A pioneer of plate tectonic theory, John was characterised by focus and discipline throughout his career
John was born in Sydney in 1930. He won a scholarship to Sydney University where he majored in geology and agricultural chemistry, graduating with First Class Honours in 1951. While at university he was awarded a Cadetship by the Bureau of Mineral Resources (BMR) that led to a summer job mapping the area of the forthcoming Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme.
He joined the BMR in 1952, prospecting for coal in the Hunter Valley and mapping the Bowen Basin in Queensland. This formed the basis for an MSc from Sydney University.
Following a fire in the BMR’s Canberra offices in 1953, John went to the Kimberleys to collect fossils from the Fitzroy River area. He took leave and, with those fossils and without pay, undertook a study of Devonian brachiopods at Imperial College London, and was awarded a PhD in 1956.
In 1957 John led the BMR Canning Basin party to the Great Sandy Desert in Western Australia. During a helicopter survey, he discovered a meteorite impact crater that later was named after him. John compiled a chart summarising the off-shore extension of the Canning Basin. That led to participation in Indian Ocean and Timor Sea cruises and the beginning of a strong interest in marine geology. John was awarded a Harkness Fellowship to work at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California, where he heard Bob Dietz’s announcement of the recognition of seafloor spreading.
John joined the newly formed Macquarie University in 1968 and stayed there until his retirement. In addition to teaching, he spent much of his time researching the rapidly developing theory of plate tectonics. In 1971 he visited the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in New York state to learn about seafloor magnetic anomalies and to gather seismic information about drilling sites in the Indian Ocean.
During the 1970s and 1980s, John participated in Deep Sea Drilling Project cruises to the Indian Ocean, one as co-chief scientist. This led to numerous publications on the geology of the oceans surrounding Australia and a grand synthesis,
Phanerozoic Earth History of Australia, edited and partly written by John.
In collaboration with Chris Powell and others, John published extensively on the geology of Gondwanaland and tectonic supercycles, culminating in 2000 in another grand synthesis:
Billion-year earth history of Australia and neighbours in Gondwanaland.
In 1992, he received a Special Investigator Award from the Australian Research Council and won the S W Carey Medal of the Geological Society. In 1995 John’s outstanding contribution to science was honoured by election to the Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Science. John thought of himself as a “general practitioner”, but he researched thoroughly, read voraciously and always kept in mind the big picture.
John “retired” in 1998 (and was made Emeritus Professor), but kept regular office hours at home and continued his research. His final paper, on the Antarctic subglacial Gamburtsev Mountains and East Gondwanaland, was published in 2018.
John was a brilliant and very productive scientist, but he had other interests, particularly classical music, art, films and rugby. He was a devoted family man, his wife accompanying him on much of his field work, sometimes with their children in tow.
John is survived by his wife, Erica, and his children, Tom, Kirstina and Elisabeth, and fondly remembered by his seven grandchildren.
By Malcolm Walter (using notes compiled by John Veevers and with the assistance of his family and Dr Richard Flood)
(This obituary is modified from the original version by Malcolm Water, reprinted with kind permission from the Geological Society of Australia, The Australian Geologist, December 2018; Image credit: Macquarie University, courtesy of the Veevers family. The full original version of this piece appears below. Editor.)
John James Veevers (1930-2018)
John James Veevers died on the 12th of August 2018.
John was born in Sydney on the 13th of October 1930. After attending Newington College, he won a scholarship to Sydney University where he majored in geology and agricultural chemistry, graduating with First Class Honours in 1951. While at university he was awarded a Cadetship by the Bureau of Mineral Resources (BMR, now Geoscience Australia). That led in one summer vacation to a job assisting Bureau geologists mapping the area of the forthcoming Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme. For his Honours year he mapped an area between Queanbeyan and Captains Flat.
He joined the BMR in 1952 and his first job was prospecting for coal in the Hunter Valley. That experience was repeated in the early 1960’s when he mapped the western flank of the Bowen Basin in Queensland. This formed the basis for an MSc from Sydney University.
Following a fire in the BMR’s Canberra offices in 1953 he was sent to the Kimberleys to re-collect fossils from the Fitzroy River area. He then took leave and with those fossils and without pay he undertook a study of Devonian brachiopods at Imperial College in London, and was awarded a PhD in 1956. In 1957 he led the BMR Canning Basin party to the Great Sandy Desert in WA. During a helicopter survey he discovered a meteorite impact crater that later was named after him. He and Allen Wells produced a BMR Bulletin on the geology of the Canning Basin, published in 1960.
During his work on the Canning Basin he compiled a chart of what could be surmised about the off-shore extension of the basin. That led to participation in Indian Ocean and Timor Sea cruises and the beginning of a strong interest in marine geology. He was awarded a Harkness Fellowship to work at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California where he heard Bob Dietz’s announcement of the recognition of seafloor spreading. Back in Australia he spent field seasons in 1963 and 1965 in the Bonaparte Gulf Basin.
In 1968 he joined the newly formed Macquarie University, as a senior lecturer. He stayed there until his retirement in 1998, having been promoted to full professor, in a personal chair, in 1991. He spent some time as a consultant to Esso Australia. In addition to his teaching he spent much of his time researching the rapidly developing theory of plate tectonics. In 1971 he visited the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in New York state to learn about seafloor magnetic anomalies and to gather seismic information about drilling sites in the Indian Ocean.
In 1972 he participated in two Deep Sea Drilling Project cruises to the Indian Ocean, one as co-chief scientist. This was followed by other cruises in 1976, 1981 and 1984, all of which led to numerous publications on the geology of the oceans surrounding Australia. A grand synthesis followed in 1984, edited and partly written by John:
Phanerozoic Earth History of Australia (418 pages).
In collaboration with Chris Powell and others numerous papers followed on the geology of the supercontinent Gondwanaland, and on tectonic supercycles, culminating in 2000 in yet another grand synthesis:
Billion-year earth history of Australia and neighbours in Gondwanaland (388 pages). This included a new interest in Proterozoic geology fostered by myself and a group of excellent research students.
Throughout his time at Macquarie University with his colleagues he taught undergraduate courses in Australian and world stratigraphy, and lithospheric environments. Each year he ran student field trips to coastal exposures of the southern Sydney Basin. For many years he ran the departmental Friday seminar series.
In 1992 he received a Special Investigator Award from the Australian Research Council and in the same year won the S W Carey Medal of the Geological Society. In 1995 John’s outstanding contribution to science was honoured by election to the Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Science. He thought of himself as a “general practitioner” but he researched thoroughly, read voraciously and always kept in mind the big picture. He was a pioneer of plate tectonic theory. Throughout his career John was characterised by his focus and discipline.
Although he “retired” in 1998 (and was made Emeritus Professor) for the following 20 years he kept regular office hours (at home) and continued his research and publishing. His final paper was published this year; it is on the Antarctic subglacial Gamburtsev Mountains and East Gondwanaland.
John was a devoted, brilliant and very productive scientist but he had other interests as well, particularly classical music, art, films and rugby. He was also a devoted family man, his wife Erica accompanying him on much of his field work. Shortly after their marriage in June 1953, on John’s first collecting trip to the Kimberleys, Erica joined the small party. Later in the Bowen Basin (1960,1961) and again in the Bonaparte Basin (1963,1965) she joined the parties with their very young children. Later still in the ‘90’s they made geological visits to all the Pangean continents, with the exception of Antarctica.
John is survived by his wife Erica and his children Tom, Kirstina and Elisabeth and fondly remembered by his seven grandchildren.
By Malcolm Walter (using notes compiled by John Veevers and with the assistance of his family and Dr Richard Flood)
Reprinted with kind permission from the
Geological Society of Australia, The Australian Geologist, December 2018.