| Description | Correspondence covering the period when Dan McKenzie was an annual Visiting Associate in the Seismological Laboratory, Californian Institute of Technology (Caltech), Pasadena, California, USA, April-June 1969.
Correspondents and subjects include:
APRIL 1969
Alan Cook, chair of geophysics, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, requests to meet with McKenzie to discuss the vacant lectureship at the University, 1 April 1969; Peter 'Pete' Molnar, Lamont Geological Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, New York, USA, presently working on fault plane solutions for intermediate and deep earthquakes, and wants to know what McKenzie has done on the subject, 2 April 1969; E C Rubidge, General Secretary of the Royal Astronomical Society, London, England, accepting McKenzie's paper "Speculations on the consequences and causes of plate motions" for publication [in 'Geophysical Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society', vol 18 (1969) pp1-32], 2 April 1969; list of delegates invited to attend the conference 'Recent Development in Lunar Studies' to be held in June at the Goddard Institute for Space Studies, Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory, April 1969; David 'Dai' Davies, Department of Geodesy & Geophysics, University of Cambridge, England, the birth of his daughter, correction to McKenzie's paper and briefly references the write up in 'Nature' of the Royal Society's discussion meeting 'The Structure and Evolution of the Red Sea and the Nature of the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and Ethiopian Rift Junction' where McKenzie presented a paper [Davies was geophysics correspondent for the journal], 9 April 1969; Alan Cook, chair of geophysics, University of Edinburgh, offers McKenzie the vacant lectureship at Edinburgh University and discusses the salary, [postmarked 16 April 1969]; Tony Dahlen, Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California, San Diego, USA, invites McKenzie to give a talk to his department, wonders if McKenzie can help him become a Fellow of King's College, Cambridge, 18 April 1969; David 'Dai' Davies, Department of Geodesy & Geophysics, University of Cambridge, thumbnail sketches showing corrections to McKenzie's map of the Red Sea, results of the US funded LONG SHOT explosion experiment, [postmarked 21 April 1969]*; Alan Cook, chair of geophysics, University of Edinburgh, salary for the Edinburgh lecturer post, 26 April 1969; Peter 'Pete' Molnar, Lamont Geological Observatory of Columbia University, excited by McKenzie's latest paper on triple junctions [McKenzie, D & W J Morgan, "The evolution of triple junctions", 'Nature' vol 224 (1969), pp125-133], invites McKenzie to give a talk at Lamont in August, [n.d.]; How-Kin Wong, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Massachusetts, USA, interested in McKenzie's work on fault plane solutions, requests some offprints of McKenzie's papers, 28 April 1969; John Sclater, [Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, USA], updates on accommodation for McKenzie's and Jason Morgan's forthcoming stay at Scripps, McKenzie's regional field computer program, 30 April 1969;
MAY 1969
Copy letter from McKenzie to Alan Cook, National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, Middlesex, England [chair of geophysics, University of Edinburgh], declining the offer of the vacant lectureship at the University of Edinburgh as McKenzie is happy with his current situation, 1 May 1969; Xavier Le Pichon, Centre Océanologique de Bretagne, Brest Cedex, France, thanking McKenzie for the hospitality during his last visit to Cambridge, England, 5 May 1969; Edward 'Teddy' Bullard, head of the Department of Geophysics and Geodesy, University of Cambridge, England, feedback and corrections to McKenzie's latest paper [possibly "Speculations on the consequences and causes of plate motions", 'Geophysical Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society', vol 18 (1969), pp1-32], 3 May 1969; David 'Dai' Davies, Department of Geodesy & Geophysics, University of Cambridge, forwards paper by Tony Dahlen for McKenzie to referee, asks if McKenzie will be co-author on his paper on the 'Bozeman anomaly' which he wishes to submit to 'Nature', 6 May [1969]; L Cohen, Secretary of the Institute of Physics and the Physical Society, Belgrave Square, London, admitting McKenzie as a Subscriber to the organisation, 6 May 1969; Peter 'Pete' Molnar, Lamont Geological Observatory of Columbia University, sends McKenzie his latest paper, [n.d.]; J A T Woodford, School of Agriculture, University of Cambridge, wishes to sub-let McKenzie's flat despite its poor condition, 7 May 1969; David 'Dai' Davies, Department of Geodesy & Geophysics, University of Cambridge, disappointed that the 'Bozeman anomaly' does not exist as the original data was incorrect, 7 May 1969; copy letter from McKenzie to David 'Dai' Davies, Department of Geodesy & Geophysics, University of Cambridge, keen to collaborate on a paper with Davies but does not wish to publish to order, 8 May 1969; copy letter from McKenzie to Tony Dahlen, Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California, agrees to do a talk for Dahlen's department on the deep structure of island arcs, suggests Dahlen writes to Churchill College, Cambridge, to ask for a visiting appointment post, agrees to referee Dahlen's paper, 8 May 1969; copy letter from McKenzie to David 'Dai' Davies, Department of Geodesy & Geophysics, University of Cambridge, pleased that the 'Bozeman anomaly' does not exist and suggesting that they collaborate on a world wide survey of residual spheres with Bruce Julian, 12 May 1969; copy letter from McKenzie to Edward 'Teddy' Bullard, head of the Department of Geophysics and Geodesy, University of Cambridge, giving feedback on Bullard's paper 'The History of the Sea' which is being submitted to the journal 'Scientific American', 13 May 1969; Drummond 'Drum' Matthews, Department of Geophysics and Geodesy, University of Cambridge, finds the department a bit depressing as the staff are ageing, stating that the only creative bright light is being told of the work that McKenzie is doing and therefore encouraging McKenzie to take up the SAR post, [n.d.]*; David 'Dai' Davies, Department of Geodesy & Geophysics, University of Cambridge, worried about the 'Red Sea fit' in their joint paper and excited that he has just completed his first fault plane solution, 14 May 1969; copy letter to Tanya Atwater, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, USA, asking to reproduce a figure from her previous joint paper with Bill Menard and wondering if she has looked at the disturbed zone in detail, asks if she will give a talk to his class on how modern tectonics works, 15 May 1969*; Drummond 'Drum' Matthews, Department of Geophysics and Geodesy, University of Cambridge, has been approached by the journal 'Nature' to write a review article on seafloor spreading but does not feel he can write on plate theory as he did not contribute to that area, wonders if McKenzie will do it instead, 15 May 1969*; David 'Dai' Davies, Department of Geodesy & Geophysics, University of Cambridge, states that everyone in the field is relieved that the Bozeman anomaly does not exist, suggests geographical areas for researching residual spheres and the possibility of adding the data from 10 earthquakes within 100km together, agrees that they should take their time over producing their joint paper, 16 May [1969]; Edward 'Teddy' Bullard, head of the Department of Geophysics and Geodesy, University of Cambridge, shuffling of staff in the department, and the possibility of offering McKenzie a post as Senior Assistant in Research (SAR) once Dai Davies leaves [annotated by McKenzie 'Yes'], 16 May 1969*; Tanya Atwater, [Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California], discusses her thoughts on the disturbed zone with thumbnail sketches) and suggests it might be a jumping ridge case, agrees to give a talk to McKenzie's class despite all her ideas being 'McKenzie derivatives', 16 May [1969]*; David 'Dai' Davies, Department of Geodesy & Geophysics, University of Cambridge, wants to write a piece for Nature on the future of the Upper Mantle Project, criticises the Royal Society's stance on the subject, working on residual spheres for deep Japanese earthquakes, 19 May 1969; copy letter from McKenzie to Edward 'Teddy' Bullard, head of the Department of Geophysics and Geodesy, University of Cambridge, accepting the post of SAR but still wanting the freedom to visit Caltech in the summer, praises Bullard's contribution to the department, 20 May 1969*; copy letter from McKenzie to Leon Knopoff, Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California, Los Angeles, USA, accepting offer to present a paper [at a forthcoming symposium jointly organised by the US Upper Mantle Committee and the Department of Geological Sciences, Harvard] on 'Plate Tectonics and the Dynamics of the Mantle', has accepted a post at Cambridge University which will restrict his ability to visit US institutions in the future, 20 May 1969; David 'Dai' Davies, Department of Geodesy & Geophysics, University of Cambridge, trying to locate a paper by Mason & Raff [probably Mason, R G & A D Raff, "Magnetic survey off the west coast of North America, 32° N latitude to 42° N latitude", 'Geological Society of America Bulletin', vol 72 (1961), pp1259-1266], criticises the working methods of Ron Girdler, has finished most of the work on residual sphere plotting for Japan and suggests a plan for their joint paper, Stephanie [Jupp] is computing data using the plate residual programme and has produced very interesting results, 23 May [1969]; Jim E Everett, West Australian Petroleum, Perth, Australia, does not know where the original EDSAC computer programme is [used for his PhD thesis 'The Fit of the Continents around the Atlantic' (1965) and for the paper Bullard, E and J E Everett & A Gilbert Smith, "The Fit of the Continents around the Atlantic", 'Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences', Vol. 258 (1965), pp 41-51] and briefly describes some of the methods for 'fitting' he used, 23 May 1969* [see also LDGSL/1107/B/12];
JUNE 1969
Copy letter from McKenzie to Dr W F Weekes, US Army Material Command, Terrestrial Sciences Center, Cold Regions Research Laboratory, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA, is writing a popular article on seafloor spreading and on the recommendation of Don Anderson, has realised that the movement of ice can be used as an analogy [published as: McKenzie, D, "Plate tectonics and continental drift", 'Endeavour', vol 29 (1970), pp 39-44], 3 June 1969; copy letter from McKenzie to Paul Gast, [professor of geology, Columbia University, New York, USA], pleased to know that his ideas on ridges are backed up by geochemistry but is embarrassed by his Gast's defence of his basic geometry methods, detailing instead his theories using calculations, 3 June 1969; Edward 'Teddy' Bullard, head of the Department of Geophysics and Geodesy, University of Cambridge, thanking McKenzie for the comments on his paper ['The History of the Sea'] which is being submitted to the journal 'Scientific American', but disagreeing about McKenzie's explanation of constant sea level, McKenzie's appointment as SAR, manuscript postscript thanking McKenzie for his kind words about Bullard's contribution to geology and the university department, 3 June 1969*; Alan Cook, chair of geophysics, University of Edinburgh, stating that he understands McKenzie's decision to turn down the lectureship at the university and has instead appointed Dr Rosemary Hutton, 4 June 1969; David 'Dai' Davies, Department of Geodesy & Geophysics, University of Cambridge, suggests that they should play a joke on Dr D C Martin, by stating that 'American Scientists find that the low velocity layer is made of Brie cheese', has turned down the job in Ethiopia due to lack of money and the students being on strike, discusses his thoughts (with thumbnail sketches) on residual spheres, unconvinced by the conclusions of the LONG SHOT project, 7 June [1969]; Tanya Atwater, [Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California], has just read McKenzie's paper on triple points [McKenzie, D & W J Morgan, ibid], and vehemently disagrees with the assertion that the distance between the triple points proving that plate motions were constant, explaining her reasoning, [?June 1969]*; copy letter from McKenzie to Royal Astronomical Society Publications Ltd, Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, England, complaining that an important figure in his paper "Speculations on the Consequences and Causes of Island Arcs" has been poorly produced and wishes it to be corrected or he will withdraw the paper, 11 June 1969; letter from Moira Dunbar, Defence Research Establishment Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, replying to McKenzie's request for images of thrust structures in ice from one of her papers [McKenzie, D, "Plate tectonics and continental drift", ibid] and recommending photographs, 12 June 1969; Keith Runcorn, Head of School and Professor of Physics, School of Physics, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, would like copies of McKenzie's published papers on plate tectonics, 12 June 1969; Seiya Uyeda, Earthquake Research Institute, University of Tokyo, Japan, commenting on McKenzie's latest paper but is still inclined to believe that heat is produced at the seismic plane and carried up by magma (with thumbnail sketch), additionally agrees with Dan Karig's ideas on the origin of marginal seas, possibility of granite in the Kyushu-Palau ridge although the area has yet to be dredged, 14 June 1969; preliminary typescript draft contents list for a proposed publication 'Sourcebook for Global Tectonics: Origins of the New Global Tectonics' [?produced by Gordon Gastil, see: LDGSL/1107/A/1/6] , which is to comprise academic papers on the subject by various authors, annotated with comments by McKenzie, [1969]; postcard from David 'Dai' Davies, Department of Geodesy & Geophysics, University of Cambridge, also complaining about the quality of the diagrams produced in the 'Geophysical Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society', 16 June 1969; copy letter from David 'Dai' Davies, Department of Geodesy & Geophysics, University of Cambridge, to Mr Bax, Blackwell's Scientific Publications, formally complaining about the quality of his and McKenzie's diagrams in their published papers, 17 June 1969; Wilford 'Willy' Weeks, Research Glaciologist, Snow and Ice Branch, Department of the Army, US Army Terrestrial Sciences Center, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA, sending McKenzie images of ice deformation features taken at Thule, Greenland [for McKenzie, D, "Plate tectonics and continental drift", ibid], and suggesting a paper by Hakkel on 'Tectonic Deformations Modelled Naturally in Sea Ice", 11 June 1969, with copy reply from McKenzie, 19 June 1969; Dai Davies, Department of Geodesy & Geophysics, University of Cambridge, wonders if his and McKenzie's correspondence will be published one day as an example of academic 'cut and thrust', is going back to concentrate on residual spheres then work on the Nepal relocation, but has been working on plate shadows at Aldermaston [Atomic Weapons Research Establishment (AWRE), RAF Aldermaston], tempted by offers of an editorial job at 'Nature' and a joint research Fellowship at Aldermaston and Cambridge', 19 June [1969]; C R Argent, Royal Society, London, England, asking for the manuscript and figures for McKenzie's paper for the published proceedings of the discussion meeting 'The Structure and Evolution of the Red Sea and the Nature of the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and Ethiopian Rift Junction', 23 June 1969, with copy reply from McKenzie stating that he and Dai Davies were unhappy with the 'fitting' of the Red Sea in one of the diagrams and therefore wishes to withdraw the paper and publish it elsewhere when he has had time to work on it, 26 June 1969; David 'Dai' Davies, Department of Geodesy & Geophysics, University of Cambridge, thinks it is likely that he will accept the Aldermaston post and describes the quality of data the institution holds, discusses his current work on the data from LONG SHOT and his worries that trying to incorporate a modified focal sphere into a residual sphere program will not work, keen to collaborate with McKenzie on residual spheres, 26 June 1969; short letter from Seiya Uyeda, Earthquake Research Institute, University of Tokyo, forwarding a copy of his review on Island Arcs for McKenzie's comments, but fearing that it is already out of date (from the work which McKenzie has done), 30 June 1969; 'Research at the Seismological Laboratory April through June 1969', typescript report by McKenzie on his activities at Caltech, [?July 1970]*. |