memorial to george melvin schwartz 1892-1980 · u.s. geological survey, denver, colorado 80225 g....

Memorial to George Melvin Schwartz 1892-1980

P. K. SIMSU.S. Geological Survey, Denver, Colorado 80225

G. B. MOREY Minnesota Geological Survey, St. Paul, Minnesota 55108

George Melvin Schwartz, em inent geologist and dis­tinguished gentlem an, passed away quietly on Decem­ber 23, 1980, thus ending a long and productive career as a teacher, scientist, and adm inistrator.

Schwartz—as he was known to his contem poraries at the University o f M innesota—as born on a farm in Oakfield, W isconsin, September 23, 1892, the son of parents o f hardy Germ an stock. His elem entary school education was in an ungraded school in Byron tow n­ship, Fond du Lac County, W isconsin, and he a t­tended high school in Fond du Lac from 1907 to 1911. His interest in the outdoors and his rigorous upbring­ing led him to enroll in geology at the University o f W isconsin, M adison, where he received the B.A. de­gree in 1915 and the M .A . degree the following year.

During his graduate studies at W isconsin, he w orked summers as a field geologist forthe W isconsin Geological and N atural H istory Survey, mainly chasing down magneticanomalies under the guidance o f Ernie Bean, then State Geologist. A fter receiving the m aster’s degree, he was employed as a geologist by Copper Range Com pany, exploring for copper near Painesdale, Michigan, a position he held until he was called to duty by the U .S. A rm y on January 1, 1918. This early involvement in exploration for mineral deposits stimulated a lifelong interest in the application of geology to mining and other practical problems.

Schw artz’s career in the U.S. A rm y as a 2d lieutenant, field artillery, during W orld W ar I, like that o f many others, was not easy, and he was fortunate to surviveseveral m onths o f front-line duty and the flu epidemic o f 1918. While at the front,he was in the m ajor battles o f St. Mihiel and the Argonne.

A fter the end of W orld W ar I, Schwartz joined the Departm ent o f Geology at the University o f M innesota as an instructor, working at the same tim e for the Ph.D . degree under the well-known economic geologist W . H . Em m ons. He was awarded the Ph.D . degree in geology in 1923. Like C. K. Leith at the University o f W isconsin, Em m ons had a p rofound influence on shaping Schw artz’s career. He was a demanding adviser, and it was probably at this time that Schwartz developed the productive work habits tha t characterized his professional career.

For m ost o f his career, Schwartz was a faculty member o f the Departm ent o f Geology at the University o f M innesota. H e was appointed as an assistant professor in 1923, an associate professor in 1929, and was a full professor from 1943 until his retire­ment in 1961. The faculty in the departm ent during his tenure was a most rem arkable one, including in its membership such distinguished teachers as J. W. G rüner, F. F. G rout, and G. A . Thiel. It shared with a few other geology departm ents o f that era a

2 T H E G E O LO G IC A L SOCIETY OF AM ERICA

remarkable stability and permanence, which created an almost unmatched esprit de corps among the faculty and graduate students. More than a dozen doctor’s degree candidates completed studies under Schwartz, as did many more master’s degree candidates. His students were employed in teaching, by the U.S. Geological Survey, and by industry, and several attained outstanding success in both management and geology.

Schwartz attained worldwide renown for his studies in ore microscopy during his early career, a subject in which he maintained an active interest until his retirement. His excellent work on the paragenesis o f copper minerals was extended into broader research on mineral deposits, with emphasis on wallrock alteration and porphyry copper deposits. His accurate and comprehensive description o f the San Manuel porphyry copper deposit, based on field and laboratory work and published as U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 256 in 1953, provided the basis for interpretation o f the structure and alteration in an adjacent area, which led to the discovery by private industry in 1965 of a faulted offset o f San Manuel, the Kalamazoo ore body.

Schwartz also had a long and illustrious career with the Minnesota Geological Sur­vey, a unit within the University structure. From 1921 until the beginning o f World War II, he worked on a variety of field problems, mainly directly concerned with po­tentially economic materials, and he made substantial contributions to the understand­ing of the iron ore, anorthosite, and copper-nickel deposits in the State. He also was concerned with sand and gravel deposits and Paleozoic stratigraphy and structure, particularly as they applied to the State’s ground-water resources.

A remarkable facet o f Schwartz’s Survey work was his interest in the application o f geology to engineering and environmental problems and a desire to “ bring geology to the people.” He was a pioneer in these fields and a most successful one. His bulletin on the geology of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area, published in 1935, is estimated to have saved several hundreds of thousands o f dollars for government, private individuals, and industry; and it provided a firm basis for more detailed, con­tinuing studies o f the geology and hydrology o f the area. Perhaps he was best known in the State as the author, together with his colleague George A. Thiel, o f the book M innesota’s Rocks and Waters. Since publication, about 25,000 copies have been sold. This popular book has been used as a text or reference in many o f the schools in the region and was the prototype for many subsequent popular books on geology.

As Director of the Minnesota Geological Survey from 1944 to 1961, Schwartz laid the groundwork for the accelerated geologic mapping program in the State that was later carried out. He was successful in initiating an early aeromagnetic surveying pro­gram in cooperation with the U.S. Geological Survey and a progressive topographic mapping program, begun in 1949. He was chairman o f the Minnesota State Mapping Board from 1949 until 1961, which determined priorities for topographic mapping in the State. As a tribute to his many contributions to the State and to the science of geology, the Centennial Volume o f the Minnesota Geological Survey, Geology o f Minnesota, published in 1973, was dedicated to him.

Schwartz was President of the Society of Economic Geologists in 1958 and was a Councilor of the Geological Society of America from 1955 to 1957. He was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Société Géologique de Belgique and o f the Association of American State Geologists. Also, he was an active member o f the Mineralogical Society o f America, American Institute o f Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, Minnesota Academy o f Science, Mining and Metallurgical Society of America, American Associa­tion o f University Professors, Sigma Xi, Sigma Rho, and Gamma Alpha.

M EM ORIAL TO G E O R G E M ELVIN SCHWARTZ 3

Schwartz was married to Ruth Harriett Tucker in 1920, a remarkable woman who successfully overcame childhood illnesses and was his lifelong devoted companion. Throughout their marriage they shared deep feelings for one another and for their children. In addition to Ruth, sons George Jr. and John, daughter Ruth, seven grand­children, and four great-grandchildren survive.

The selected references that follow indicate Schwartz’s broad-ranging interest and capabilities. They have been chosen from the full list o f 143 technical or semitechnical papers published during his career.

Schwartz will be remembered by his friends and colleagues as a warm, generous, modest person. His former students always speak kindly o f him and those o f us who were associated with him are much the better for it.

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF G. M. SCHWARTZ1921 Notes on the textures and relationships in the Globe copper ores: Economic

Geology, v. 16, p. 322-329.1924 Contact effects o f gabbro and granite on ore deposition: Economic Geology,

v. 19, p. 681-684.1926 Microscopic character o f the Sullivan ores: Engineering and Mining Journal,

v. 122, p. 375-377.1927 Intergrowths o f chalcopyrite and cubanite: Experimental proof o f the origin of

intergrowths and their bearing on the geologic thermometer: Economic Geology, v. 22, p. 44-61.

1929 A new natural intergrowth o f bornite and chalcocite: Economic Geology, v. 24, p . 443-444.

------ The growth o f magnetite crystals: Economic Geology, v. 24, p. 592-600.1931 Textures due to unmixing o f solid solutions: Economic Geology, v. 26, p. 739-763.1934 Paragenesis o f the oxidized ores o f copper: Economic Geology, v. 29, p. 55-75.1935 Relations o f chalcocite-stromeyerite-argentite: Economic Geology, v. 30,

p. 128-146.1936 Geology o f the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area: Minnesota Geological

Survey Bulletin 27.------ Magnetite metacrysts: American Mineralogist, v. 21, p. 635-641.1937 Paragenesis o f pyrrhotite: Economic Geology, v. 32, p. 31-55.------ Paragenesis o f iron sulphides in a Black Hills deposit: Economic Geology, v. 32,

p. 810-825.1938 The oxidized copper ores o f the United Verde Extension Mine: Economic Geology,

v. 33, p. 21-33.------ Review o f the application o f microscopic study to metallurgical problems:

Economic Geology, v. 33, p. 440-453.1939 The hydrothermal alteration o f igneous rocks: Geological Society o f America

Bulletin, v. 50, p. 181-237.------ Significance o f bornite-chalcocite microtextures: Economic Geology, v. 34,

p. 399-418.1942 Progress in the study o f exsolution in ore minerals: Economic Geology, v. 37,

p. 345-364.1947 Hydrothermal alteration in the “ Porphyry Copper” deposits: Economic

Geology, v. 42, p. 319-352.

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1949 Oxidation and enrichment in the San Manuel Copper deposits, Arizona:Economic Geology, v. 44, p. 253-277.

------ The geology o f the Duluth Metropolitan area: Minnesota Geological SurveyBulletin 33.

1951 Classification and definitions of textures and mineral structures in ores: Economic Geology, v. 46, p. 578-591.

1953 Geology o f the San Manuel Copper deposit, Arizona: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 256, 65 p. and maps.

1954 (with G. A. Thiel) Minnesota’s rocks and waters: Minnesota Geological Survey Bulletin 37, 366 p.

1956 Argillic alteration and ore deposits: Economic Geology, v. 51, p. 407-414.1959 Hydrothermal alteration: Presidential Address, presented at the Annual Meeting

o f the Society of Economic Geologists, November 8, 1958: Economic Geology, v. 54, p. 161-183.

1962 (with James N. Gundersen) Magnetic taconites o f the eastern Mesabi district, Minnesota: Transactions o f American Institute o f Mining Engineers, v. 223, p. 227-233.

------ The geology o f the metamorphosed Biwabik iron-formation, eastern Mesabidistrict, Minnesota: Minnesota Geological Survey Bulletin 43, 139 p.

1966 The nature of primary and secondary mineralization in porphyry copper deposits, in Geology o f the porphyry copper deposits, southwestern North America: University o f Arizona Press, p. 41-50.

Printed in U .S.A. 5/82