Biographical Memoirs Volume 47 (1975) / Chapter Skim
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10 William Thomas Pecora
10 William Thomas Pecora
Pages 370-391
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From page 371... ...
He had an exciting career with the U.S. Geological Survey that culminated in his appointment by President Richard Nixon on April 20, 1971, to serve as Undersecretary of the Department of the Interior.
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From page 372... ...
Surviving, children of the Pecora family are five sisters: Mrs. Ellis Blackman, Mrs.
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From page 373... ...
In the summer of 1934, he was a field assistant to Erling Dorf, who was working in Montana on Paleozoic stratigraphy and on the Beartooth Butte Formation, as well as collecting ostracoderms and fossil plants. Scholarship aid made it possible for Bill Pecora to start graduate studies at Harvard in 1935, where he concentrated
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From page 374... ...
In addition, Bill studied the unusual nephelinebearing pegmatites in the Rocky Boy stock, located about twenty miles southeast of the Boxelder laccolith, concluding, that these rocks resemble the unusual pegmatites of the Kola Peninsula in Russia. He also described drusy vugs in a monzonite dike that contained albite tablets associated with prehnite and smaller masses of calcite.
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From page 375... ...
Garnierite in the nickel-silicate deposit near Riddle, Oregon, had three modes of occurrence, reflecting an orderly variation in color, specific gravity, and nickel content, which serve as useful guides for economic geologists. Mica was an important strategic mineral during World War II, and in 1943 Bill was assigned to southeastern Brazil to participate in and direct investigations of the mica-bearing pegmatites.
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From page 376... ...
Geological Survey and nosier have responsible research assignments. The first four geologic maps were published in 1957 on a planimetric base as Miscellaneous Geologic Investigation Maps and the other four were published in bulletins in multicolor on topographic base maps, starting, in 1960 and ending in 1963.
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From page 377... ...
~ ,, % ~ · . tote problem In the oearpaw Mountains, where a composite alkalic stock contains a volcanic neck of subsilicic porphyritic cancrinite syenite, partly altered to sericite, calcite, sulfide minerals, barite, and zeolites.
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From page 378... ...
In response to problems revealed by the Alaska earthquake of 1964, he obtained approval to establish the National Center of Earthquake Research in Menlo Park, California, now an important center for earthquake studies. The Santa Barbara oil spill on January 28, 1969, was the first major challenge to face Bill Pecora as Director, and he moved forcefully into action with the firm conviction that the fundamental facts must be determined in order to reach a rational decision.
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From page 379... ...
Again, Bill insisted that all of the geological factors involved should be assembled and analyzed before making decisions, and the Geological Survey made ~ careful study of the geological aspects of the proposed pipeline route. Bill arranged for the mechanism for discussions between industry and government agencies that led to the preparation of environmental and technical stipulations for the construction of the trans-Alaska pipeline.
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From page 380... ...
In 1964, he formed an association with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) that enabled the Geological Survey to accelerate its remote sensing research and extend it to include analyses of the potential values of surveying the earth from space.
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From page 381... ...
He always left the members of the committees well aware of the importance of the USGS program and its benefits to the taxpayer. During the period Bill Pecora served as Director of the Geological Survey and Undersecretary of the Department of Interior, he became increasingly involved with the geological aspects of problems concerning our environment.
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From page 382... ...
He alas elected Honorary Member of the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists. He received the Doctor of Science degree from Franklin and Marshall College (1969)
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From page 383... ...
In 1973, a 6000-foot ridge in the Bearpaw Mountains was named Pecora Ridge in honor of Bill. The ridge extends southwest about two miles from the 6916-foot top of Baldy Mountain and forms the divide between Eagle Creek and the headwaters of Birch and Little Birch creeks.
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From page 384... ...
We know too that our loss as loved ones, friends, and colleagues is not ours alone. It is the Nation's loss and the world's, for Bill Pecora's talents were being effectively applied to the solution of problems of great national and international significance."
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From page 385... ...
Map = U.S. Geological Survey NIiscellaneous Geologic Investigations Map 1941 Structure and petrology of the Boxelder laccolith, Bearpaw Mountains, Montana.
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From page 386... ...
Training geologists a United States Geological Survey viewpoint.
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From page 387... ...
Phosphate minerals from the Sapucaia pegmatite mine, Minas Gerais. Sociedade Brasileira de Geologia Boletim, 7:1-14.
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From page 388... ...
'' In-_ 7. ~~v$V~ y ~1 Lila ~aLLlC1965 Current geologic research as a guide for future mineral exploration.
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From page 389... ...
Geological Survey in natural resource evaluation. In: Santa Barbara Oil Symposium, December 16-18, pp.
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From page 390... ...
Bull., 55:1715-18. 1972 Remote sensing of earth resources users, prospects and plans.
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