| Description | General correspondence of Dan McKenzie, Assistant Director in Research (ADR), Department of Geodesy and Geophysics, University of Cambridge, England, January-December 1974. The contents principally comprise various invitations and arrangements for McKenzie to attend symposia, conferences, give talks or write articles, requests for preprints or permission to republish his published papers, correspondence with publishers, but also:
JANUARY 1974
Copy letter from McKenzie to Dr D MacDougal, Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA, seeking information of ridge tholeiites, 7 January 1974; Tetsuya Theodore Fujita, Professor of Meteorology, Department of Geophysical Sciences, University of Chicago, Illinois, USA, is contributing to a BBC film on weather and climate and wishes to meet McKenzie to exchange ideas on the possible correlations between surface atmospheric circulation and mantle circulation, 14 December 1973, with copy reply from McKenzie stating that he no longer believes that there is any relationship between the two, 7 January 1974; Robert 'Bob' Phinney, professor of geophysics, Princeton University, New Jersey, USA, is going on sabbatical in the Spring term of 1975 to work on stochastic wave propagation and the early evolution of continents, wonders if he can spend time at Cambridge, 27 February 1973, with copy reply from McKenzie stating that he and Edward 'Teddy' Bullard think it a good idea, 9 January 1974; Mihir Kumar Bose, Department of Geology, Presidency College, Calcutta, India, forwarding a copy of his latest paper "Plate Motion, Crustal fracture, Mantle plume and Deccan volcanism" for his advice, 4 January 1974, with copy reply from McKenzie, 15 January 1974; Freeman Gilbert, Institute of Geophysics & Planetary Physics, University of California, San Diego, USA, asks McKenzie's opinion on how he would improve the situation at IGPP and Scripps Institution of Oceanography, 15 January 1974; John Sclater, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, has just received a call from Bob Parker informally offering him a post at Scripps, seeks McKenzie's advice on the matter, their latest paper has been accepted for publication [probably Berggren, W A, and D McKenzie, J G Sclater & J van Hinte, "Worldwide correlation of Mesozoic magnetic anomalies and its implications: Discussion and reply", 'Bulletin of the Geological Society of America', vol 86 (1975), pp267-272], Roger Anderson may be offered a post at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 15 January [1974]; Nick Ambraseys, Professor of Engineering Seismology, Department of Civil Engineering, Imperial College of Science and Technology, London, England, forwards data on earthquakes in the Middle East, however he has found that local geologists concern themselves with making isoseismal maps rather than researching the geological causes and effects of earthquakes, 16 January 1974; Harry Green, Départment des Sciences de la Terre, Institut des Sciences de la Nature, Université de Nantes, France, forwarding his latest paper on P-T conditions of xenoliths from Kimberlites, 21 December 1973, with copy reply from McKenzie commenting on the contents, 7 January 1974; David C Martin, Executive Secretary, Royal Society, London, inviting McKenzie to prepare a review on 'Plate Collisions' for the British National Committee for Geodynamics, 9 January 1974, with copy reply from McKenzie declining as he stopped all research on plate tectonics two years ago and is now interested in continental tectonics which are not due simply to plate motions, 18 January 1974; Barry Parsons, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, is applying for a post at the Lincoln Laboratory and has put McKenzie down as one of his references, also asks if McKenzie will be one of the signatories for his full membership of the Royal Astronomical Society, his current experiments on rigid-rigid boundaries, 23 January 1974; Norman Watkins, Professor of Oceanography, Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, USA, withdrawing his critical note from publication, 21 January 1974, with copy reply from McKenzie suggesting that they resolve what their differences are then possibly publish, problems with the computer on board the CHAIN oceanographic research ship, 28 January 1974;
FEBRUARY 1974
John Sclater, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, MIT, revision of the paper "Worldwide correlation of Mesozoic magnetic anomalies and its implications: Discussion and reply", ibid, following on from the suggestion of Roger Larson, 6 February 1974; copy letter from McKenzie to Mike McElhinny, Department of Geophysics & Geochemistry, Research School of Physical Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia, disputing some of the pole paths in McElhinny's paper on Australian palaeopoles, 7 February 1974; McKenzie's list of publications and CV, requested by Jim Brune, Professor of Geophysics, Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, La Jolla Laboratories, University of California, San Diego, California, USA, February 1974; Ed Spooner, Department of Geology and Mineralogy, University of Oxford, England, enjoyed McKenzie's talk on mantle convection at Reading, and asks a number of questions, [n.d.]; Kenneth A Poehls, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Massachusetts, USA, forwarding his latest paper, 11 February 1974, with draft and copy reply from McKenzie with suggestions, 14 February 1974; Peter 'Pete' Molnar, [no address], has been reading the work of Artyushkov and has found a flaw as the author treats the mantle as a fluid, [n.d.];
MARCH 1974
Peter 'Pete' Molnar, [no address], further comments on the work of Artyushkov, criticises Ron Girdler's recent paper on the magnetic anomalies of the Red Sea [Girdler, R & P Styles, "Two Stage Red Sea Floor Spreading", 'Nature', vol 247 (1974), pp7-11], 1 March [1974]; Manik Talwani, Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory of Columbia University, New York, USA, asking if McKenzie would consider coming to Lamont-Doherty on a temporary or preferably permanent basis, describing the current set up and the forthcoming appointments of Roger Anderson and Seiya Uyeda, 29 March 1974;
APRIL 1974
Frank Richter [no address], has just been awarded a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship and wants to spend it at the Department of Geodesy and Geophysics at Cambridge, current convection experiments with Barry Parsons, 3 April 1974; Gary Smith, high school student, Montgomery, Ohio, USA, sends a synopsis of his paper on 'swarm theory' in which he concludes there is a marked synchronism of volcanic and seismic events, 27 March 1974, with copy reply from McKenzie, regretful that the theory is incorrect and encouraging Smith to study theoretical physics and mathematics as geophysics is a poor introduction to modern research, 22 April 1974; Mihir K Bose, Department of Geology, Presidency College, Calcutta, keen for McKenzie to send him feedback on his latest paper as it would help understand the tectonics of the Deccan Trap region, 11 March 1974, with copy reply from McKenzie stating that the structures beneath the Deccan Traps are likely to be Precambrian, 22 April 1974; Frank Press, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, has had so many requests for letters of recommendation, wonders if McKenzie's employment status is changing, 8 March 1974, with copy reply from McKenzie stating that Cambridge has finally appointed him to a more permanent post [Assistant Director in Research (ADR)], pleased that Frank Richter is at Cambridge, wishes to spend some time at MIT on sabbatical but the new head of department still ' needs some influencing', wonders if Press could source some funding for his work on convection, 22 April 1974; Stephen W Richardson, Department of Geology and Mineralogy, University of Oxford, England, inviting McKenzie to give a lecture at the Inter-University Geological Congress the following January, 15 March 1974, with copy reply from McKenzie declining as when he was a student he 'greatly disliked the tendency of a few people to hold forth whether they knew anything about the subject or not', 23 April 1974; Professor Wolfgang 'Wolf' Jacoby, Institut für Meteorologie und Geophysik, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universitat, Frankfurt, Germany, wants to visit with his student to discuss model computations of convection, 19 March 1974, with copy reply from McKenzie describing the computers they use at Cambridge, 24 April 1974; letters between McKenzie, Bob Parker, Dr Kenneth S Deffeyes, Dr Clem Chase and Jason Morgan concerning the refereeing of the paper McKenzie, D & R L Parker, "Plate tectonics in ω space", 'Earth Planetary Science Letters', vol 22 (1974), pp285-293, notably a complaint from McKenzie appalled that Morgan has circulated the contents of the paper to his colleagues at Princeton, resulting in a student hand-out [included] prepared by Deffeyes, before the paper has even been accepted for publication, 19 March-26 April 1974*;
MAY 1974
Arthur E Maxwell, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Massachusetts, USA, formally offers McKenzie the post of Doherty Chair at WHOI, 29 March 1974, with copy reply from McKenzie declining the offer after much thought, 2 May 1974; copy letters from McKenzie to Freeman Gilbert, Institute of Geophysics & Planetary Physics, University of California, San Diego, USA, and Manik Talwani, Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory, turning down the offers of jobs at both institutes, 2 May 1974; Desmond King-Hele, Procurement Executive, Ministry of Defence, Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough, Hampshire, England, at the suggestion of Edward Bullard, wonders if McKenzie would be interested in using the data from a proposed satellite laser tracker which could measure microplate movements, 10 April 1974, with copy reply from McKenzie expressing interest, 10 May 1974; Paul M Fye, Director of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Massachusetts, USA, enthusiastically supporting the offer of the Doherty Chair professorship and the benefits of working at the Institution, 10 April 1974, with copy reply from McKenzie flattered by the offer but is staying at Cambridge, 15 May 1974; Frank Press, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, MIT, pleased to accommodate McKenzie during his planned sabbatical, problems with sources of funding for non-US based academics, 2 May 1974; short letter from Jim Heirtzler, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, encouraging McKenzie to take the offered post, 6 April 1974, with copy reply from McKenzie, 15 May 1974; John Sclater, Needham, [Massachusetts, USA], is mulling over whether to take a post at Scripps or stay at MIT, but thinks the former would be a dangerous move both scientifically and professionally and wonders if McKenzie feels the same, 17 May [1974];
JUNE 1974
Michael Longuet-Higgins, Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge, England, has read the papers on polar wandering recommended by McKenzie and wants to know his opinions on the matter, 1 June 1973; circular letter from G A Wilkins, Science Research Council, Royal Greenwich Observatory, Hailsham, Sussex, England, concerning UK participation in Lunar Laser Ranging, 4 June 1974; John Sclater [on a flight from San Francisco to Boston, USA], has just visited Scripps and is surprised at the warm reception and the department's commitment to marine geophysics, his research at MIT is going well and enjoys working with Pete Molnar, Barry Parsons and Tanya Atwater plus there is a collaborative projects between Woods Hole confirmed, seeks McKenzie's opinion, 20 June [1974]; Professor György Barta, Chairman of Working Group 6, International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG), Geophysical Institute of Loránd Eötvös University, Budapest, Hungary, expressing his annoyance that McKenzie has declined to act as a group co-ordinator, write a review or attend the last meeting of the IUGG in Budapest, and suggests Dr P N Kropotking to take his place, 31 May 1974, with copy reply from McKenzie, disappointed that Barta does not share his views but surprised that he has chosen a Russian as the country's scientists have not apparently shown any interest in plate tectonics or mantle convection, explains why he did not attend the last IUGG meeting, 11 June 1974; George G Burke, Idaho, USA, to Edward Bullard, is writing a paper on the relationship of continental drift and sea floor spreading and is seeking information on the match between America and Africa, 15 April, 1974 [annotated by Bullard passing the letter to McKenzie], with copy reply from McKenzie, suggesting the publications he might look at, 12 June 1974; copy letter from McKenzie to Professor Johannes Weertman, Department of Materials Science, Materials Research Center, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA, discusses their views on convection and power law creep, 12 June 1974; Derek Ager, Chairman of the Scientific Programme Sub-committee of the Meeting of the European Geological Societies (MEGS), inviting McKenzie to join the committee and suggest suitable speakers, enclosing the minutes of the 1974 meeting a list of objectives for the 1975 gathering, [n.d.], with copy reply from McKenzie, happy to advise but he is now only incidentally involved in the seismicity of the Mediterranean, his main interest being Iran and mantle convection, suggests Alan Smith or Fred Vine who are more knowledgeable in the area, 11 June 1974; copy letter from McKenzie to E C Rubidge, General Secretary of the Royal Astronomical Society, London, England, disputing the findings of the referee report [not included] of his and Nigel Weiss' latest paper [D McKenzie, & N O Weiss, "Speculations on the thermal and tectonic history of the Earth", 'Geophysical Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society', vol 42 (1975), pp131-174], 28 June 1974;
JULY-AUGUST 1974
Desmond King-Hele, Procurement Executive, Ministry of Defence, Royal Aircraft Establishment, could not find a reliable map showing the main tectonic plates so has drawn his own, asks McKenzie to correct it, 25 June 1974, with copy reply from McKenzie advising changes, 19 July 1974; short letter from Richard 'Rick' Sibson, Department of Geology, Royal School of Mines, Imperial College of Science and Technology, London, England, enclosing a note of the expenses incurred on their joint trip to the Outer Isles in Scotland, [n.d.]; John Sclater, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, is still in a quandary about whether to accept the Scripps job offer but the infighting between Jim Heirtzler and K O Emery at Woods Hole and budget cuts restricting ship time is making it seem more attractive, changes to their joint paper on gravity, 11 August [1974]; Carl Bowin, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, replying to McKenzie's request for surface gravity data in Southern Oceans, 29 August 1974;
SEPTEMBER 1974
Copy of a letter from David Tritton to Nigel Weiss, Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge, responding to Weiss' recent talk on convection, providing his detailed thoughts on the present position of 'cell size', 14 August 1974, with a copy reply from Nigel Weiss, 4 September 1974; copy letter from McKenzie to Dr John Hudson, Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge, complaining about the long editorial process of publishing in the 'Geophysical Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society', as he is yet to receive the second referee report for his and Weiss' paper "Speculations on the thermal and tectonic history of the Earth", ibid, 5 September 1974; Willem V R Malkus, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, asking if McKenzie will be the Principal Invited Lecturer (PIL) at the institution's annual GFD [Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Program], 13 August 1974, with copy reply from McKenzie, happy to attend but declining the offer as being PIL as he would prefer to spend the time engaging in research, plus financially it would be difficult, 5 September 1974; Roger Bilham, [no address], has been offered a post at the Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory of Columbia University, arranging a visa, problems with a computer program identified by Walter Züm which has accounted for recent errors data, 25 September 1974; Jeffrey K Weissel, Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory of Columbia University, New York, USA, enclosing a depth anomaly map of the South East Indian Ocean [included] in response to McKenzie's enquiry concerning correlations between bathymetry and gravity south of Australia, but is surprised by the lack of the 'saddle structure' in the recent solutions produced by Goddard & the Smithsonian which deviates from the 1971 Gaposchkin and Lambeck paper although both derive from the same data, is therefore forced to use the gravity data provided by ELTANIN, 25 September 1974; joint letter from John Sclater and Barry Parsons, MIT, thanking McKenzie for the feedback on their paper but it took so long to arrive that the paper has since been accepted, but they will make changes at the proofing stage, 27 September 1974;
OCTOBER 1974
Don Tarling, Department of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, School of Physics, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, wants to borrow a computer card deck compatible with Bob Parker's HYPERMAP programme, 19 September 1974, with copy reply from McKenzie unable to help as he does not have one as he prefers to use a more accurate format, 2 October 1974; Richard Cowen, Associate Professor, Department of Geology, University of California, Davis, California, USA, preparing a new undergraduate book 'Controversy in the Earth Sciences' and seeking copyright clearance to use one of McKenzie's papers, 18 September 1974, with brief copy reply from McKenzie that unless the book is non-profit making, authors should be paid, 9 October 1974; copy letter from McKenzie to Willem V R Malkus, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, explaining his arrangements with MIT over the summer, but agreeable to attend the GFD, suggests Frank Richter or Donald Turcotte instead as PIL, 11 October 1974, copy letter from McKenzie to Edward 'Ted' Flinn, ?editor, 'Journal of Geophysical Research', Alexandria Laboratories, Teledyne Geotech, Virginia, USA, responding to a paper by Donna Jurdy and Rob Van der Voo [probably "A method for the separation of true polar wander and continental drift, including results for the last 55 m.y.", 'Journal of Geophysical Research', vol 79 (1974) pp2945–2952] which he believes contains incorrect claims, 29 October 1974;
NOVEMBER 1974
Copy letter from McKenzie to Kurt Lambeck, [no address], working on Geos-C data and seeking computing advice, 4 November 1974; John Sclater, Needham, Massachusetts, USA, arrangements for McKenzie's trip to MIT and Woods Hole in the summer of next year, 4 November [1974]; Ron Girdler, Department of Physics and Planetary Physics, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, apparent errors in the magnetic anomalies in the data in Girdler's recent published paper [probably "Two Stage Red Sea Floor Spreading", ibid], asks if McKenzie is sure, 14 November 1974 [note: dated 1973], Harsha Sinvhal, Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Roorkee, India, keen to accompany McKenzie to Iran the following March and April, social catch-ups, 17 November 1974, and copy letter to Professor Mithal, Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Roorkee, concerning the research trip to Iran an explaining the project, 20 November 1974;
DECEMBER 1974
George Backus, Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, La Jolla Laboratories, University of California, San Diego, California, USA, has heard about McKenzie's & Nigel Weiss' 'calculation' from Bob Parker which has caused a lot of interest [probably 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], 25 November 1974, with copy reply from McKenzie stating that the paper has yet to be published but comparing it to an earlier paper of Backus', 4 December 1974; John Sclater, [no address], needs confirmation that McKenzie wants to come to the US next summer, has started on the heat flow review but is having problems with the older land data and sets out his plans for a complete reanalysis of the Precambrian in conjunction with Pat Hurley, 12 December [1974]. |