| Description | General, scientific correspondence of Dan McKenzie, Senior Assistant in Research (SAR), Department of Geodesy and Geophysics, University of Cambridge, England, January-December 1973.
The file includes various invitations for McKenzie to attend symposia, conferences or write articles, requests for preprints or permission to republish his published papers, correspondence with publishers, but also:
JANUARY 1973
Edward 'Ted' Irving, Department of Energy Mines and Resources, Ottawa, Canada, brief thanks for McKenzie's corrections to his paper, 9 January 1973; Anton Ziolkowski, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, has left MIT as a scientist and wishes to donate his data, prediction theory and computer programs to others, has applied for a Master of Public Policy Programme at the Kennedy School of Government and asks if McKenzie will write him a reference, 13 January 1973; Roger Scrutton, Department of Geology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa, believes McKenzie is working on a reconstruction of the South Atlantic and as he has been considering the same in connection with the evolution of the South African continental margins, briefly describes his ideas on the subject, 5 December 1972, with copy reply from McKenzie stating that he has not done that much work on the topic but is interested in collaborating with Scrutton on a short paper, as he does not think he would complete it on his own as he is 'bored with plates', 15 January 1973; Richard B McConnell, Sussex, England, revisiting outmoded theory of 'tectonic lineaments', epeirogenic movements and his conclusions on the origins of the East African Rift which may be at odds with McKenzie's view on mid-ocean ridges, 6 January 1973, with copy reply from McKenzie, briefly explaining his stance on the subject but complaining that the topic has become so fashionable that 'the weakest arguments gain many supporters', 15 January 1973; copy, of Watkins, N D and S K Runcorn & P J Smith, "Results of response to questionnaire on comparisons between British and USA Earth Science University Systems", with covering letter, 18 December 1972, and brief copy reply from McKenzie expressing his surprise at the results, 15 January 1973; Péter Hédervári, Budapest, Hungary, questions the accuracy of the data on the rotation pole of Africa, published in the paper, McKenzie, D, "Active tectonics of the Mediterranean region", 'Geophysical Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society', vol 30 (1972), pp109-185, as it varies from an earlier paper by Xavier Le Pichon, 10 January 1973, with copy reply from McKenzie explaining that Le Pichon's paper was misprinted and that McKenzie's pole data derived from his own research, 19 January 1973; Peter 'Pete' Molnar, disagrees with McKenzie's theories on slip vectors and the motion of plates by using the example of Japan, asks McKenzie's advice on where he may go for a more permanent, scientific position as he is tired of short-term contracts, compares MIT, Caltech and Lamont, [n.d.]; R Wally Johnson, Department of Geology, Imperial College of Science and Technology, London, England, is now in London and wants to arrange a visit to McKenzie to discuss the Bismarck Sea, 23 January 1973; John Sclater and Roger N Anderson, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, USA, sends referee reports [included] for their joint paper "Gravity bathymetry and convection in the Earth" [published in 'Earth and Planetary Science Letters' vol 18 (1973), pp391-407], 24 January 1973; Robert 'Bob' North, Co-operative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA, facilities at Boulder are poor in comparison to MIT, President Nixon's budget cuts, list of recent seismic events in the Balkans, Greece and Iran, plan for his PhD thesis and applications for a postdoctoral post, 30 January 1973;
FEBRUARY 1973
Copy letter from McKenzie to John Sclater, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, responding to the referee reports of their joint paper [ "Gravity bathymetry and convection in the Earth", ibid], 7 February 1973; copy letter from McKenzie to Roger N Anderson, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, stating his disbelief in 'hot spots', 7 February 1973; Peter Fellgett, Department of Applied Physical Sciences, University of Reading, England, praises McKenzie's scientific approach in his paper "Active tectonics of the Mediterranean region" [ibid], and describes his own 'bubble convection' in the mantle hypothesis, 15 December 1973, with brief copy reply from McKenzie, 9 February 1973; Frank F Evison, Chairman, Institute of Geophysics, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, wishes to meet with McKenzie to discuss his work on the subduction zone in the North Island of New Zealand using microearthquakes, 7 February 1973, with brief copy reply from McKenzie, 15 February 1973; typescript abstract, with ms map, of the paper "Deccan Vulcanism and the Indian Plate" by Mihir K Bose, Department of Geology, Presidency College, Calcutta, India, with copy letter from McKenzie to Bose, 20 February 1973; Lynn R Sykes, Associate Professor of Geology and Head of the Seismology Group, Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory of Columbia University, New York, USA, informing McKenzie as a person likely to recommend graduate students to apply to Lamont, of the foundation, facilities, research and benefits in studying at the institution, 15 February 1973, with copy reply from McKenzie, 20 February 1973;
MARCH 1973
John Sclater, [MIT] work on various academic papers including the joint paper, Sclater, J G & D McKenzie, "Paleobathymetry of the South Atlantic", 'Bulletin of the Geological Society of America', vol 84 (1973), pp3203-3216, 'fitting' of India into Antarctica, has acquired magnetic data from southeast Asia, praises the work of Zvi Ben-Avraham, 1 March 1973; discussion papers and reports relating to a proposal for the United Kingdom to participate in an International programme of deep sea ocean drilling, September 1972-7 March 1973; David 'Dai' Davies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, has new data on core-mantle boundary heterogeneity, wonders if Madingley Rise could temporarily accommodate Jorge Mendiguren, Edward 'Teddy' Bullard has encouraged Davies to apply for a professorship at Cambridge, thinks this is to reduce the chances of 'Keith' [?Keith Runcorn], 9 March [1973]; John Sclater [MIT], changes to their joint paper, "The evolution of the Indian Ocean", 'Scientific American', vol 228 (1973), pp63-72, 13 March 1973; Xavier Le Pichon, Centre Océanologique de Bretagne, Brest Cedex, France, as Fred Vine is due to visit, wants to organise a closed symposium on processes at accreting plate margins, 23 February 1973, with copy reply from McKenzie unable to come and admitting that his interest 'has wandered away from plate tectonic problems to earthquake mechanisms', 20 March 1973*; Hans Jarosch, Computer Center, The Weitzmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel, has read McKenzie's paper ["Active tectonics of the Mediterranean region", ibid] and as he is making a study of computer solutions to the fault-plane problem would like McKenzie's input data, 13 March 1973, with copy reply from McKenzie, explaining his findings, 10 March 1973; Peter Fellgett, Department of Applied Physical Sciences, University of Reading, further describes his own 'bubble convection' hypothesis, 21 March 1973;
APRIL 1973
Roger N Anderson, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, forwards a paper, disappointed that he did not get a fellowship at the University of California, Berkeley, 6 April 1973, with brief, copy reply from McKenzie, stating that he is fed up with plates and is busy on other subjects, 18 April 1973; Dr S A D Bamford, Geophysikalisches Institut, Universitat Fridericiana Karlsruhe, Germany, forwarding the Anglo-German proposal 'A seismic experiment to study the crust and upper mantle beneath Great Britain' and seeking McKenzie's support, 8 March 1973, with brief copy reply from McKenzie expressing interest, 18 April 1973; Albert Mathieson Quennell, Editorial & Publication Section, Institute of Geological Sciences, London, England, has been doing some work on the Dead Sea rift and thinks the results will interest McKenzie, particularly his conclusion that Sinai-Palestine as a separate plate, 4 April 1973, with copy reply from McKenzie happy to meet up, 18 April [1973]; John Sclater, MIT, latest developments on the personnel at MIT, considering new candidates and seeking McKenzie's opinion, 23 April 1973; Anton Ziolkowski, Orpington, Kent, thanks McKenzie for writing him a reference, is likely to take up an offer of studying for a MSc in Politics at London School of Economics as he believes there is a prejudice against scientists being incapable of doing anything other than science, 29 April 1973;
MAY 1973
Richard 'Rick' Sibson, Department of Geology, Royal School of Mines, Imperial College of Science and Technology, London, England, wondering if McKenzie is still interested in accompanying Sibson on a 'palaeoseismic' trip to the Outer Isles in Scotland where he will be studying Lewisian geological structures alongside Janet Watson, Mike Coward and Alistair Beach, [n.d.];
JUNE 1973
McKenzie's application for the Professorship of Geophysics at the University of Cambridge, including his CV and list of publications along with a photocopy of the original advertisement, 6 June 1973 [McKenzie noted in 2014 "Teddy [Edward Bullard] told me he would not support my promotion (to an Assistant Director of Research) unless I applied for his job. I am glad to say I was not elected!"]*; Peter H Raven, Director, Missouri Botanical Garden, St Louis, Missouri, USA, as a biogeographer, seeks McKenzie's opinion on when the last date migration may have been possible between West Gondwanaland and Australia, 4 June 1973, with copy reply from McKenzie, 11 June 1973; Raymond Siever, Committee on Experimental Geology and Geophysics, Hoffman Laboratory, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, inviting McKenzie to visit Harvard as part of the Interdepartmental University Committee on Oceanography programme to deliver a series of lectures of his choosing, and describing the current geophysic activities and personnel of his department, 23 May 1973, with copy reply from McKenzie keen to visit but is likely to be restricted as his schedule is so busy, 12 June 1973; Richard 'Rick' Sibson, Department of Geology, Imperial College of Science and Technology, has accepted a lectureship at Imperial, but John Tchalenko is keen that he becomes involved in his work on Iran so is likely to be in contact with Cambridge, 19 June [1973];
JULY 1973
Jean Roberts [McKenzie's programmer], Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge, England, running various IBM computer programs, 2 July [1973]; John Beavan, Department of Geodesy and Geophysics, University of Cambridge, England, detailed calculations of strain tides, 17 July [1973]; four letters from Roger Bilham [no address], principally relating to the joint paper, Bilham, R G and R Evans, G C P King, A Lawson & D McKenzie, "Earth strain tides observed in Yorkshire, England with a simple wire strain meter", 'Geophysical Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society', vol 29 (1972), pp473-485, also notifying McKenzie of his travel plans for the next two months, quick changing nature of geological theories, finding a suitable person to draw up diagrams for publication, Dieter Emter's has Schittach data,[n.d.] & 24 July 1973; Jean Roberts, Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge, updates on the computer programs she is running, 31 July [1973];
AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 1973
Nigel Weiss, Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge, corrections to their joint paper [McKenzie, D and J Roberts & N O Weiss, "Convection in the Earth's mantle: towards a numerical simulation", 'Journal of Fluid Mechanics', vol 62 (1974), pp465-538], 3 September 1973;
OCTOBER 1973
Three letters concerning McKenzie's resignation from the British National Committee for Geodynamics, 3 July-8 October 1973; A J Dessler, Chairman of the Macelwane Award Committee, Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA, as John Sclater has been nominated for the Macelwane Award from the AGU, asks McKenzie to send a frank appraisal of his work, 12 September 1973, with copy reply from McKenzie stating that it would be difficult as in effect as a joint author he would be assessing his own work too, 2 October 1973; Barry Scott, Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, England, intrigued by McKenzie's findings in the paper "The plate tectonics of the Mediterranean region" ['Nature', vol 226 (1970), pp239-243] especially the boundary between the Turkish and Aegean plates, 30 September 1973, with copy reply from McKenzie explaining his theories, 2 October 1973 [McKenzie has annotated the letter "I was quite wrong! Dan 8/13"]*; Nicholas 'Nick' Ambraseys, Professor of Engineering Seismology, Department of Civil Engineering, Imperial College of Science and Technology, London, England, earthquakes in Iran, 18 October 1973; copy letter from McKenzie to D J Hall of the General Board of the University of Cambridge, applying for leave of absence to take part in a cruise aboard the research vessel CHAIN leaving Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on 19 November, and for two weeks in the Lent Term to undertake field work in Northern India and Iran, 29 October 1973; Allan R Woods, Science Editor, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, Scotland, due to the speed of the 'popularisation' of plate tectonics theory, wonders if McKenzie might like to contribute to a book on the subject, 18 September 1973, with copy reply from McKenzie declining as everyone he meets seems to be writing a book on plate tectonics, 31 October 1973;
NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 1973
Copy letter from McKenzie to Ronald 'Ron' Girdler, Department of Physics and Planetary Physics, School of Physics, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, has just seen a copy of Girdler's paper on the Red Sea and suggests he look at the evolution of the Indian Ocean, 1 November 1973; two copy letters from Alan H Cook to John Hudson, Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge, and Edward 'Teddy' Bullard, Department of Geodesy and Geophysics, University of Cambridge concerning arrangements for a 'Bullard Day' during the Geophysical Theoretical Symposium to be held in June/July 1974, 7 November 1973; copies of expenses forms relating to McKenzie's time at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, November 1974; letters between McKenzie and Norman Watkins concerning the critical response to "Comments on a paper by Dan McKenzie 'Active Tectonics of the Mediterranean Region'" by N D Watkins and D C Krause, 4 October-8 November 1973; copy letter from McKenzie to Jon Berger, Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, La Jolla Laboratories, University of California, San Diego, California, USA, concerning problems with instrumental noise in interpreting earth strain data from Queensbury, 9 November 1973; Owen Martin Phillips, Chairman, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, John Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA, planning to appoint a junior faculty member and seeking a recommendation from McKenzie, 18 October 1973, with copy reply from McKenzie, suggesting that Phillips appoint a geophysicist but that they will need research and technical support from the faculty, 16 November 1973; incomplete copy letter from Jean Bonnin, Chargé de Mission, Institut National d'Astronomie et de Geophysique, Meudon, France, to the members of the Comité Scientifique de l'ATP Géodynamique, 30 July 1973, with copy reply from McKenzie detailing his opinions on seismic, palaeomagnetic and aeromagnetic facilities needed to further the study of continental tectonics, 16 November 1973; R K Matthews, Chairman, Department of Geological Sciences, Brown University, Rhode Island, USA, enclosing a job advertisement for a Solid Earth Geophysicist, 9 November 1973, with brief copy reply from McKenzie stating that he will forward it on to two of his colleagues but it is unlikely they will be interested, 16 November 1973; renewal form for Fellowship of the Royal Astronomical Society, 19 November 1973; manuscript notes by McKenzie probably drafting a lesson plan or examination questions for students on the mechanisms of plate tectonics, [n.d.] |