President - Thomas P. Thayer
First Vice-President - Aaron C. Waters
Second Vice-President - Michael Fleischer.
Secretary - Charles S. Denny (two-year term)
Members at large of the Council - Jarvis B. Hadley, Robert B. Neuman, George S. Switzer (three to be elected for two-year
term).
Vice-president, Washington Academy of Sciences - G. Arthur
Cooper.
The regular program followed:
U. S. Geological Survey - National Park Service - Eruption of
Kilauea, 1969-60, sound and color film introduced by Edwin Roedder.
Wallace E. Stegner -- Major Powell
and the beginnings of the conservation movement.
E. C. T. Chao - The Ries Crater of southern Germany - meteoric or volcanic?
Discussed by Hack, Roedder and Rosenbloom.
Attendance: 257.
The meeting adjourned at 9:50 P. M.
Frank C. Whitmore, Jr.
Secretary
GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON
Secretary's Report
December 13, 1961
The 828th meeting of the Society was held in the John Wesley
Powell Auditorium, Wednesday evening, December 13, at 8:10 P. M., with
President G. Arthur Cooper presiding.
The minutes of the 827th meeting were read and approved.
The Secretary announced the election of four new members:
William C. Prinz, Harold W. Olsen, Isidore Adler, and
Thomas E. Wright, all of the Geological Survey.
Vice President McGuinness introduced
John Bremsteller, who presented a progress report on
the Society's insurance program. Nine hundred policies have been issued and
more than $50,000 paid in claims, including $27,000 to eight members. Recently
the company has agreed to carry the survivors of deceased members.
W. H. Bradley read a memorial to Esper
S. Larsen 3rd.
E. C. T. Chao presented an informal
communication on the synthesis, by Stishov and Popova, of a dense phase of SiO2 at a pressure
greater than 160,000 atmospheres and 1200-1400 degrees Centigrade. Its specific
gravity is 4.3. This mineral has now been found in nature at Meteor Crater,
Arizona, and has been named Stishovite.
The President then relinquished the chair to Vice President
Harold M. Bannerman, who performed the annual rite of introducing an already
well-known figure for the presentation of the presidential address. Its subject
was "Stratigraphy of Glass Mountains, Texas."
Attendance: 84.
The meeting adjourned at 9:10 P. M.
Frank C. Whitmore, Jr.
Secretary
GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON
69th Annual Meeting
December 13, 1961
The 69th Annual Meeting of the Society was held in the John
Wesley Powell Auditorium, Wednesday evening, December 13, 1961, at 9:25 P. M.,
President G. Arthur Cooper presiding.
The minutes of the 68th Annual Meeting were read and approved.
The annual report of the Secretaries for 1961 was read and
approved.
The annual report of the Treasurer was then presented by
Margaret Cooper, who informed the Society that $377 had been spent on beer for
12 meetings. This exceeded by only $11.57 the amount spent for eleven meetings
in 1960. The balance in the treasury at the end of 1961 was $1030.70. Net
assets increased during the year by $227.99.
The report of the auditing committee was presented by its
chairman, George Cohee, who reported the books in
excellent order and the bonds all present. The committee noted that the books
are getting more voluminous due to the insurance program..
The reports of the Treasurer and the auditing committee were
accepted.
There was no old business.
The report of the Awards Committee was presented by its
chairman, M. R. Klepper. Other members were Paul
Barton, Bill Diment, George Davis, and John Huddle.
It was pointed out that in the past year there was flagrant disregard of the
time allotted by the program chairman: 40% of the speakers exceeded their time
by five minutes, and 20% ran ten minutes (i. e. 50%)
over their allotments.
The committee singled out for honorable mention Augusto Gansser for a superbly
illustrated description of mud volcanoes and salt structures, and Frank
Whitmore for a whale of a discussion. Special mention was made of the
impressive and instructive film, "Eruption of Kilauea, 1959-60,"
jointly produced by the U. S. Geological Survey and the National Park Service.
The award for the best paper was presented to Wilmot H.
Bradley for his convincing and precisely timed presentation, and his skilful
selection and astute manipulation of geochemical fudge factors in proving that
the Green River formation was solvent.
Second prize went to Ed Roedder, a very close runner-up whose
lucid discussion of depression of the freezing point in fluid inclusions
demonstrated to the satisfaction of a predominantly lay audience that cryoscopy
does pay.
The Great Dane Award, for the best informal communication,
went to Ed Chao for calling attention to the recent
recognition and significance of birdshot in tektites. Honorable mention was
made of Bill Benson for a timely thumb-nail sketch of the proto-Mohole drilling
by the Cuss I, and to Bill Bradley for his astuteness in recognizing
fresh-water algae in lakes that deposited halite.
The Sleeping Bear cup was presented by Walter White, chairman
of a committee that also included George Gryc. Whitie pointed out
that the winner was head and shoulders above all other candidates and had added
a new dimension to the American theatre by selecting the projection booth as a
podium from which to issue an extremely informal communication. The a cup was
thereupon presented to Doug Kinney, who was almost speechless.
The concluding item of business was the election of officers.
The slate selected by the Nomination Committee was elected unanimously.
Attendance: 85.
The meeting adjourned at 9:55 P. M.
Frank C. Whitmore, Jr.
Secretary