http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8x63smp Online items available Robert L. Fisher Papers Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego Copyright 2016 9500 Gilman Drive La Jolla 92093-0175 [email protected] URL: http://libraries.ucsd.edu/collections/sca/index.html Robert L. Fisher Papers SMC 0114 1 Descriptive Summary Languages: English Contributing Institution: Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego 9500 Gilman Drive La Jolla 92093-0175 Title: Robert L. Fisher Papers Creator: Fisher, Robert L. (Robert Lloyd), 1925- Identifier/Call Number: SMC 0114 Physical Description: 47 Linear feet(47 cartons, 25 films, 1 map case folder, 54 map case drawers, 284 rolled charts) Date (inclusive): 1950-2013 Abstract: Scripps Institution of Oceanography research geologist Robert L. Fisher's papers, correspondence, professional materials, research files and writings. Scope and Content of Collection Scripps Institution of Oceanography research geologist Robert L. Fisher's papers, correspondence, professional materials, research files and writings. It includes an extensive array of materials pertaining to SIO expeditions and marine operations, as well the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO) and Deep Sea Drilling projects. Subjects of note include marine geology, seafloor exploration and cartography, and deep-sea topography, as well as the study of seafloor spreading, subduction and plate tectonics. Arranged in fifteen series: 1) BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS, 2) CORRESPONDENCE, 3) SUBJECT FILES, 4) GROUPS & ORGANIZATIONS, 5) GENERAL BATHYMETRIC CHART OF THE OCEANS (GEBCO), 6) MARINE OPERATIONS COMMITTEE (MOC), 7) CONFERENCES & EVENTS, 8) EXPEDITIONS & WORK AT SEA, 9) DEEP SEA DRILLING PROJECT (DSDP), 10) TEACHING, 11) TALKS & APPEARANCES, 12) WRITINGS & PUBLICATIONS, 13) PHOTOGRAPHS & SLIDES, 14) AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS and 15) CHARTS AND MAPS. Acquisition Information Acquired 1990-2013. Preferred Citation Robert L. Fisher Papers. SMC 114. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego. Biography Robert Lloyd Fisher (b. 1925) is a Research Geologist Emeritus in the Geosciences Research Division at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO). He is known as a leading contributor to the field of deep-sea geology, with significant lifelong contributions to the areas of seafloor exploration and cartography, sub-oceanic igneous crustal composition and structure, and trench tectonics in the Pacific and Indian oceans. Fisher earned a B.S. in Geology from Caltech in 1949 and a Ph.D. in Marine Geology from UCLA in 1957 (with all research completed at the SIO campus). Active at sea from 1951 to the early 1980s, Fisher was a participant in, and chief scientist of, many major deep-sea geological-geophysical expeditions from SIO. In the 1950s and 1960s he used sound-train analyses from subsurface bomb detonations and innovative echo-sounding practices to determine the depths of deepest-ocean trenches. Fisher was among the first to recognize Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench as the deepest locality in the world's oceans, as well as finding Horizon Deep in the Tonga Trench, slightly less, to be the deepest point in the Southern Hemisphere. A dexterous mapmaker, Fisher's participation in SIO's Vermilion Sea Expedition to the Gulf of California in 1959 produced a bathymetric chart in 1961 which foreshadowed later plate tectonic patterns. Pioneering the theory of subduction, the 1954 two-ship CHUBASCO Expedition in the Middle America Trench established that at trenches the "oceanic" crust above the mantle creeps diagonally into the mantle beneath the landward flanks "continental" layers by convective action. When the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) installed a working group to coordinate the International Indian Ocean Expedition (1959-1965) Fisher was appointed Co-Chairman alongside USSR's P. L. Bezrukov of its Geology-Geophysics and Bathymetry Subcommittee. He also served as chairman (1982-2003) of the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO) Subcommittee on Undersea Feature Names, there advocating for the appropriate and enduring naming of newly-discovered seafloor features. Fisher was awarded the inaugural Drake Medal by GEBCO in 2004 in recognition of his lifelong contributions to global oceanic geography. OFF-SITE STORAGE COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE. ALLOW ONE WEEK FOR RETRIEVAL OF MATERIALS. Publication Information Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection. Robert L. Fisher Papers SMC 0114 2 Related Materials SIO Biographical Files, SAC 5. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego. Digital Content A small selection of digital images associated with this collection are available on the UC San Diego Library Digital Collections website. To view these images, go to the website and search the phrase, in quotes, "Robert L. Fisher Papers." Restrictions Original media formats in Series 14) AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS are restricted; however, some have been digitized. Patrons may request user copies be produced in advance for non-digitized items. Subjects and Indexing Terms Submarine geology Submarine topography Ocean bottom Fisher, Robert L. (Robert Lloyd), 1925- -- Archives Scripps Institution of Oceanography BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS Scope and Contents Series 1) BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS: Biographies, curricula vitae, clippings and certificates, as well as an edited transcript of Fisher's 2007 oral history interview. Box 1, Folder 1 Biographies undated Box 1, Folder 2 Newspaper clippings Box 1, Folder 3 Education ca. 1952-1957 Box 1, Folder 4-5 Academic bio-bibliographies 1950-1987 Box 1, Folder 6 Certificates 1953 Box 1, Folder 7 Oral history of Robert L. Fisher 2007 January 17 General note Interview conducted by Laura Harkewicz. Includes correspondence and annotated interview transcript. CORRESPONDENCE Scope and Contents Series 2) CORRESPONDENCE: Fisher's professional and administrative correspondence, relating primarily to his research and organizational roles at SIO. Letters are arranged chronologically, though some folders of correspondence are organized by the name of the correspondent, in accordance with the original order in which Fisher arranged his materials. Additional correspondence may be found throughout the collection in relevant topical or working folders. Chronologically sorted correspondence Box 1, Folder 8-43 1950 January-1965 February Box 2, Folder 1-40 1965 March-1973 May Box 3, Folder 1-35 1973 June-1979 September Box 4, Folder 1-37 1979 October-1986 December Box 5, Folder 1-45 1987 January-1996 May Box 6, Folder 1-42 1996 June-2002 December Box 7, Folder 1-39 2003 January-2013 November Box 7, Folder 40 undated Box 7, Agapova, Galina (Institute of Physics of the Earth, USSR Academy of Sciences) Folder 41-42 1976-2006 Box 7, Folder 43 Alexander, E.C. (UC Berkeley Department of Physics) 1972-1974 Box 7, Folder 44 Allison, Edwin C. (Museum of Paleontology, University of California) 1957-1967 Robert L. Fisher Papers SMC 0114 3 CORRESPONDENCE Box 7, Folder 45 Andreason, Christian (International Hydrographic Bureau) 1992-1996 Box 7, Folder 46 de Baissac, Jean B. 1962-1991 Box 7, Folder 47 Baker, F.W.G. (ICSU) 1972-1973 Box 7, Folder 48 Behrman, Daniel (UNESCO) 1968-1987 Box 7, Folder 49 Bergh, Hugh (Bernard Price Institute of Geophysical Research) 1975-1996 Box 8, Folder 1-2 Bloomer, Sherman 1980-1998 Box 8, Folder 3 Bogdanoff, Alexei (Subcomission, Tectonic Map of the World, Moscow University) 1966-1971 Box 8, Folder 4-5 Chavez, Carmen 1981-2006 Box 8, Folder 6 Delaloye, Michel 1984-1987 Box 8, Folder 7-8 Dick, Henry (WHOI) 1977-2012 Box 8, Folder 9-12 Engel, Celeste 1977-2002 Box 8, Falconer, Robin (GeoResearch Associates) 1983-2004 Folder 13-14 Box 8, Frankel, Henry 2006-2012 Folder 15-17 Box 8, Folder 18 Geli, Louis (INFREMER Centre de Brest) 1998-2000 Box 8, Goodwillie, Andrew 2001-2008 Folder 19-23 Box 8, Goslin, Jean (GEBCO) 1981-1986 Folder 24-25 Box 8, Folder 26 Harper, Brian 1996-2011 Box 8, Folder 27 Heezen, Bruce (Lamont Geological Observatory, Columbia University) 1962-1966 Box 8, Folder 28 Howorth, Elizabeth 1961-1968 Box 9, Folder 1-3 Jantsch, Marie 1963-1972 Box 9, Folder 4-5 Johnson, Leonard 1962-1967 Box 9, Folder 6 Kapoor, D.C. (Indian Navy) 1981 Box 9, Folder 7-8 Koppes, Steve 2006-2011 Box 9, Folder 9-11 Laughton, Anthony (National Institute of Geology) 1961-2005 Box 9, Folder 12 Lawver, Lawrence 1980-1990 Box 9, Folder 13 Markl, Rudi (Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory) 1974-1981 Box 9, Folder 14 Matthews, Drum (University of Cambridge Department of Geodesy and Geophysics) 1963-1990 Box 9, Folder 15 Maxwell, Arthur (University of Texas at Austin Institute for Geophysics) 1963-2004 Box 9, Folder 16 Melson, William (National Museum of Natural History) 1971-1975 Box 9, Folder 17 Menard, Henry William 1963-1989 Box 9, Folder 18 Nasu, Noriyuki (University of Tokyo) 1962-2010 Box 9, Folder 19 Nierenberg, William 1966-1985 Box 9, Folder 20 Patriat, Philippe (Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris) 1987-1992 Box 9, Folder 21 Revelle, Roger 1979-1989 Box 9, Folder 22 Riedel, William 1977-2013 Box 9, Folder 23 Rowland, Robert 2002-2006 Box 9, Folder 24 Schenke, Hans Werner (Institute for Polar and Marine Research) 2003-2011 Box 9, Schlich, Roland (Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris) 1970-2012 Folder 25-26 Box 9, Sclater, John 1965-2009 Folder 27-29 Box 9, Scott, Mary and Desmond 1977-2012 Folder 30-32 Box 10, Folder 1-6 Scott, Mary and Desmond (cont.) 1977-2012 Box 10, Folder 7 Shor, Betty and George 1969-1981 Box 10, Folder 8 Simpson,