Memorial to Lawrence C. Craig 1918-1983 FRED W. CATER. Jr. 1880 Applewood Drive. Lakew ood. Colorado 80215 On June 2. 1983. the U.S. Geological Survey lost a highly valued member, and the science of geology a gifted scientist. Lawrence C. Craig, who died of a heart attack at the age of 65. He is survived by his wife, Rachel; his father, Gerald, of Brighton, Colorado; a sister. Alice Craig Erney, of Madison. Wisconsin; a son. Gerald, of Flagstaff. Arizona; two daughters. Eliza­ beth Craig Rich, of Buffalo. New York, and Phebe Craig, of Oakland. California; and four grandchildren. Larry was the son of Dr. Gerald Spellman Craig and Prudence Bower Craig. He was born in Plainview. Texas, in 1918 while his father was overseas in World War 1. Dr. Craig has been a leader and innovator in elementary school science and an author of many texts and papers on science for elementary schools and ele­ mentary school teachers. He taught at Teachers College. Columbia, from 1924 to 1956. Larry’s mother was of pioneer stock, born on a homestead in the Red River Valley of North Dakota. Later her family moved to a farm near Olton. Texas, and she graduated from nearby Weyland College in Plainview. It was in Texas that she met and married Gerald, who had just graduated from Baylor University. They were married 67 years; she died just three months before her son, Lawrence. Larry graduated from Horace Mann School for Boys in 1935. entered Swarthmore that fall, and graduated with a degree in zoology-chemistry in 1939. He met Rachel Martenet while they were both attending Swarthmore. and they were married in 1941. Larry became interested in geology after meeting Dr. Herbert Arnold of Columbia while at his father’s natural science workshops for classroom teachers. He entered Columbia University in 1939 and received his M.S. degree in geology in 1942. He immediately joined the U.S. Geological Survey and was sent to Tennessee to study manganese deposits as an assistant, first to John Rodgers and then to P. B. King. A year later he was sent west to work on lead-zinc deposits in California and Nevada under C. W. Merriam. In July 1945 Larry was inducted into the Mid-Pacific Map and Photo Section of Military Intelligence and was sent to Japan. After he was sent home in October 1946. he finished his Ph.D. requirements at Columbia and returned to the Geological Survey on WAE (when actually employed) status, working with R. L. Miller on the anthracite project at Mt. Carmel. Pennsylvania. In July 1947 he was assigned to the Colorado Plateau. The geology of that region will always be associated with his name. He did stratigraphic studies on the Morrison Formation, which contained the bulk of the then- known uranium resources of the nation. His landmark papers on the Morrison Forma­ tion also supplied the geologic guide to the thousands of prospectors searching for uranium deposits in that region. Larry became chief of Colorado Plateau Geologic Studies in 1952. administering, supervising, and coordinating stratigraphic. geophysical, geochemical, and geobotanical 2 THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA studies. From 1951 to 1961, when not occupied with administrative duties, he worked on the stratigraphy of Triassic and Cretaceous rocks. In 1961 he became chief of the Paleo- tectonic Map Branch and had general supervision and administration of the massive folios that depict distribution, nature, and paleotectonic framework of the Pennsylvanian and Mississippian Systems. He had a key role and contributed a great deal of painstaking effort in work that led to publication of Paleotectonic Investigations o f the Mississippian System in the United States, Professional Paper 1010, known in the Survey as the Missis­ sippian Folio. During this and other administrative duties he was also frequently called upon to serve on various Survey committees, to give invited papers to various geologic societies, and to act as invited occasional editor for Colorado School of Mines publica­ tions. He served frequently as consultant to the Geologic Names Committee. After finishing the Mississippian Folio in 1973, Larry began work on several projects including oil and gas in the Carboniferous rocks of the Western States and the prepara­ tion of a final report on the Morrision Formation of the Colorado Plateau, a project long deferred because of his administrative assignments. From 1972 to the end of 1977, he began outlining the possibilities of uranium deposits in the distal subsurface extensions of two thick lobes of sandstone in the Late Cretaceous Burro Canyon Formation on the southwestern margin of the Piceance Basin. hi 1978 La*ry became program coordinator of a major uranium resources evaluation contract for the Department of Energy. This project has produced maps and reports on twenty-four 2 ® quadrangles thought to be especially favorable for the occurrence of ura­ nium deposits. These maps and reports are basic scientific references and models of pro­ fessional response to national needs. He was also principal investigator on two of them: the Craig, Colorado, and the Vernal, Utah, 2° quadrangles. The maps and reports defined areas favorable for the occurrence of deposits of uranium containing more than 100 tons of U3O8, a grade of more than 0.01 U3O8 less than 5,000 feet deep. From 1981 until his death, Larry studied the uranium potential of the Uinta and Piceance Basins of Colorado and Utah. This study entailed the identification of the most favorable units for uranium deposits. As a result, he picked the Eocene Uinta Formation as the most favorable for uranium, and he studied the formation in greater detail to establish the geologic setting of the known copper-uranium prospects and to define the habits of the uranium-copper minerals, with the hope of identifying additional favorable host facies in the surface and subsurface. As a result of his work on the Vernal 2° quad­ rangle. six areas were identified that could contain 1 0 0 tons of U3 O8 at an average grade of 1 0 0 ppm or more U3 O8 . Larry's administrative chores cut deeply into what he would have preferred doing, namely, working on the stratigraphy of formations on the Colorado Plateau. But Larry was a good soldier and did what his beloved Survey asked of him—and they asked a lot, and got more! In his Professional/Technical Personnel Record, I found this item he had written under “Career Goals.” Early in my career the Geological Survey provided me a great deal of freedom and pleasure in the regional study of the Morrison Formation of the Colorado Plateau. Subsequently, and even during the study. I accepted willingly a considerable number of administrative assignments, finally, to the extent that these have deterred my scien­ tific career. But 1 am devoted to the organization. I would exult (and am exulting) in a final fling in trying to be a geologist (the Uinta job). If I can. in the next 2-4 years (before retirement), prove to myself that I can still make a constructive contribution to the geologic community I will have achieved one of the most rewarding careers I could have wished for (at least I'd be happy re-proving myself)- MEMORIAL TO LAWRENCE C. CRAIG 3 Larry was a Fellow of the Geological Society of America and a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, the Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists, the Paleontological Society, the American Association for the Advance­ ment of Science, the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists, and the Colorado Scientific Society (vice-president, 1962; president. 1963; council. 1959-1962). He also initiated, organized, conducted, and participated in several Geological Survey and Atomic Energy Commission symposia held in Grand Junction. Colorado, in the early 1950s. He was the recipient of a Special Achievement Award in 1981 and in 1983 of the Interior Department’s highest accolade, the Meritorious Service Award, presented for his noteworthy achievements in geologic research and effective coordination of the research efforts of geoscientists from diverse disciplines. Larry’s enormous patience, keen mind, and ability to cut through to the heart of a tough problem made him an excellent scientific administrator. His kindness, ebullient disposition, unflagging good spirits, and lively wit made him a marvelous companion and friend without peer. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF L. C. CRAIG 1944 (with King, P. B„ Ferguson. H. W„ and Rodgers. John) Geology and manganese deposits of northeastern Tennessee: Tennessee Division Geological Bulletin 52. p. 283. 1949 Lower Middle Ordovician of south-central Pennsylvania: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 60, p. 707-779. 1955 (with others) Stratigraphy of the Morrison and related formations, Colorado Plateau region, a preliminary report: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1009-E.. p. 125-168. ____The application of stratigraphy to the search for uranium deposits on the Colorado Plateau: Preprint 251 published by American Institute of Chemical Engineers for Nuclear Engineering and Science Congress, 22 p. 1956 (with Dickey, D. D.) Jurassic strata of southeastern Utah and southwestern Colorado, in Geology and economic deposits of east-central Utah: Intermountain Association of Petroleum Geologists, Seventh Annual Field Conference Guidebook, p. 98-103. 1958 (with Cadigan, R. A.) The Morrison and adjacent formations in the Four Comers area, in Guidebook to the geology of the Paradox Basin: Intermountain Asso­ ciation of Petroleum Geologists, Ninth Annual Field Conference Guidebook. p. 182-192. 1959 (with Holmes, C. N., Freeman, V. L„ Mullens, T. E.. and others) Measured sections of the Morrison and adjacent formations: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 485, approximately 700 p. 1960 (with Oriel, S. S.) Lower Mesozoic rocks in Colorado, in Guide to the geology of Colorado: Geological Society of America, Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists, and Colorado Scientific Society, p.