Oral Histories in Meteoritics and Planetary Science––XVI: Grenville Turner

Abstract– In this interview, Grenville Turner ( Fig. 1 ) recounts how he became interested in meteorites during postdoctoral research with John Reynolds at the University of California, Berkeley, after completing a DPhil with Ken Mayne at the University of Oxford. At Berkeley, he worked on xenon isotopes with fellow students Bob Pepin and Craig Merrihue, but Reynolds’ insistence that they analyze all the inert gases in their samples meant that they also made important contributions to Ne isotope studies and potassium‐argon dating leading to the Ar‐Ar technique. In 1964, Grenville obtained a teaching position at the University of Sheffield where he developed his own laboratory for inert gas isotope measurements. After the return of samples from the Moon by the Apollo program, he became involved in determining the chronology of volcanism and major impacts on the Moon. In 1988, Grenville and his team moved to the University of Manchester as part of a national reorganization of earth science departments. During the post Apollo years, Grenville’s interest turned to the development of new instrumentation (resonance ionization mass spectrometry and the ion microprobe), and to problems in terrestrial isotope geochemistry, particularly the source of inert gases in fluid inclusions. He received the Leonard Medal of the Meteoritical Society in 1999, and he has also received awards from the Royal Society, the European Association of Geochemistry, and the Royal Astronomical Society.

Figure 1 Open in figure viewer PowerPoint Grenville Turner.     

Oral Histories in Meteoritics and Planetary Science—XIX: Klaus Keil

Abstract– Klaus Keil ( Fig. 1 ) grew up in Jena and became interested in meteorites as a student of Fritz Heide. His research for his Dr. rer. nat. became known to Hans Suess who––with some difficulty––arranged for him to move to La Jolla, via Mainz, 6 months before the borders of East Germany were closed. In La Jolla, Klaus became familiar with the electron microprobe, which has remained a central tool in his research and, with Kurt Fredriksson, he confirmed the existence of Urey and Craig’s chemical H and L chondrite groups, and added a third group, the LL chondrites. Klaus then moved to NASA Ames where he established a microprobe laboratory, published his definitive paper on enstatite chondrites, and led in the development of the Si(Li) detector and the EDS method of analysis. After 5 years at Ames, Klaus became director of the Institute of Meteoritics at the University of New Mexico where he built up one of the leading meteorite research groups while working on a wide variety of projects, including chondrite groups, chondrules, differentiated meteorites, lunar samples, and Hawai’ian basalts. The basalt studies led to a love of Hawai’i and a move to the University of Hawai’i in 1990, where he has continued a wide variety of meteorite projects, notably the role of volcanism on asteroids. Klaus Keil has received honorary doctorates from Friedrich‐Schiller University, Jena, and the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. He was President of the Meteoritical Society in 1969–1970 and was awarded the Leonard Medal in 1988.

Figure 1 Open in figure viewer PowerPoint Klaus Keil at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa, 2007.     

The U.P. Mammoth Site,Carbon County,Wyoming, USA: More Questions than Answers

In the summer of 1960, mammoth bones were discovered by a dragline operator in southern Wyoming at the Union Pacific (U.P.) Mammoth site. Although subsequent archaeological work during 1960 and 1961 identified artifacts in association with the mammoth remains, many authors have since questioned the nature of that association. Also, little has been published about the site other than a brief article in National Geographic Magazine in 1962. In this paper, we present additional information on the U.P. Mammoth site including stratigraphic profiles from the first author's geoarchaeological work in 1961, stratigraphic and spatial location of bones and artifacts derived from the original field notes, and new radiocarbon dates. Although the precise stratigraphic provenance for many artifacts and skeletal elements remains unclear, a compelling argument can be made for spatial and stratigraphic association of the mammoth remains with the artifact assemblage suggesting some kind of human interaction with the animal.     

Recycling oceanic crust for continental crustal growth: Sr–Nd–Hf isotope evidence from granitoids in the western Junggar region,NW China

The juvenile component of accretionary orogenic belts has been declining since the Archean. As a result, there is often controversy regarding the contribution of oceanic basalts to Phanerozoic crustal growth, as in the case of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB). Here we report on three groups of Late Carboniferous (316–305 Ma) granitoids in the western Junggar region of northern Xinjiang, NW China, which is part of the southwestern CAOB. They consist of adakites and I and A-type granites, and as a whole have the most depleted isotopic compositions (ε_Nd(t) = + 6–+9, (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr)_i = 0.7030–0.7045, and ε_Hf(t) = + 12–+16) among the granitoids of the CAOB. These features are nearly identical to those of pre-Permian ophiolites in northern Xinjiang, and are clearly different from those of Carboniferous basalts in the western Junggar region. These relationships indicate that the granitoids were mainly derived from recycled oceanic crust by melting of subducted oceanic crust (e.g., adakites), and of the middle–lower crust of intra-oceanic arc that mainly consisted of oceanic crust (e.g., I and A-type granites). Based on evidence from the CAOB, we suggest that recycling of oceanic crust has made a significant contribution to continental crustal growth and evolution during the Phanerozoic.     

Structure of regional dykes and local cone sheets in the Midhyrna-Lysuskard area, Snaefellsnes Peninsula (NW Iceland)

A detailed understanding of pāhoehoe emplacement is necessary for developing accurate models of flow field development, assessing hazards, and interpreting the significance of lava morphology on Earth and other planetary surfaces. Active pāhoehoe lobes on Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai'i, were examined on 21–26 February 2006 using oblique time series stereo-photogrammetry and differential global positioning system measurements. During this time, the local discharge rate for peripheral lava lobes was generally constant at 0.0061?±?0.0019 m³/s, but the areal coverage rate of the lobes exhibited a periodic increase every 4.13?±?0.64 min. This periodicity is attributed to the time required for the pressure within the liquid lava core to exceed the cooling-induced strength of its margins. The pāhoehoe flow advanced through a series of down-slope and cross-slope breakouts, which began as ～0.2-m-thick units (i.e., toes) that coalesced and inflated to become approximately meter-thick lobes. The lobes were thickest above the lowest points of the initial topography and above shallow to reverse-facing slopes, defined relative to the local flow direction. The flow path was typically controlled by high-standing topography, with the zone directly adjacent to the final lobe margin having an average relief that was a few centimeters higher than the lava-inundated region. This suggests that toe-scale topography can, at least temporarily, exert strong controls on pāhoehoe flow paths by impeding the lateral spreading of the lobe. Observed cycles of enhanced areal spreading and inflated lobe morphology are also explored using a model that considers the statistical likelihood of sequential breakouts from active flow margins and the effects of topographic barriers.     

Crops,trees, and birds: Biodiversity change under agricultural intensification in Uganda's farmed landscapes

Geografisk Tidsskrift, Danish Journal of Geography 106(2): 115–130, 2006

This paper examines the relationship between the intensity of agricultural land use and the abundance and richness of trees and birds in a humid tropical developing region where natural vegetation is being rapidly converted into farmland under market and population pressures. We analysed survey data on land use, birds and woody plants collected in 14 study sites situated within smallholder cropland and commercial plantations in southern Uganda. Commercial plantations had very few trees and only 10% of the original bird species. Land use intensification in smallholder systems also showed losses in bird abundance and species richness, but not nearly as much as in plantations. In both systems the impact of intensification was much bigger on the specialised and threatened birds compared to the less specialised species. This argues strongly for ‘species-sensitive’ conservation policies combining protected areas with land use regulation in areas undergoing intensification. We also found a much higher loss in bird biodiversity during the first phases of land use intensification (when larger tracts of forest are cleared) than in later phases characterised by clearing of smaller patches of vegetation and improved management of farm trees. This suggests high pay-offs to geographical targeting of conservation efforts in farmed landscapes.     

RAISED MARINE TERRACES ALONG THE GULF OF ADEN COAST OF SOMALIA

Mapping in the Galweda-Elayu area of northern Somalia has revealed depositional and erosional marine terraces at elevations of approximately 16 m, 8 m, and 2 m. These terraces vary from 0–2300 m, 200–2200 m, and 0–800 m in width, respectively. Sediments exposed in stream-valley walls demonstrate that the two higher terraces were formed by marine transgressions followed later by regressions to below present sea level. Beach ridges on the terraced alluvial fan at the mouth of togga Galweda imply that sea level and/or land elevation varied by at least 6 m during the formation of the 16-m terrace and by at least 3 m during the formation of the 8-m terrace. ²³⁰Th/²³⁴U ages of corals suggest that the 8-m terrace was formed during deep-sea isotope substage 5c (105 kyr B.P.) and the 2-m terrace during substage 5a (80 kyr B.P.). A 7-kyr-old coral from above the present storm beach on the outer flanks of the 2-m terrace suggests that sea level in the Gulf of Aden was close to its present level by the middle Holocene. No material suitable for dating was recovered from the 16-m terrace, but on morphological grounds and based on marine-terrace elevations elsewhere in the Red Sea-Gulf of Aden rift zone, we believe that the 16-m terrace was formed during isotope substage 5e (132–120 kyr B.P.), when global sea level was about 6 m above present.