American Mineralogist, Volume 73, pages 922-924, 1988

Memorial of John Sinclair Stevenson September21, l908-September7, 1987

Loursn S. SrnvnNsoN Redpath , McGill University, , QuebecH3A 2K6,

John Sinclair Stevenson,life fellow of the Mineralogi- cal Society of America and Dawson Professorof at McGill University, died September7, 1987, in Mon- treal after a short illness. He had recently returned from South where he participated in an International Workshop on Cryptoexplosionsand Catastrophiesin the Geological Record. He was born in New Westminster, British Columbia, September 21, 7908, and received his Bachelor of Arts degreein 1929 and the Bachelor ofApplied Sciencede- gree(engineering) in 1930 from the University of British Columbia. He receivedhis Ph.D. from MassachusettsIn- stitute of Technology in 1934,where he had the privilege of being one of Waldemar Lindgren's graduate students and ProfessorLindgren's last teaching assistant.He was also fortunate in being able to spend his summers as a student in the field assistingoutstanding geologistsfrom the GeologicalSurvey of Canada,including W. Cockfield, C. E. Cairns, J. F. Walker, and Morley Wilson. The year following graduation from MIT was spent at a small gold prospect in northern Ontario, Longacre Stevensonfamily succeededin visiting twenty-two differ- Longlac, north of the present Hemlo mine. From there ent centers of mineralogical research,taking along vast he went to Victoria, British Columbia, where he pro- numbers of rock specimensand thin sectionsin their lug- gressedilom assistantto associateto mining engineerfrom gage. 1935to 1950with the provincial Departmentof Mines; While in Victoria he also made severaldetailed studies from 1939 to 1945 he was the specialist in charge of of interesting minerals he encounteredin his field work; strategicwar minerals. some of these were included in Contributions to Cana- In Victoria at that time, most serious scientific work dian Mineralogy published as University of Toronto centered around the Dominion Astrophysical Observa- Studies,Geological Sciences, which later became the Cq- tory, and John became an active member of the Royal nadian Mineralogist. At this time also he worked with Astronomical Society of Canada and served a term as Duncan R. Derry on the compilation of the Tectonic Map president of the Victoria Centre. While working for the of Canada published in 1950; this was the first synthesis Department of Mines, he was visited by meteorite expert of structural data from govemment, university, and in- Dr. F. Leonard, who had come to British Columbia to dustry sourcesin Canada. John was responsible for the investigatethe reported appearanceofa meteorite said to difrcult British Columbia section of the map. He also have fallen in the interior of the province. The two men began (with Dr. O. C. Lucas) the first of his studies in "prospected" enthusiasticallyfor the meteorite, although medical geology, a description and analysis of a kidney unfortunately they did not find it. However, John became stone. one of the first members of a meteorite researchsociety In 1950 John left British Columbia to take over the that Dr. Leonard was founding; it becamethe Meteorit- teaching of mineralogy at McGill University, Montreal, ical Society. from ProfessorR.P.D. Graham, who had had the task for In 1947-1948 he was a Canadian Fellow of the Gug- forty-five years. John had always enjoyed training his genheim Memorial Foundation. The project he chosere- young field assistantsand welcomed this opportunity to flected his continuing interest in the mineralogical basis teach young people in the lecture room and in the labo- of economic geology:a study of British Columbia Coast ratory. He kept closely in touch with the progess of stu- Range ore deposits and the rocks associatedwith them. dents in the lab, frequently working with them individ- Becausethere were then very few geologistsin Victoria, ually and becoming immersed in their mineralogical John felt the need of the stimulation of others, and the problems. He served one term as chairman of the De- 0003{04xl88/07084922502.00 922 MEMORIAL OF JOHN SINCLAIR STEVENSON 923 partment of GeologicalSciences and was appointed Daw- tawa and Sandra, Laurie, Richard, and Glenys of Sault son Professorin 1972.At McGill he supervisedforty-one Ste. Marie. graduatetheses and actedas external examiner for several John Stevensonwas a link betweenan older generation Ph.D. thesesat other universities.In 1978 his former of distinguishedgeolgists, who had beenhis mentors, and studentsestablished the John StevensonMedal, awarded geologistsof the present day, including many of his for- annually to the outstanding graduate in the Master of mer students and assistants,whose careershe followed Applied ScienceMineral Exploration Program. He con- with great interest and enthusiasm. tinued to teach in various capacitiesuntil 1984. In 1952 he began a long associationwith the Interna- tional Nickel Company of Canada,directing the Sudbury Spr,ncrrn Brnr-rocupnv or JonN S. SrnvnusoNr Basin ResearchProject from 1952 to 1965 and serving VeinJike massesof pyrrhotite in chalcopyritefrom the Waite-Ackerman- as Inco's consultinggeologist from 1965 to 1982. His Montgomery mine, .Am. Mineral., 18,445449 (1933). work was largely centered at Sudbury, but he also made Mineralization and metamorphism at the Eustis mine, Quebec. Econ. (1937). major geologicalcontributions at Thompson, Manitoba, Geol., 32, 335-363 Molybdenum depositsof British Columbia. B.C. Dept. Mines Bull' 9, 96 and at other Inco locations. Perhapshis Sudbury work is p (1940). best known for his espousalof a volcanic, rather than a Tungsten deposits of British Columbia. B.C. Dept. Mines Bull. 10, 103 meteoritic, origin for the Sudbury Basin. However, his p (1941). true Sudbury legacymay well be the important seriesof Hypogene native arsenicfrom Criss Creek, B.C. Univ. Toronto Studies (1943). petrology Geol, 48, 83-91 papershe wrote on the basic mineralogy and of Geology of the Red Rose tungstenmine, Hazelton, B.C. Econ' Geol., 42, these rocks. He had a unique opportunity for accessto 433464 /1947),. these showings and studied them with great dedication. The geologyand mineral depositsof the Zeballos mining area,B.C. B.C. He was continuing his basic Sudbury researchat the time Depl.Mines Bull. 27 (1950). (with Stevenson)Petrologic study ofa urinary ofhis death. O.C. Lucas and Louise S. calculus.Royal Soc. Can., XLIV, seriesIII, 35-40 (1950). The researchof the Mccill years also included several (with Alan R Smith) Deformation and igneous intrusion in southern studies of specimensfrom the Redpath Museum. Work- British Columbia.Bull. Geol. Soc.Amer, 66, 8l l-818 (1955). ing with Dr. Robert L. Carroll, he became interested in Mineralogy and the Field Geologist.Presidential Address, Can. Mineral. the well-preservedmicrosaur teeth collected by Sir Wil- 6, pt. 3, 303-306(1959) Recognition of the Quartzite Breccia in the Whitewater Series,Sudbury liam Dawson from the Carboniferous rocks of Joggins, Basin, Ontario. Royal Soc. Can. LV, seriesIII, 57-66 (1961). . These teeth were found to have a much The tectonicsofthe CanadianShield (Editor) Royal Soc.Can. Spec.Publ. higher fluorine content than any other fossil teeth. John series4 (1962). also had a special interest in the unusual minerals col- The upper contact phaseofthe Sudbury micropegmatite.Can. Mineral., pt.3, 413419 (1963) lected from St. Hilaire and other Montreal area quarries. 7, (with W.G. Jeffery)Colloform magnetite in a contact metasomatic iron His particular interest was in the petrogenesisof these deposit, Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Econ. Geol ,59, 1298- minerals and their broad geologicalsetting; he found in- 13050964). teresting analogiesbetween the occurrenceof some of these (with Louise S. Stevenson)The petrologyofdawsonite at the type locality, (1965). minerals and ore minerals he had studied in mines. He Montreal.Can. Mineral., 8, pt 2,249-252 (with Fluorine content ofmicrosaur teeth from the geology Iruise S. Stevenson) also continued his studiesin medical with further Carboniferousrocks ofJoggins, Nova Scotia. Science,154, 1548-1550 work on urinary calculi and (with doctors from McGill (1966). hospitals) studiesof ashedlung tissue relevant to silicosis (with G.L. Colgrove)The Sudbury imrptive: Some petrogeneticconcepts problems. basedon recent field work. Proceedings,23rd International Geological 27-35 (1968). In addition to being a fellow of the Mineralogical So- Congress,4, (with Louise S. Stevenson) Manganese nodules from the Challenger Ex- ciety of America, he was also a fellow of the Royal Society peditionat RedpathMuseum. Can. Mineral., 10, pt. 4, 599-615(1971). of Canada, the Geological Society of America, the Geo- The Onaping ash-flow sheet,Sudbury, Ontario. In New developmentsin logical Association of Canada,and the CanadianInstitute Sudbury geology.Geol. Assn. Can. Spec.Paper 10,4148 (1972). of Mining and Metallurgy. He was an active member of (with Louise S. Stevenson)Medical geology. In R.W. Fairbridge, Ed., Encyclopediaof geochemistryand environmental sciences,p. 696-699. the Society of Economic Geologists, the Mineralogical Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York (1972). Society (London), and the Sigma Xi Scientific Research (with Louise S. Stevenson)Dawsonite-fluorite relationships at Montreal- Society (president of the McGill Chapter). He was a area localities. Can. Mineral., 13, ll7-120 (1977). founding member of the Mineralogical Association of (with Louise S. Stevenson)Contrasting dawsonite occurrences from Mont 16,471474 (1978). Canadaand its president for three terms. He was also an St. Bruno, Quebec.Can. Mineral., Geologicalconcepts developed in the PrecambrianofSudbury, Ontario. honorary member ofthe Montreal Gem and Mineral Club. In W O. Kupsch and W.A.S. Sarjeant, Eds., History of concepts of He is surr.ived by his wife, Louise StevensStevenson, whom he met when both were graduate students in the Harvard seminar of Professor Esper S. Larsen, Jr., and 'A with whom he co-authoredseveral papers. Also surviving copy ofthe completebibliography ofJohn S. Stevenson may be ordered as Document AM-88-380 from the Business are his sons,John StevensStevenson of Ottawa, Ontario, Ofrce, Mineralogical Society of America, 1625 I Street, N.W., and Robert Francis Stevensonof Sault Ste. Marie, On- Suite 414, Washington,D.C. 20006,U.S.A. Pleaseremit $5.00 tario, and six grandchildren, Malcolm and Moire of Ot- in advancefor the microfiche. 924 MEMORIAL OF JOHN SINCLAIR STEVENSON

Precambrian geology, p. 225-244. Geol. Assn. Can. Spec. Paper 19 Sudbury structure,p. 523-531. Ontario GeologicalSurvey SpecialVol- (1979J. ume 1, chapter 24 (1984). (with Louise S. Stevenson) Sudbury, Ontario, and the meteorite theory. (with Eva S. Schandl and Roben F. Martin) Feldspar mineralogy of the GeoscienceCanada, T , i 03-108 (1980). Sudbury IgneousComplex and the Onaping Formalion, Sudbury, On- (with Louise S. Stevenson)Training geologistsfor industry: Observations tario. Can. Mineral., 24,747-759 (1986)- from Canada. 26th International Geological Congess, Paris, 1980. Can. The volcanic origin of the Onaping Formation, Sudbury, Ontario, Pre- Inst. Min. Met. Rept. 7, 18-20 (1981). sentedto the Intemational Workshop on Cryptoexplosionsand Catas- Sudbury problems and suggestionsfor further research.In E.G. Pye, A.J. trophies, Parys, South Africa, 1987. Journal of GeophysicalResearch, Naldrett, and P.E. Giblin, Eds., The geology and ore deposits of the in press.