| Description | General correspondence of Dan McKenzie, Assistant Director in Research (ADR), Department of Geodesy and Geophysics, University of Cambridge, England, January-December 1976. The contents principally comprise various invitations or arrangements for McKenzie to attend symposia, give talks or write articles, requests for preprints, or permission to republish his published papers/figures, correspondence with publishers submitting papers, or with fellow academics/scientists seeking McKenzie's opinion on their works, but also:
JANUARY 1976
John Sclater, in-flight between California and Boston, wants to visit McKenzie in Cambridge at the beginning of February, Scripps Institution of Oceanography seems rather run down, Scripps are loaning the research vessel the MELVILLE for a remake of the film 'King Kong', 6 January [1976]; Gerald Schubert, Department of Geophysics and Space Physics, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA, difficulties in calculating convection times of the lower mantle taking into account state variables, 9 January 1976, with copy reply from McKenzie, agreeing with Schubert's arguments and encouraging him to continue his work, 9 January 1976; copy letter from McKenzie to Professor Jean Aubouin, Département de Géologie Structurale, Université de Paris VI, France, interested in organising geological symposia for the forthcoming meeting of the European Geological Societies (EGS), irritated that UK geophysicists want to include as little geology as possible, could do a presentation on his current research on Alpine-Himalayan deformation, 20 January 1976; copy letter from McKenzie to Anthony Watts, Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory of Columbia University, New York, USA, believes Watts refereeed McKenzie's and Carl Bowin's paper "The relationship between bathymetry and gravity in the Atlantic Ocean" ['Journal of Geophysical Research', vol 81 (1976), pp1903-1915] in which they pointed out that one of the equations in a previous paper of Watts' was incorrect, and explains why he thought so, 12 January 1976, with reply from Watts, 26 January 1976;
FEBRUARY 1976
Copy, joint letters from McKenzie and John Sclater to William Melson, Chairman, Department of Mineral Sciences, Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC, USA, and Stanley Hart, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, the present IPOD drilling ship can only bore about 1km into the basaltic layer which is inadequate for research concerning the nature and origin of the oceanic crust, suggests using a semisubmersible drilling vessel instead and seeks Melson's and Hart's support, 5 February 1976; Barry Parsons, in-flight between Zurich and Nairobi, then to Johannesburg, progress on their joint research and papers, 5 February 1976; Dr C Williams, JOIDES program, Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, New York, USA, thanks McKenzie for his and Sclater's suggestion which is timely as they are presently planning phase II of the IPOD project, 11 February 1976; William 'Bill' Kaula, Department of Geophysics and Space Physics, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA, is coordinating the examination of basaltic occurrences as consequences of the thermal and compositional evolution of the planet for the Lunar Science Institute, seeks McKenzie's input on the implications of thermal convection for long term evolution, 6 February 1976, with copy reply from McKenzie stating that the studies of basalts are at an early stage and much is still not yet known, 12 February 1976; Seiya Uyeda, Earthquake Research Institute, University of Tokyo, Japan, colleague Dr Masaru Kono, Royal Society Exchange Scholar, would like to spend five or so months working on tectonics at Cambridge, 16 February 1976, with copy reply agreeing although both McKenzie and Jack Jacobs will be away in the summer months, 24 February 1976; Thomas 'Tom' Fitch, Research School of Earth Sciences, Institute of Advanced Studies, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia, sending McKenzie computer program cards, data sets and instructions, 27 February 1976;
MARCH 1976
Martin Goldman, Assistant Editor, 'Nature', Macmillan Journals Ltd, London, England, sends an extract from a critical referee's report for an unnamed paper by McKenzie, 2 March 1976; copy letter from McKenzie to Dr Friedrich O Vonbun, Goddard Space Flight Center, Maryland, USA, wants to use Vonbun's satellite to satellite tracking data to investigate whether linear gravity anomalies with wavelengths of c.1000km exist over the older parts of rapidly moving plates and to study the gravity field over the Himalayan region, thinks the Landsat project will do more for earthquake prediction than anything else which is currently happening, 3 March 1976; copy letter from McKenzie to Dr David E Smith, Head, Geodynamics Branch, Goddard Space Flight Center, Maryland, USA, offering advice on sources for gravity data, 3 March 1976; Masaru Kono, Geophysical Institute, Faculty of Science, University of Tokyo, Japan, details of the two research topics for his planned stay at Cambridge University as part of the exchange programme organised by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, 18 February 1976, with copy reply from McKenzie, expressing interest, 4 March 1976; various letters from McKenzie's friends and academic peers offering congratulations on his election to a Royal Society Fellowship, 8-31 March 1976; Dr J D Brunton, Science and Technology Unit, British Council, London, England, sends McKenzie details on the seismological data held by the Columbian Geophysical Institution [see letter of 18 November 1975, LDGSL/1107/A/1/15], 9 March 1975; copy letter from McKenzie to Robert 'Bob' Parker, Institute of Geophysics & Planetary Physics, La Jolla Laboratories, University of California, San Diego, USA, has heard that Parker thought that there were errors in McKenzie's and Carl Bowin's latest paper ["The relationship between bathymetry and gravity in the Atlantic Ocean", 'Journal of Geophysical Research', vol 81 (1976), pp1903-1915], 17 March 1976; copy letter from McKenzie to Barry Parsons, Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, corrections to their unnamed joint paper, 19 March 1976; letters between McKenzie and Charles Frank, Henry Overton Wills Professor of Physics, University of Bristol, England, regarding the incomplete discussion on pressure changes in the core due to mantle differentiation that Frank, McKenzie and [Raymond] Hide were having over lunch at the Royal Society, 9-24 March 1976; Celal Sengor, University of Houston, Texas, USA, has been reading McKenzie's paper "Speculations on the thermal and tectonic history of the Earth" [with Nigel Weiss, published in 'Geophysical Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society', vol 42 (1975), pp131-174] in which there is reference to a 'small Aegean plate (with) an island arc along its southern margin...', however there is still much speculation amongst Turkish geologists exactly where the plate boundary is between the Turkish and Aegean plates, 16 March 1976, with copy reply from McKenzie stating that any disagreement concerns the differing interpretation of what a plate boundary is, plate deformation in Turkey, 26 March 1976; copy letter from McKenzie to Dr Robert Hoffstetter, Institut de Paleontologie, Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France, commenting on Hoffstetter's latest work on evolution and continental drift and how biogeography is an important tool in areas where magnetic anomalies are of no use, 31 March 1976;
APRIL 1976
Robert 'Bob' Parker, Institute of Geophysics & Planetary Physics, UCSD, informs McKenzie that it was Leroy Dorman who criticised his and Bowin's paper [ "The relationship between bathymetry and gravity in the Atlantic Ocean", ibid], detailing the arguments but thinks Dorman's points were valid, 2 April 1976; two copy letters from McKenzie to Frank Richter, Department of Geophysical Sciences, University of Chicago, Illinois, USA, concerning edits to their joint paper ["Convection currents in the Earth’s mantle", 'Scientific American', November 1976], 20 April 1976; Dr Kari Kasapoglu, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey, asking for precise geophysical data on the European, Turkish, African and Arab tectonic plates, 13 April 1976, with copy reply from McKenzie unable to provide the data but offering advice on how to calculate it, 23 April 1976; William Melson, Chairman, Department of Mineral Sciences, Smithsonian Institute, seeking further information on McKenzie's and John Sclater's plan for using semisubmersible vessels for deep crustal drilling, 23 March 1976, with copy reply from McKenzie admitting that he knows little on the subject but in relation to the previous Mohole project it should be considered, 23 April 1976; Sir Gordon Cox, Treasurer, Royal Institution of Great Britain, London, England, inviting McKenzie, as a new Fellow of the Royal Society, to become a Member of the Royal Institution, 12 April 1976, with copy reply from McKenzie regretting that he must turn down the offer although his father, who had more disposable income than he, was a member, 26 April 1976;
MAY 1976
Letters between McKenzie and members of the American Geophysical Union, Washington DC, USA, concerning the AGU's refusal to include authors' contact details alongside published papers, which McKenzie insists is vital to encourage correspondence between peer researchers, 1 March-5 May 1976; BBC artists' contract for McKenzie's interview on earthquakes for the programme 'World in Focus', 7 May 1976; David E Smith, Geodynamics Branch, Goddard Space Flight Center, replying to McKenzie's request for satellite to satellite tracking data and suggesting that McKenzie may like to apply for an associateship to study the data at Goddard, 28 April 1976, with copy reply from McKenzie expressing interest but would need to know if the satellite data contains the information he requires, 11 May 1976; copy letter to Charles Carrigan [no address, USA], McKenzie and Dave Gubbins have considered establishing a fluid mechanics laboratory at Cambridge as it would fit in with their studies in the mantle and core, suggests funding streams for Carrigan in order to research at Cambridge, 19 May 1976; letters of congratulations on the birth of McKenzie's son James, with copy replies from McKenzie, 3-19 May 1976; Carl Bowin, Department of Geology and Geophysics, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Massachusetts, USA, seeking McKenzie's opinion on his funding application to the US National Science Foundation (NSF) [not included], 7 May 1976, with brief copy reply from McKenzie, offering advice, 19 May 1976; Augustine Amasike, Department of Geology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria, has to do a presentation on 'Plate Tectonics and Sedimentation' for university but cannot understand McKenzie's paper on the subject, 11 May 1976, with brief copy reply from McKenzie forwarding a more suitable paper, 19 May 1976;
JUNE 1976
Mansour Niazi, [Ferdowsi University of Mashad, Iran], to Geof King and McKenzie, details of King's tenure at Ferdowsi University, orders for strain meters and other equipment needed for the planned field trip in Iran in the summer, 7 June 1976; Emlyn Huw Rhoderick, Chairman of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Electronics, University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, England, disappointed that his department was turned down for a Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) grant, as McKenzie was part of the grant refereeing process offers invitation to visit to see the project firsthand, 27 April 1976, with brief copy reply from McKenzie arranging a visit, 10 June 1976; Ian Carmichael, Chairman, Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of California at Berkeley, California, USA, inviting McKenzie to give a seminar series at Berkeley, 4 June 1976, with copy reply from McKenzie considering the offer, 15 June 1976; Barry Parsons, Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, MIT, clarifies part of his latest paper with John Sclater on the thickness of boundary layers, comments on a draft of McKenzie's paper "Surface deformation, gravity anomalies and convection" ['Geophysical Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society', vol 48 (1977), pp211-238], 28 May 1976, with copy reply from McKenzie, does not believe thickness of boundary layers is necessarily connected to velocity, definition of 'large scale circulation', is not convinced by Jason Morgan's theories about mantle plumes although it is widely accepted by others, 15 June 1976; Malcolm Brown, Professor of Geology, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Durham, England, inviting McKenzie to participate in the January 1977 Royal Society discussion meeting 'Terrestrial Heat and the Generation of Magmas', 28 April 1976, with copy reply from McKenzie stating that he is willing to talk off the cuff but the process of producing papers and talks is far too time consuming, 12 June 1977; copy letter from McKenzie to Donald Forsyth, Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, New York, USA, questioning the calculations of forces on the sinking slab in Forsyth and Seiya Uyeda's joint paper "On the Relative Importance of the Driving Forces of Plate Motion" ['Geophysical Journal International', vol 43 (1975), pp163-200], 12 February 1976, with a further brief copy letter from McKenzie stating that as he has had no reply that Forsyth must have no answers to his questions, 18 June 1976;
JULY 1976
Letters concerning the refereeing and revision of McKenzie's paper "Surface deformation, gravity anomalies and convection" [ibid], 6 May-2 July 1976; copy letter from McKenzie to Dick Peltier, University of Toronto, Canada, wondering if Peltier had found any evidence of low viscosity beneath the plates, 29 July 1976;
AUGUST 1976
Manik Talwani, Director, Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory of Columbia University, offering McKenzie the post of Senior Post-Doctoral Fellow at Lamont during his planned sabbatical the following year, 1 July 1976, with copy reply from McKenzie pleased to accept, problems in using gravity to calculate age and bathymetry, 2 August 1976; R S Chugh, Director, Geodetic and Research Branch, Survey of India, Dehra Dun, India, invitation for McKenzie to become a member of the Sub-Commission on Recent Crustal Movements for South Asia, 8 July 1976, with brief copy letter from McKenzie accepting, 2 August 1976; John 'Jack' Arthur Jacobs, Professor of Geophysics, Department of Physics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, has been reading Dziewonski's and O'Connell's paper 'Large Scale Heterogenieties in the lower mantle' [with B H Hager, published in 'Journal of Geophysical Research, vol 82 (1977)] and asks McKenzie's opinion on whether there would be a positive gravity anomaly over a hot rising region, 4 August 1976; letters between McKenzie, Manik Talwani and Anthony 'Tony' Watts concerning the refereeing of McKenzie's paper "The initiation of trenches: a finite amplitude instability", American Geophysical Union, Maurice Ewing Series 1, pp57-61 (1977), 22 July-12 August 1976; Dick Peltier, University of Toronto, the relaxation data has so far not proved categorically the existence of a low viscosity zone beneath the plates, but once the inverse of the data set has been completed he will have more to say on the subject, 19 August 1976; A T Huntingdon, NERC, London, England, seeking comments from members of the Geological Sciences Research Grants Committee on a proposed Senior Fellowship Scheme, 23 August 1976; Ian Norton, visiting scholar and PhD student, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, is working with John Sclater on an attempt to reconstruct the history of the motion between Africa and Antarctica, wants to use McKenzie's program, 25 August 1976;
SEPTEMBER 1976
Robley Knight Matthews, Chairman, Department of Geological Sciences, Brown University, Rhode Island, USA, pleased to announce that Don Forsyth and Marc Parmentier are joining Brown University in the area of tectonophysics, and his department has just received a grant of $200,000 to improve graduate training in this area, 29 September 1976;
OCTOBER 1976
David Pines, Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, USA, sending McKenzie a draft of his latest paper with Jacob Shaham [not included] on the storage and release of elastic energy in planets with solid crusts and seeking McKenzie's opinion, reiterates his invitation for McKenzie to visit the University of Illinois, 10 September 1976, with copy reply from McKenzie providing detailed corrections, 12 October 1976; Rolf Lüthi, grammar school pupil, Basel, Switzerland, is working on a school project on LAGEOS (Laser Geodynamic Satellite) and asks a series of questions on its use in relation to earthquakes and earthquake predictions, 17 October 1976, with copy reply from McKenzie providing short answers, 26 October 1976;
NOVEMBER 1976
Geof King, [Ferdowsi University of Mashad, Iran], money owed to McKenzie, has fallen out with Mansour Niazi and both want the Iran project to end, 8 November 1976; David Pines, Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, responds to McKenzie's criticisms [see letter of 12 October 1976], with copy reply from McKenzie clarifying his points, 18 November 1976; M J Easterbrook, NERC, agreeing to a supplement grant for McKenzie's project "Numerical and Laboratory Studies of Convection in the Earth's Mantle", 10 November 1976, with copy reply from McKenzie, 18 November 1976; letters from John Skilbeck [PhD student of McKenzie's at Cambridge], Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Massachusetts, USA, family illnesses, current thoughts on the effect on heat flow of the hydrothermal circulation within the crust and sediments, impressed by Professor Etienne Guyon, calculations for his thesis ["The stability of mantle convection"], request to use a couple of McKenzie's figures for a forthcoming published article, 23 September-18 November 1976; John J P Deverill, Royal Society, London, England, inviting McKenzie to be part of a Royal Society delegation of geophysicists to the Chinese Academy of Sciences the following spring, 15 November 1976, with copy reply from McKenzie happy to accept, 24 November 1976;
DECEMBER 1976
Frank Richter, Department of Geophysical Sciences, University of Chicago, Illinois, USA, general response to McKenzie's & Richter's joint paper, details his current research on variable viscosity convection and seeks McKenzie's opinion, 1 December 1976; copy letter from Dr D H Davies, Assistant Chief Scientific Adviser (Projects) [Ministry of Defence], to Sir David Martin, Royal Society, London, England, regarding McKenzie's enquiry for RAF assistance for his research project in the Eastern Mediterranean, 19 August 1976, with brief copy letter from McKenzie to R J Monaghan, Director of the MOD following up, 7 December 1976; Georgy Golitsyn, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Moscow, USSR, introduces himself and that he is working along similar lines on mantle-core convection and wants to ask McKenzie a few questions on the subject, 10 December 1976. |