Stewart R. Wallace — 1919–2009 - Society of Economic Geologists

JULY 2009 No 78 SEG NEWSLETTER 23
SEG Distinguished Lecturer 2008 Report
It was a surprise and an honor to be
awarded the SEG’s Distinguished Lec -
turer for 2008. My SEG lecture “tour”
consisted of three parts: the first two
were opportunities to piggyback on
previously planned visits to conferences
in Europe and North America, and the
third was a short tour to various institutes
within Australia. In each case I
presented variations of a lecture entitled
“The Kermadec-Tonga intraoceanic arc:
An 8-year odyssey of discovery.”
Our group here at GNS Science,
Lower Hutt, New Zealand, in collaboration
largely with our American colleagues
at NOAA in Seattle and
Newport, but also other groups from
Australia (ANU), Canada (University
of Ottawa), Germany (Kiel University
and GEOMAR), Italy (IAMC and INGV),
Japan (JAMSTEC and the University of
Kyushu), and New Zealand (NIWA),
has been investigating submarine
hydro thermal systems associated
mainly with intraoceanic arcs. Our
group has largely focused on the
Kermadec-Tonga arc, where most of
the volcanic centers along this ~2,500km-long
arc have been surveyed for
their hydrothermal plumes. The initial
plume survey cruise, known as
NZAPLUME I, was conducted in
1999 along the southern part of the
Kermadec arc, to be followed by
NZAPLUME’s II and III along the middle
and northern parts of the Kermadec
arc, respectively. Additional plume
mapping cruises were also done along
the Tonga arc. Twelve major volcanoes
have been investigated and their
hydrothermal systems sampled by the
manned submersibles Shinkai 6500 and
Pisces V, with the Canadian remotely
operated vehicle ROPOS and the
American autonomous underwater
vehicle ABE also having been deployed
at some of these volcanoes. We have
also done similar surveys, with our various
colleagues, along the submarine
portions of the Tabar-Lihir-Tanga-Feni
island arc offshore Papua New Guinea,
the Ghizo Ridge fore-arc offshore the
Solomon Islands, and the Aeolian arc
offshore Italy. Our American colleagues
have led similar cruises along the
Mariana intraoceanic arc.
Cornel E.J. de Ronde (SEG 1993 F)
The SEG Lectureship
afforded me the opportunity
to showcase
some of the results from
these spectacular hydro -
thermal systems. Dis -
coveries have included
high temperature (up to
300°C) black smokers
vents with 5–7 m tall
sulfide chimneys, very
acid vent fluids (with
pH