********************************************** From: Ninad Bondre <bondren1@xxxxxxxxxx> ********************************************** Dear mentors and colleagues, I was very happy to read Dr. Gerald Ernst's email calling for a renewed focus on systematic and detailed field studies and thought I could offer my own humble thoughts. George Walker's work is indeed the most appropriate to highlight in this context - relying only on a keen eye in the field, excellent sketches and careful documentation, Walker was able to achieve revolutionary insights into various aspects of basaltic volcanism. Those of us studying lava flows in the Deccan are indebted to Walker's work there in the late 1960s, which exemplifies his insights in the field. The past two decades have witnessed an unprecedented technological revolution and the geophysical and geochemical aspects of volcanism have dominated recent research. Obtaining funds for projects that have a field focus is becoming extremely difficult. There seems to be a misconception that all the basic information on the field aspects of volcanoes and provinces has already been acquired. Unfortunately this is not so. I can elaborate upon this by taking the example of my research interest - continental flood basalt provinces. A vast database of field, geochemical and geophysical information is now available for the Columbia River Basalt province. However, as my colleagues and I have begun extending this type of work to other provinces such as the Deccan and the Steens, we have begun to realise how little information is available on the fundamental field characters of the constituent lava flows. In the Deccan, for example, a plethora of geochemical and geophysical data are now available; yet, we do not know the spatial extent and volume of a single lava flow! We have absolutely no idea whether products of single eruptions from this immense province achieved the lengths, areas and volumes of flows from the Columbia River Basalt province. Chemostratigraphic units have indeed been identified, but it is very uncertain whether those units are actual eruptive units. We are beginning to realise that the the lack of such information has led to a situation where interpretation of geochemical data is hindered by the absence of a robust field context. Similarly, the Steens Basalt in southeastern Oregon was studied extensively for its age, paleomagnetism and composition, but after Richard Fuller's work in the 1920s, no systematic study of the morphology and textures of these flows was undertaken until a couple of years back when Bill Hart and I initiated that. I hope that Dr. Ernst's message about a renewed emphasis on fieldwork is taken seriously by all of us in this field. What could be a more fitting tribute to G.P.L. Walker, one of the all-time greats? ---------------------------------------------- Ninad R. Bondre, Ph.D. Post-Doctoral Fellow Dept. of Geology Miami University 114 Shideler Hall Oxford, Ohio - 45056. Tel: (1) 513-529-3217 Fax: (1) 513-529-1542 Email: bondren1@xxxxxxxxxx ============================================================== To unsubscribe from the volcano list, send the message: signoff volcano to: listserv@xxxxxxx, or write to: volcano-request@xxxxxxxx To contribute to the volcano list, send your message to: volcano@xxxxxxxx Please do not send attachments. ==============================================================
