Location of trace fossils and problematica of George Frederic Matthew from Part W, Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology

1996 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 169-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Randall F. Miller

George frederic matthew studied the geology of eastern Canada during the late 1800's to early 1900's and became an authority on Cambrian paleontology. Matthew advised the Geological Survey of Canada as its Cambrian expert and published over 200 papers spanning topics from Precambrian stromatolites to Pennsylvanian arthropods to archaeology (Miller, 1988a; Landing and Miller, 1988). He described a number of trace fossils and problematica cited in Hantzschel (1975), but the location of some specimens and their status has been uncertain, sometimes considered missing. Most of the specimens have now been located and this paper summarizes their current location.

1989 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 386-387
Author(s):  
Thomas W. Bjerstedt

Trace fossils figured in four recent papers in the Journal of Paleontology and Palaios have been reposited in the Invertebrate Paleontology Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History (CMNH). Catalog numbers for these specimens are herein assigned.


1993 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 122-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Sarjeant

Alice Evelyn Wilson (1881-1964) was the first woman to be employed in a professional capacity by the Geological Survey of Canada. Though from an academically gifted family, prolonged ill-health during youth hampered her studies; yet it brought also the interest in geology that was to determine her career. Her researches into the invertebrate palaeontology and stratigraphy of the Palaeozoic strata of eastern Canada were distinguished. Unfortunately, in a male-dominated environment, their value was slow in gaining recognition and Alice's promotions came tardily; nor did she ever gain the professional status that was her due. Only very belatedly, with post-retirement publicity and the naming after her of Alice Wilson Hall in the Geological Survey of Canada's Ottawa headquarters, was the importance of her work to be properly recognized.


1993 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 261-277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacob Verhoef ◽  
Walter R. Roest

The emergence and wide acceptance of plate tectonics has had a profound influence on the way we look at the Earth. Starting as a theory to explain similarities in coast lines across the Atlantic, plate tectonics has become a unifying theory in the earth sciences. In this paper, we describe the role of staff of the Geological Survey of Canada in the developing and refining of this theory. At the same time, we illustrate the effect plate tectonics has had on our understanding of the evolution of offshore eastern Canada. Of critical importance in this development was the unique data set collected by systematic surveying of this region, largely by the Geological Survey of Canada, making the Grand Banks of Newfoundland one of the best-studied offshore areas in the world. Plate tectonic theory not only offers a framework for the evolution of ocean basins, continental margins, and their sedimentary basins, but also for the assemblage of continents.


1993 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 372-390 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. W. Basham ◽  
L. R. Newitt

The solid-earth geophysical sciences of seismology and geomagnetism have roots in Canada that predate the founding of the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) in 1842. These sciences matured in the Dominion Observatory, which was formed in 1904, and came to the GSC when it merged with the Earth Physics Branch in 1986. For most of the past three decades, these two sciences have been closely linked in the federal government by a common administration and by jointly housed and staffed observatories.Knowledge of Canadian earthquakes dates from the time of first European settlement, in the 17th century in eastern Canada and in the 19th century in western Canada. Instrumental recording began at the end of the 19th century, but the early instruments were unable to detect most of the earthquakes occurring in Canada. An ability to locate and study Canadian earthquakes followed the installation of sensitive seismograph stations in the east in the late 1920's and in the west in the early 1950's; the impetus for these installations came from large damaging earthquakes in both regions. Assessments of seismic hazards were first made in the 1940's, were displayed on three successively more detailed seismic zoning maps up to 1985, and are currently under revision for 1995. The Standard Seismograph Network, installed in the 1960's as the Canadian contribution to a worldwide program and supplemented by regional station networks in the 1970's and 1980's, has greatly advanced our understanding of Canadian earthquakes. These networks are now being refurbished to form a modern, satellite-based, digital network that should stand the GSC s seismology program in good stead into the next century.Magnetic observations in Canada date from the time of the earliest European explorers, Cartier and Champlain. Other explorers made measurements of magnetic declination during expeditions in search of the Northwest Passage. A Toronto magnetic observatory was established in 1840, and the observations begun there started a series of secular change measurements that continues today as part of the repeat station network. Major magnetic surveys made by the Toronto observatory staff formed the basis of the magnetic charts of British North America until the 20th century. Shortly after its founding, the Dominion Observatory began a comprehensive magnetic survey of Canada, which has evolved into the 60-station repeat station program in the GSC today. The Dominion Observatory also expanded the permanent magnetic observatory network to a total of 13 stations by the late 1970's, which, under the current GSC program, are being refurbished with the latest generation of digital technology. A breakthrough in regional magnetic field modelling was made in the 1980's with the development of spherical cap harmonic analysis, which is now used for revisions of the Canadian Geomagnetic Reference Field. Magnetic disturbance forecasting was begun in the 1970's, and has recently taken on greater importance as the complexity of the technology at risk has increased.


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