Lakehead University Geology - Journal Yearbook (Thunder Bay, Ontario Canada)

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Dr. R. Garth Platt , B.Sc., Ph.D. Background ; Visiting Professor, University of Copenhagen, Denmark 1969-70 NRC Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Western Ontario 1970-71 N.E.R.C. Research Fellow and Staff Member, University of Edinburgh, Scotland 1971-74 Assistant Professor, Lakehead University 1974-78 Associate Professor, Lakehead University 1978-present So it is now two years since my last contribution to the Geology Journal. If I recall, the last communication ended with the safe completion of a nephelinite , basanite, phonolite hunt to Bathurst Island, N.W.T. Subsequent work has shown that the hunt was a success. The bonus of discovering the first occurrence of olivine melilitite in Canada merely added icing to the cake. These continental rift valley volcanics are presently the object of geochemical, petrological and mineralogical studies. The first results will be discussed at a field workshop on volcanism in rift and intraplate environments in July 1979 during a field trip concerned with the alkaline vulcanism associated with Cenozoic stretching in Western Europe. The main research thrust has continued to be the Coldwell Alkaline Complex, a location dear to the heart of many a Geology major from Lakehead. What greater delight is there than the Pic Disco, the Everest Hotel, the Red Dog dining-room, Red Sucker Cove and Ministry girls from Neys Provincial Park? Recent work has centered on the Nepheline Syenites and the numerous dikes intersecting the intrusion. Currently M. McGill and B. Jago are completing a detailed study of the Southwestern margin of the intrusion for their honours theses. This large alkaline complex will continue to be the source of many challenging theses in the years to come. Evidence is slowly emerging on the presence of past carbonate-rich magmatic activity just to the west of the Coldwell Complex. The McKellar Harbour region is the locus of numerous C0 2 -rich, K O-rich ultrabasic lamprophyres which could easily be mistaken for kimberlites (Diamonds!) but which are most likely related to carbonatites . These dikes contain varying proportions of olivine, phlogopite, calcite, apatite, spinel, perovskite and melilite and one contains significant amounts of a very rare Zr-rich, Ti-rich andraditic garnet. As of now only four localities in the world are known for this mineral. These dikes are believed to be associated with the activity responsible for the formation of the Prairie Lake Carbonatite lying some 35 kilometres to the north of McKellar Harbour. So much for now, so until the next time, to all geology majors, good luck and may the spirit of igneous petrology be with you.

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Dr. Roger H. Mitchell, B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D. Background ; Lecturer in Isotope Geochemistry, University of Oslo, Norway 1971-72 Assistant Professor, Lakehead University 1972-76 Associate Professor, Lakehead University 1976-present Since the publication of the last Geology Journal, I have been on sabbatical leave in Australia and reflecting on the fact that being a geologist presents one with unrivalled opportunities for travel and the possibility of visiting places the casual tourist would never stumble upon - places such as the Spinifex Inn Disco in the Western Desert, the Orroroo Railway Hotel or Noonkanbah Tank No. 5. Visit- ing such places enables one to obtain a feeling for a country which is not available to the short-term visitor. Consequently, those of you who have doubts about your chosen profession, whilst learning the ontogeny of graptolites or standing amidst the black flies on a swampy greenstone belt, remember that being a geologist will enable you to combine travel with a stimulating occupation if you take advantage of the many employment options open to you. Whilst in Australia, I found that the public generally respected geologists and were aware of the nature of their work, presumably as a consequence of many of the towns having their origins as exploration bases or mine sites. Life for the geologist in the field is, compared to Canada, relatively pleasant; a warm (to very hot) and dry climate (unless you are in the monsoon areas) , plus the ability to drive almost anywhere - no muskeg, few trees, no portages, no second-growth! The bulk of my sabbatical leave was spent irradiating myself at the Univer- sity of Melbourne where I obtained new insights into the geochemistry of gold, iridium and palladium in garnet lherzolites. I also saw numerous recent volcanic rocks, studied the art of chronomancy (or fission track geochronology), and gained some familiarity with Australian painting. V Ed. note: Dr. Mitchell was made a Professor in February of 1980.

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Dr. Stephen A. Kissin , B.Sc., M.S., Ph.D. Background ; Postdoctoral Fellow, McMaster University 1973 N.R.C. Postdoctoral Fellow, CANMET, Department of Energy, Mines and Resources, Ottawa 1974-75 Assistant Professor, Lakehead University 1975-79 Associate Professor, Lakehead University 1979-present My research activities over the past year and summer, in particular, have been varied and quite interesting. I placed my work on tin-bearing sulphides on the back burner for a while, having reached several impasses on that subject. My efforts since then have been concentrated on some new projects. After completion of my work pertaining to spring term and field school in 1979, I spent a few weeks readying a paper for publication. This was followed by the frantic preparation of an abstract for the Meteoritical Society meeting which was held later in the summer. My next project was a jaunt into the field with M. Lucko to examine pegmatites in and around the Quetico Belt along Highway 527. We observed numerous pegmatites, one moose, and experienced the coldest June weather to my recollection. There were, however, essentially no bugs! In early July, I took my wife and two small children to the Los Angeles area. I did nothing geological except to attempt to find the San Andreas Fault as we flew over it. I returned home impoverished and in need of another holiday. Unfortunately this was not forthcoming, and I found myself readying my paper for the Meteoritical Society. In doing so I happened to learn that Dr. Borradaile was editing a book. I volunteered a contribution on shock structures in iron meteorites. My meteorite work dealt with the sulphide mineralogy in one of the chemical groups of iron meteorites and the various implications one could make from such studies. Although much of my data had been collected some time ago, I found some gaps which necessitated a one week visit to the University of Toronto to use their electron microprobe. As a guest of the University I was allowed to stay in the Medieval splendour of Hart House, where my room was furnished with antique French Canadian furniture complete with original paintings by Sir Frederick Banting. My probing work went quite well and for once, I was able to do some additional work on silver -mercury minerals from the Stanley area west of Thunder Bay and, on indium-bearing sulphides from New Brunswick. Upon my return to Thunder Bay a few weeks were spent preparing my paper on iron meteorites and, in the last week of August, I left for Germany where the Meteoritical Society was meeting. I spent a week on my own in Southwestern Germany and a week in Heidelberg attending the meeting. My presentation was well received, and I was satisfied that the trip had been worthwhile from the standpoints of both business and pleasure. I returned to Thunder Bay thirty-six hours before the start of classes.