Issue 3 | Winter 2013
Research School of Unearthed Earth Sciences Newsletter
ANU COLLEGE OF PHYSICAL AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
Top: Kawah Ijen Bottom: View from Papandayan Photos by Professor Richard Arculus
In this issue Coral Reef Fieldtrip 2 Alumni Success 9 This newsletter is published twice a year and is archived at An undergraduate perspective International awards recognizing some stellar rses.anu.edu.au/newsletter careers Java Volcanoes 4 Editing: Ian Jackson and Mary Anne Richard Arculus writes it is 130 years since Gift to Earth Sciences 11 King Krakatau exploded Hales family donate artwork to School Contact Mary Anne King to submit Profile 6 content. Emeritus Professor Mervyn Paterson celebrates 60 years at ANU CORAL REEF FIELD STUDY
During January 2013, I attended the annual Coral Reef Field Dr. Bradley Opdyke and Dr. Stephen Eggins. A jumble of Studies excursion to One Tree Island along with 22 other geologists, chemists and biologists, we studied topics ranging students from the Australian National University. The island, from fish and invertebrate ecology; micro-atoll and lagoon located in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, is approximately water chemistry; coral carbonate chemistry and sedimentation. 80km from the Australian coast and is one of the southern- It was an incredibly valuable experience, the perfect marriage most islands of the Great Barrier Reef. As such, it is relatively of a practical and educational field course to an idyllic tropical unaltered by humans and is a scientist’s dream due to the pris- escape. We had the most incredible time, in the most wonder- tine reef and the explosion of flora and fauna that call it home. ful place, learning the most fascinating things and I can safely say it was one of the best weeks of my life and something I will We spent 6 nights on the island, learning about coral reefs cherish for years to come. and carbonate chemistry, mapping the reef and undertaking individual research projects under the guidance of Maxine Kerr
From the Director of Physical Sciences – initially through appointments in Geophysical Fluid Dynamics, Environmental Geochemistry and RSES turns 40! The 40th anniversary, on 1 July 2013, of Ore Genesis. the founding of the Research School of Earth Sciences was marked by an enjoyable morning tea in the School’s Jaeger This significant milestone will be celebrated with more pomp Room. We were delighted to celebrate this occasion with and ceremony at a late-afternoon event for the whole School Denise Hales, the widow of Foundation Director (1973-1978), community – past and present –involving speeches followed Professor Anton Hales. by a reception on Thursday October 17. Please save the date! Under Anton’s astute leadership, the School began to grow Ian Jackson from the nucleus that was the pre-existing Department of Director Geophysics and Geochemistry of the Research School
2 Research School of Earth Sciences rses.anu.edu.au Brief News
Students from University of Tokyo enjoy a visit John Foster celebrates 50 years at ANU
John and Trevor at the special morning tea
Staff and students gathered to hear stories about John who originally came Professor Patrick De Deckker with the visiting group on the south coast. to ANU to work and later study for a PhD in analytical chemistry. John has Earlier this year we hosted a visit from RSES alumnus, Prof Yusuke Yokoyama (1999 spent much of his time working on the PhD) and 27 of his graduate and undergraduate students from University of Tokyo. SHRIMP - a lifetime project. After fifty The students heard talks from Rainer Grün who spoke about new archaeological years, he still enjoys the challenges that techniques, analysing ancient fish otoliths (ear bones) and his Lake Mungo research; new machines present. Kurt Lambeck spoke on solving questions of stress and deformation of the earth's At the moment he is looking at sulphur crust and the processes of changing sea levels; and Trevor Ireland spoke on our "links and oxygen isotopes, for all sorts with the stars", solar nebula grains and the search for isotopic anomalies in solar dust. of reasons – some to do with sea The visitors also spent the weekend at the ANU’s Kioloa campus on the NSW south temperature change at different depths coast, where Prof Patrick De Deckker led a field trip on the local geology. and climate change – so it’s really interesting.
National Rock Garden New School Manager Geoff Pearson comes to ANU in his second appointment as a School Manager. His previous appointments over twenty years were in the private secondary education sector in Melbourne and Sydney. He has studied Literature and Mathematics, is a registered psychologist and has completed a Master’s degree in Business Administration. Milka with her gifts
Vice Chancellor, Prof Ian Young with Prof Brad Pillans at the MoU signing Milka Strmota retires ANU recently became an education After more than ten years of service to partner with the Geological Society of the school, our stalwart cleaner, Milka Australia in the National Rock Garden Strmota was farewelled by staff and (NRG). Vice Chancellor, Prof Ian students on Friday, 14 June. Director, Young said “The NRG is a great way Ian Jackson, thanked Milka for her to communicate to the public about dedication and commitment to the Australia’s geological heritage.” Chair community. of the NRG, Prof Brad Pillans believes the Gardens will be both an international We wish her a long and enjoyable tourist destination as well as a world retirement. School Manager, Mr Geoff Pearson class educational place.
rses.anu.edu.au NEWSLETTER | Jul 2013 3 Research Highlights
Photos by Professor Richard Arculus. as some are noted to be abnormally low in dissolved gases. For example Galunggung Volcano, which last erupted in 1982, located to the southeast of Bandung, seems to JAVA VOLCANOES erupt comparatively dry magmas. But the finer points of This August, it will be 130 years since Krakatau Volcano this distinctive geochemistry would have been lost on the exploded in the Sunda Strait between Sumatra and Java. It passengers and crew of a British Airways 747 which flew into was one of the single largest explosions in recorded history, the eruption column; all four engines failed and the crew were resulting in emission of about 20km3 of ash, formation of a both skilled and fortunate in recovering from the crisis and ~4km wide caldera, and extremely damaging tsunamis around being able to make an emergency landing at Jakarta. the Strait.
Together with John Mavrogenes, the team is also exploring Krakatau was one of a number of Javanese volcanoes visited the capacity of volcanic gas emitted from cooling magmas to by Richard Arculus, Dick Henley, and Hugh O’Neill in April transport base (e.g., Cu, Zn, Pb) and precious (Au, Ag, and 2013. A new, highly active volcanic vent (Anak Krakatau) has platinum group) metals. Interactions of rising volcanic gas with grown in the Caldera, likely commencing the cycle of edifice near surface ground water can be complex and dramatic. construction and collapse once more. The explosive character One of the classic locations where this type of activity is taking of “island arc”-type volcanoes is a consequence of high place is in the hyperacidic crater lake of Kawah Ijen (shown contents of dissolved gases: water, carbon dioxide, and sulfur on the cover photograph). Native sulfur is condensed from dioxide. These gases are ultimately recycled from downgoing volcanic gas on the shores of the lake, and exploited primarily subducted plates, in the Javanese case, the Australian-Indian for gunpowder manufacture by an extraordinarily hardy group Plate. of local miners. The team from RSES were interested in the variety of Professor Richard Arculus magma types erupted along the length of Java, particularly
4 Research School of Earth Sciences rses.anu.edu.au Research Highlights
PLANET’S INTERNAL ROTATION
The centre of the Earth is out of sync inner shells of the Earth rotate with a simulations. These results could help us with the rest of the mantle, frequently different speed back in 1692.” understand the gravitational connection speeding up and slowing down. between the inner core and mantle and Scientists have so far assumed the the role of the inner core in creating the Associate Professor Hrvoje Tkalčić rotation rate of the inner core to be magnetic field that allowed life to evolve and his team (Mallory Young, Thomas constant because they lacked adequate on Earth by acting as a shield from Bodin, Silvie Ngo and Prof. Malcolm mathematical methods for interpreting cosmic radiation. Sambridge) used 7 newly discovered the data. A new method using Bayesian and 17 old earthquake doublets to transdimensional inference applied to “What we have developed is a very measure the rotation speed of Earth’s earthquake doublets – pairs of almost powerful way to understand the internal inner core over the last 50 years. identical earthquakes that can occur a structure and dynamics of our planet,” couple of weeks to 30 or 40 years apart said. They discovered that not only did the Tkalčić – has provided the solution. inner core rotate at a different rate to Read the paper in Nature Geoscience the mantle – the layer between the core “It’s stunning to see that even 10, 20 and the crust that makes up most of the or 30 years apart, these earthquakes planet’s interior – but its rotation speed look so similar. But each pair differs very was variable. slightly, and that difference corresponds to the inner core. We have been “This is the first experimental evidence able to use that small difference to that the inner core has rotated at a reconstruct a history of how the inner variety of different speeds,” Tkalčić said. core has rotated over the last 50 years. “We found that, compared with the According to our model, the inner core mantle, the inner core was rotating exhibits an average differential rotation more quickly in the 1970s and 1990s, rate of 0.25–0.48 degrees per year and but slowed down in the 80s. The most decadal fluctuations of the order of 1 dramatic acceleration has possibly degree per year around the mean,” he occurred in the last few years, although said. further tests are needed to confirm that The decadal fluctuations explain observation.” discrepancies between previous
“Interestingly, Edmund Halley, namesake inner core rotation models and are in Illustration by Rhys Hawkins, National Computational of Halley’s Comet, speculated that the concordance with recent geodynamical Infrastructure Facility.
Kimberley of Western Australia. “Gogo fossil fish are famous for their exceptional preservation,” explains Dr Gavin Young of the Research School of Earth Sciences. “They have already revealed soft tissues such as nerve and muscle cells, the oldest known vertebrate embryos, and even a preserved umbilical cord. These Fossil fish sport world’s are all remarkable discoveries because soft tissues had never been known to oldest six packs preserve in such ancient fossils." A team of palaeontologists, including The new study has gone beyond merely three from ANU, have uncovered the identifying soft tissues, and, for the first oldest fossilised vertebrate muscles ever time, the musculature of these ancient discovered. fishes has been observed and mapped The team have mapped the out. musculature of an ancient fossil fish approximately 380 million years old, Read more. Source: Brian Choo discovered in the Gogo Formation in the
rses.anu.edu.au NEWSLETTER | Jul 2013 5 Profiles
WHY SQUEEZE ROCKS? MERVYN PATERSON CELEBRATES 60 YEARS AT ANU “Why squeeze rocks? House and we had coffee. The day after we went swimming in the Why indeed! The lake - I was hooked.” response of the pure Hungarian born, Katalin had done her undergraduate degree in scientist might be similar German Literature, Aesthetics and Art History in Budapest. She to that of Mt. Everest studied Social Work in Transylvania but has no records because climbers: Because they the school was bombed during the later part of World War II. are there to squeeze. She was in Budapest during the siege at the end of 1944 with But I suppose most the Germans on one side and the Russians on the other, and the of us would come up citizens living in their cellars. “It was a horrendous time,” remarks with more mundane Mervyn. motives, among which may be included bread Determined to fulfill her career aspirations, Katalin received a and butter and a variety fellowship to study Social Work in Paris after the war in 1946. of rationalizations. On “The Hungarian government said she couldn’t go, wouldn’t give one hand, motives may her an exit visa, so she went anyway. She hired a courier to arise primarily from smuggle her across the border – she was a very strong minded Mervyn Paterson a materials science girl!” He chuckles. interest, an interest Coincidently, Mervyn had also passed through Paris that same in the properties and behavior of rocks as a particular type year, but it wasn’t until Katalin was working on her Masters degree of material. On the other hand, they may arise primarily from in Social Work at the University of Chicago that they first met. In a geological or geophysical interest, in which case the aim 1952, Mervyn and Katalin were married in Adelaide. is mainly to gain knowledge of rock behavior that helps in understanding phenomena in the Earth.” [Professor Mervyn Paterson, Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union 2011]. Mervyn’s early career Having grown up on a farm 300 Kilometers North of Adelaide, A life changing opportunity Mervyn was in Australia when the war broke out. At the remarkably young age of eighteen, he had already completed Sixty-three years ago, Mervyn Paterson commenced a his degree but was now also of military age. “I was called up and Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Chicago, a journey medically examined,” he recalls. “But I was very lucky because as that would have a lasting effect on the course of his life and an Engineering student, making cartridge shells and that sort of career. It was 1950 and onboard a piston-engined, DC-6 aircraft thing, I was in a reserved occupation and wasn’t allowed to go in it would take him several days to reach America. “It was the first the army.” time I’d flown. The DC-6 held about thirty people and everybody had a bed. We first flew to Fiji and had a marvelous buffet meal on After working on the physics the ground. The Fijians kept our glasses topped up so we were of metal fatigue at the CSIR in a fit state to fly again. Then we took off and all went to bed,” Division of Aeronautics (now recalls Mervyn. the CSIRO) in Melbourne for several years, Mervyn was “Our next stop was Honolulu. It was quite something to arrive by offered an Angus Engineering air in Honolulu at that time. There were girls putting leis around Scholarship and a CSIR our necks as we came off the plane.” Mervyn would then take Studentship to undertake his a further two flights, to San Francisco and Vancouver, ride the PhD on the x-ray diffraction Canadian Pacific through the Rockies, before eventually arriving in effects of deformation Chicago. in metals at Cambridge In his first week at the University of Chicago, Mervyn also met his University. “Cambridge was wife, Katalin. “I arrived on the 1st of July and met her on the 7th,” a real opening for me. I was he recollects with detail. “The International House had a reception so young when I did my for new residents and I went along. I was button-holed by one undergraduate degree that I of the girl hostesses and that was her! We had a very pleasant didn’t really live a University life time there, then we went to the Friday evening frolic for a bit of Degree portrait at the University of until I got to Cambridge. a dance. The next day I ran into her in the foyer of International Adelaide, 1943
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And that was a great experience for me. I loved Cambridge,” With the money raised from selling the HPT machines Mervyn he says. and Katalin generously set up an endowment to support an annual fellowship for PhD students in RSES. Having played Upon returning to Australia, Mervyn continued his work at such an important role in their own lives, it seems only fitting CSIR until his Postdoctoral position at Chicago ensued. that their fellowships provide students with the opportunity to travel overseas and attend a major international conference or Arriving at ANU to visit an overseas institution. “My wife was very enthusiastic This year marks the 60th anniversary of Mervyn’s scientific about setting up the endowment. She would be particularly career at the ANU. His illustrious research history with the pleased now that so many of people that are given fellowships University began in 1953, when eminent Professor John are girls! She had always been interested in woman’s Jaeger offered Mervyn a Senior Research Fellowship Position advancement. She was a fantastic woman.” in Geophysics. Three years later he was appointed to He continues, “And I wanted to give something back to the Readership in the School of Physical Sciences and later, in the school which had supported me through the years. I have Research School of Earth Sciences. always been very impressed with the value of being able Starting out as a metallurgist, his appointment to the University to go to a conference and visit other labs during a PhD represented a dramatic change in direction for his research program and it seemed to me that to be able to support a visit career, with Mervyn commencing work on the experimental overseas would be a valuable thing for PhD students. It opens deformation of rocks rather than metal. He explains, “This the future for them.” involved getting into high pressure experiments which was a new venture for me. Metals are ductile but rocks are rather brittle, yet if you deform rocks under conditions of high pressure, they can become ductile.” This presented a slight hurdle by Mervyn’s estimations – when he started at the ANU, there was no laboratory equipment, so in order to conduct experiments at high temperature and pressure, he had to make his own. His ensuing endeavour would have profound effects, not only in advancing the field of rock mechanics but also on the lives and careers of many Earth Science students to follow. True to the innovative spirit that continues to resonate among academics in RSES today, Mervyn built and developed the ‘HPT’ (High pressure and temperature machine). Designed specifically for studying the mechanical properties of rocks at high temperature and pressure, the prototype is still being used downstairs in the Katalin and Mervyn at the University of Chicago – July 1950. RSES building. However, when asked if he still uses his Mervyn and Katalin’s family continues to have strong machine, Mervyn replies, “Not now – I wouldn’t trust myself!” connection with the ANU with both of their children, Barrie When Mervyn retired he started his own scientific equipment and Elizabeth, having studied at the University and now their company – Paterson Instruments. “I realised that this machine grandson, Edward, intends to commence his PhD here. that I had developed downstairs was probably useful to Mervyn’s long-standing contribution to the ANU still thrives other researchers and students because there was no today in his role as Emeritus Professor. Just last year he such apparatus available commercially,” he says. Mervyn published his second book –‘Materials Science for Structural commenced manufacturing the HPT machines and later the Geology’. A culmination of his distinguished research career manufacture was perhaps best acknowledged when he was elected to was taken over the Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Science in 1962, by Australian and, in 2004, he was the recipient of the Walter Bucher Scientific Medal of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco. Instruments. In his acceptance speech he remarked, “I was lucky over the Altogether years, first at one-teacher country schools and later at a city thirteen were high school and at University, to have very supportive and sold to several inspiring teachers. And since then I have enjoyed the support, countries encouragement, and friendship of many colleagues.” As we around the have yours – thank you Mervyn. world, to Europe, North Mervyn using his HPT Machine at ANU Sophia Callendar America and China.
NEWSLETTER | Jul 2013 7 Profiles
Providing students with life-changing opportunities
"I wanted to give something back to the school which had supported me through the years. I have always been very impressed with the value of being able to go to a conference and visit other labs during a PhD program and it seemed to me that to be able to support a visit overseas would be a valuable thing for PhD students. It opens the future for them.” - Emeritus Professor Mervyn Paterson
Meet one of the students that Mervyn and Katalin Paterson have supported PhD Scholar, Sarlae McAlpine was the 2010 recipient of The Mervyn and Katalin Paterson Travel Fellowship With the funding provided by the fellowship, Sarlae attended the major international Goldschmidt conference held in Prague, Czech Republic and studied for two months at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom. Sarlae explains, “The fellowship allowed me to begin a fruitful collaboration with the University of Bristol. Students and Academics have since travelled between these institutions and the projects generated from this initial link are exciting and are attracting significant interest. Personally, it gave me confidence in myself and my project and I gained a valuable addition to my supervisory panel.”
Having spent her childhood on Norfolk Island, Sarlae developed a great appreciation for how big the wider world was, and the opportunities that travel afforded. “I feel that coming from such a small external territory of Australia gave me a different view of what being Australian, and attending Australia’s number one university meant.” Now in the final stages of her PhD, Sarlae has been researching a pristine suite of rare mantle xenoliths. This was a petrological study of peridotites recovered from three volcanic arcs in the Western Pacific: the West Bismarck Arc, Tabaf-Lihir-Tanga-Feni Arc and the Solomon Islands. Sarlae has recently commenced full time employment as a Geoscientist in the Minerals and Natural Hazards Division at Geoscience Australia, a world leader in providing first class geoscientific information and research. She explains, “My current project is within the Earth Monitoring and Hazards group, measuring deformation of Merapi Volcano (Indonesia) using satellite based radar interferometry (InSAR). Merapi is the most active volcano in Indonesia and this project has applications for future real-time monitoring of surface deformation caused by the intrusion of magma beneath volcanoes.” “Financial donations give students invaluable opportunities. It is not just about the conference you attend, or the places you get to visit. It is about how these opportunities impact on a student’s wider understanding of the role of their research, and their position in the wider academic environment. It is an enriching experience and fuels confidence and high performance both on the international stage, and back home at ANU.” Sarlae McAlpine
Congratulations to the 2012 Mervyn and Katalin Paterson Travel Fellowship recipients Claire Krause and Surya Pachhai.
To discuss ways in which you can make an impact on the future of Earth Sciences contact Mary Anne King, Philanthropy Manager, Research School of Earth Sciences 61 2 6125 1120 [email protected]
8 Research School of Earth Sciences rses.anu.edu.au Alumni
INTERNATIONAL AWARDS FOR OUTSTANDING ALUMNI At the Fall Annual Meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) in December 2012, three former staff and students of the School were honoured for outstanding contributions to geophysical research and service.
Robert C. (Bob) Liebermann (Research Fellow/Senior Research Fellow 1970-1976) was presented with the Edward A Flinn III award ‘for a long career of unselfish cooperation in research’ through facilitating, coordinating and implementing activities that have benefitted the mineral physics community’. Throughout his long and distinguished research and teaching career (at Stony Brook University since 1976), Bob has been a wonderful mentor to countless students and postdocs, especially in his chosen field of ‘indoor seismology’, and worked tirelessly on the development of facilities for shared use by the high-pressure research community. This unselfish commitment to the advancement of US national and international research in mineral physics was the hallmark of Bob’s time as a Co-Director of the multi-institution Center for High-Pressure Research [CHiPR], and later as President of the NSF-funded Consortium for Materials Properties Research in Earth Sciences [COMPRES] (2003-2010). David Mainprice (Ph D student 1977-1981) was elected to Fellowship of the AGU for his ‘groundbreaking laboratory work, observations, and computations relating fundamental mineral physics to problems in seismology and geodynamics’. This honour, bestowed each year on just 0.1% of the AGU’s membership, reflects David’s sustained interest in and seminal contributions to our understanding of rock deformation. His research (at the Université Montpellier 2 since 1986) has focused on the way in which rocks deform (i.e. change their shape) when exposed to tectonic stress. In particular, he has investigated deformation resulting from the motion of crystal defects called dislocations, and the resulting preferred orientation of minerals and associated anisotropy (direction dependence) of seismic wave speeds.
David Simpson (Ph D student 1970-1973) was awarded the Waldo E Smith Medal for ‘extraordinary service to geophysics through progressive and dedicated leadership of the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS)’. After graduation from ANU, David Simpson worked as a research scientist/senior research scientist at the Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory of Columbia University on the seismic activity induced by the filling of water reservoirs and on satellite remote sensing. His ‘temporary’ move from the position of Associate Director for Seismology, Geology and Tectonophysics at Lamont to the presidency of IRIS in 1991 has culminated in continuing leadership over more than 20 years of this large and highly successful NSF-supported university consortium. On account of its success in facilitating essentially all US university-based research in seismology, IRIS has become the model for the operation of shared scientific facilities in geophysics and beyond.
Catherine McCammon (1984 PhD) was awarded the Robert Wilhelm Bunsen Medal 2013 by the European Geosciences Union for “her outstanding contributions to understanding the redox and spin state of iron in the Earth’s interior and the implications of this work for the evolution of our planet”. The citation recognises Catherine’s “innovative and highly original advances in Mössbauer, X-ray emission, and X-ray absorption spectroscopies.” Throughout her distinguished career she has shared her expertise and knowledge with the science community. Catherine is currently the President of the AGU Volcanology, Geochemistry and Petrology section. In May she returned to Australia and presented a seminar at ANU titled ‘Iron matters and how it influences what we think we know about the deep Earth’s interior.’ Photo permission: Bayerisches Geoinstitut
We are proud and delighted to share in the recognition of the outstanding achievements of these four distinguished alumni. Share your story: [email protected]
NEWSLETTER | Jul 2013 9 News
CELEBRATING FORTY YEARS In The Making of The Australian National University 1946 -1996 several pages are dedicated to the establishment of a new research school of earth sciences. Staff in the Research School of Physical Sciences were very divided on the need to break off part of an original school. "Where would it all end? Would other parts of Physical Sciences – astronomy, engineering, mathematics and nuclear physics - be hived off in the same way?" At the time, the head of the Department of Geophysics, John Jaeger "looking forward to retirement in 1972, started a new campaign for a research school of earth sciences…then left it to his protégé Ted Ringwood…to keep up the momentum." From all accounts, the Council meeting late in 1971 was a torrid session with Ted Ringwood and Ernest Titterton presenting the cases for and against. Past Directors Professor Ted Ringwood and Professor Anton Hales. “The Research School of Earth Sciences came into being on 1 July, 1973. The nucleus of the new School was formed by the separation of the Department of Geophysics and Geochemistry from the Research School of Physical Sciences.” Annual Report - 1973 The foundation Director of the Research School of Earth Sciences was Anton Hales, a South African who had overseen the establishment of the Geoscience Division at the Southwest Centre for Advanced Studies (later the University of Texas at Dallas). Ian McDougall, then a Senior Fellow in the School recalls: "to foster collaboration between disciplines and provide flexibility in research, the new School adopted a non-departmental structure, establishing instead a series of semi-autonomous The Geophysical Fluid Dynamics group research groups, each consisting of a small number of tenured academics, their students and support staff."
RSES Directors A.L. Hales: 1973 – 1978 D.H. Green: 1994 – 2001 A.P. Roberts: 2010 – Aug 2012 A.E. Ringwood: 1979 – 1983 T.M. Harrison: 2002 – 2006 I.N.S. Jackson: Oct 2012 – present K. Lambeck: 1983 – 1992 Interim Director R.W. Griffiths: 2006 Acting Director B.L.N. Kennett: 1993 B.L.N. Kennett: 2006 - 2009
GEOCHRONOLOGY & ISOTOPE GEOCHEMISTRY 1980 L – R Bill Compston, Steve Clement, Gordon Newstead, John Richards, Richard Rudowski, Mick Bower, John Coles, Derek Miller, Wu Jai-Shan, Ian McDougall, Rod Page, Jennifer Barreda, Mike Vernon, Alan Chivas, Liu Dun-Yi, Norm Shram, Martin Kralik, Paul Aaron Robyn Maher,John Foster Mark Harrison.
10 Research School of Earth Sciences rses.anu.edu.au News
Professor Ian Jackson and Denise Hales with the portrait of Anton. Mrs Hales says Professor Hales would have loved to celebrate RSES celebrates 40 years with portrait the anniversary with his old colleagues. gift “He loved everybody here,” she said. “He would have thought it was a lot of fuss, but he would have loved it.” by Tegan Dolstra
Originally from South Africa, Professor Hales moved to Australia The School hosted a morning tea in honour of the official an- in 1973 to become the foundation director of RSES, a position niversary on 1 July, where Mrs Denise Hales presented the he held until his retirement in 1978. After his death in 2006, School with a portrait of her late husband to mark the celebra- the Australian Academy of Sciences established a medal in his tion. honour. Current Director, Professor Ian Jackson, says the School has come a long way since he witnessed its establishment as a PhD student in 1973.
“RSES has grown enormously over the last 40 years and main- tained a remarkable international reputation,” he said.
“Over the next 40 years, we aim to build on and enhance the contributions made so far, in particular by identifying the future leaders who will take the School forward.”
The portrait was painted on the back of an old wooden door by Professor and Mrs Hales’ granddaughter Megan, who studied at the ANU School of Art. Guests reminiscing with current Director, Ian Jackson and the former Director, “I was overwhelmed and honoured by Denise’s offer,” said now Dean of the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences Andrew Professor Jackson. “My only concern was depriving the Hales Roberts. family of it, but they will always be welcome here to come and have a look at it. We’ll probably put it up in the Director’s suite, so Anton can look over the shoulder of each of our future directors.”
NEWSLETTER | Jul 2013 11 ROCK STARS Coming up...
Associate Professor Vickie Bennett Earth Sciences Reunion 2013 Fellow of the Geochemical Society and European Association of Canberra Geochemistry Thursday, 17th October We congratulate Vickie on her selection as a Fellow. This honorary title is “bestowed upon Enquiries: outstanding scientists who have, over some E [email protected] years, made a major contribution to the field T 02 6125 1120 of geochemistry.” She is noted for her work applying isotopic methods to revealing the early history of the Earth and the origin and growth of the continental crust.
Professor Ian Jackson FAA 2013 Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science This prestigious title recognises Ian’s contributions to understanding "the physical properties of earth materials and their application in understanding the Earth’s interior structure and behaviour. He has developed innovative laboratory studies of seismic properties with special application to olivine-rich rocks of the Earth’s upper mantle."
Professor Kurt Lambeck Legion of Honour Award
His Excellency the Ambassador of France, presented the Award of Chevalier dans l’Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur –the highest decoration in France- to Kurt Lambeck in recognition of his contribution to science and his strong ties to France.
2013 Wollaston Medal of the Geological Society of London This is the highest honour awarded by the Society to "those geologists who have had a significant influence on the science by means of a substantial body of excellent research." It was first awarded in 1837, to William Smith "the Father of English geology". Kurt is only the second Australian to be so honoured, following Professor Ted Ringwood in 1988.
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