Memorial to James B. Cathcart 1917-1993 WARREN I
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Memorial to James B. Cathcart 1917-1993 WARREN I. FINCH 455 Dover Street Lakewood, Colorado 80226 With contributions from JAMES D. CATHCART AND JAMES R. HERRING, (U.S. Geological Survey, Denver), GUERRY H. MCCLELLAN(University of Florida), THOMAS M. SCOTT (Florida Geological Survey), and STEVEN J. VAN KAUWENBERGH (International Fertilizer Development, Muscle Shoals, Alabama) All of James B. Cathcart’s friends remember his booming voice, smile, great sense of humor, and stories and jokes, but they also remember his serious side and the dedicated professionalism that ended on September 8, 1993, at the Maury Regional Hospital in Columbia, Tennessee, after an unexpected heart attack. Working as scientist emeritus he was on his way with his wife, Doris, to the phosphate deposits of the southeastern United States for what had become an annual stint of field work for the past 35 years (although his friends accused him of taking a vacation). Jim truly died with his boots on. Jim was born on November 22, 1917, in Berkeley, California, the son of James B. Cathcart, Sr., office manager at American Mining & Smelting, and Lydia Pauline (Anderson) Cathcart. He had a younger brother and two younger sisters. In 1918 his family moved to San Francisco, where he attended elementary school. He was a Boy Scout, delivered newspapers, and caddied for his father, perhaps sparking his interest in golfing later in life. He attended Polytechnic High School in San Francisco from 1931 to 1934. He ran the 440-yard dash on the track team and was a center- fielder; but he felt that he was not the same caliber as Joe DiMaggio, a rival contender from another high school. He belonged to the Nature Club, showing his early interest in the outdoors. Jim received his A.B. degree in geology from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1939, and attended graduate school there from 1939 to 1942 as a teaching fellow in geology. Jim joined the U.S. Geological Survey in 1942 after a short stint with Superior Oil Co. in California and Wyoming. His first year was spent with E. H. Bailey working on quicksilver deposits in California and Nevada, followed by a couple of years working with R. P. Bryson on bauxite deposits in Arkansas. In 1945 Jim entered the U.S. Navy for a year. He returned to work with J. C. Dunlap on potash deposits in New Mexico, Texas, and Utah. In 1947 Jim began his long career of research on phosphate deposits in the southeastern states of Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, but principally Florida, where he lived until 1953. He moved to Denver, Colorado, in 1953 and was a member of the Uranium Resource and Research Group of the Trace Elements Program sponsored by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commis sion. In 1957 he spent a short period studying the bauxite deposits in Hawaii. From 1957 until his retirement in 1988, his phosphate research was part of the Survey’s uranium program. He was the commodity specialist for phosphate rock, including its uranium resources. Geological Society of America Memorials, v. 26, December 1995 99 100 THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA Aside from field geology related to correlating, synthesizing, and interpreting the geology of large phosphorite-bearing areas, his research included modem laboratory investigations of the mineralogy and geochemistry of phosphorite using X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy. He was known world-wide for his encyclopedic knowledge of global phosphate deposits. This knowledge, along with field examinations, aided the discovery of large potentially economic phosphate deposits in the Cordillera Oriental of Colombia (1966-1976), Saudi Arabia (1968), Brazil (1969-1975), Ecuador (1975), and Mexico (1984). He also examined deposits in Aus tralia and West Africa. During his entire career in phosphate studies, he worked closely with individuals in the phosphate industry, who greatly respected his work. Jim was active in international affairs, including the International Phosphate Data Base, Caribbean Phosphate Workshop, International Strategic Minerals Inventory, International Geo logical Correlation Program Project 156, and the United Nations ESCAP Fertilizer Workshop in Bangkok, Thailand. His bibliography includes more than 150 books, articles, maps, abstracts, and administrative reports covering the general geology of phosphate, bauxite, and aluminous laterite deposits in various countries; genetic aspects of phosphate deposits; trace element distri butions in phosphate; reserves and resources of phosphate, including uranium; and prospecting techniques. His entire collection of field notes, sample data, maps, and thin sections is available in Field Records, USGS Library, Denver Federal Center. For his work leading to the discovery of phosphate in Brazil he received a Special Achievement Award in 1976, and in 1985 the Department of Interior’s Meritorious Service Award. Jim loved to participate in the Survey’s yearly Pick and Hammer shows. His early interest in the performing arts was evident from his participation in the Theater Group at the University of California which included Barry Nelson (TV’s first James Bond), Kenneth Tobey (the red headed pilot in TV’s “Whirlybirds”), and Gregory Peck. Jim retired “officially” in 1988 but continued to work as scientist emeritus, usually arriving before 7 a.m. nearly every weekday. He would complete a full day, except when he slipped away with friends to play golf, one of his lifelong passions. Jim was devoted to his family: Doris, his wife for nearly 50 years, their daughter Janet, and their son Jim, who is also a USGS scientist. He was an avid stamp collector, a voracious reader, and a student of history, with a keen interest in the Civil War. Jim was an active member of many professional societies, including the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (1940); the Association of Economic Geologists (1950), senior and emeritus; the Geological Society of America (1952), Fellow; the Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists (1953); and the Colorado Scientific Society (1954). He was also a member of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers (AIME). Jim’s passing was noted with a moment of silence at the annual 1993 AIME meeting in Florida, where he was to have presented a paper. As his work with phosphate and its application to agriculture developed, he joined the Fertilizer Society (London) in 1977 and the International Fertilizer Association in 1979 (associate member). He was also a member of the International Association of Sedimentologists (1980) and the International Association of the Geology of Ore Deposits (IAGOD) (1979). Jim liked to pass along his special interests by lecturing to graduate classes at various universities, including the Colorado School of Mines, Stephen F. Austin University (Texas), University of South Florida (Tampa), Universidad Nacionale de Bogota (Colombia), Escuela de Minas (Medellin, Colombia), and Departamento Nacfonal de Produ9ao Minerals, Rio de Janeiro and Bel6m, Brazil. Jim spoke excellent Spanish. One of the great strengths of the USGS has been its mentor system, through which Jim profited in his first years. Ever after, he was a mentor to his younger colleagues in the USGS, to geologists in state surveys, and also, to associates in the phosphate industry, where during his MEMORIAL TO JAMES B. CATHCART 101 35-year association with the industry he influenced management by urging them to invest in geologists. Throughout his career he was a great representative of and salesman for the Survey. In his retirement, he was a kind and patient mentor to Jim Herring, who filled Cathcart’s large shoes and presented his paper in memoriam at the 1993 fall meeting of the AIME. Jim Cathcart’s friends remember many humorous stories about him. Perhaps one of these will illustrate his good nature and ability to laugh at himself. Jim was in his environment playing cards, especially cribbage and poker, where during our regular poker games in the 1950s, one of us would tell a story, and Jim would say “That’s nothing” and proceed to top the story. On one cold snowy winter evening, we decided to test Jim with a story about a mining camp in Ontario where the outhouse was three-tiered, to accommodate the increase in depth of snow—not really very funny. Jim said “That’s nothing," and proceeded with a story about a fanner in Florida who built a three-tiered cage for pigs, each tier about the size of a young pig so it could not turn around. He put each pig in facing alternate and opposite directions and fed only the top pig, and, behold, the bottom pig got the fattest! This broke up our game for some time, but it wasn’t long before Jim realized our plot and joined in our laughter as he realized he had succeeded in topping another story. Another story also illustrates his great sense of humor. In the late 1980s, he stopped at the office of a phosphate mining engineering company in Lakeland, Florida, where a young man greeted Jim, asking who he should say was calling. Upon hearing “Jim Cathcart,” the young man said, “I thought you were dead.” Jim’s reply was, “Sir, rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated” (to borrow a line from Samuel Clemens). Jim thought this was immensely humorous. Jim was an old-fashioned geologist who believed in observation and perception, a master of both basic and applied science. His great asset was working with people and communicating; no one was more intelligent or important than the next. Jim was genuine and had a great sense of humility. Although Jim’s passing was a shock to all of us, we and his family can be happy that he passed to his reward so peacefully and without long suffering. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF J. B. CATHCART 1949 Open fracture in langbeinite, International Minerals and Chemical Corporation’s potash mine, Eddy County, New Mexico: Mining Engineering, v.