Garniss Curtis
Encyclopedia
Garniss H. Curtis is a professor emeritus of geology
at the University of California, Berkeley
, geochronologist
, volcanologist
, geophysicist
, and founder of the Berkeley Geochronology Center
. In 1960, Curtis and fellow UC Berkeley geophysicist Jack Evernden used potassium-argon dating
methods developed by UC Berkeley physicist
John Reynolds
on minerals found in tephra
deposits collected by Evernden to date Mary Leakey
's 1959 Olduvai Gorge
Bed I hominin
Zinjanthropus (Paranthropus boisei
) to 1.89 to 1.57 Mya. The great age of the fossil hominid and associated stone tools in the bed pushed back the then accepted age of the Pleistocene
another million years, causing a stir in the geology community. The dating of these fossil finds is considered a starting point for the collaboration of paleoanthropology
and geochronology
.
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, geochronologist
Geochronology
Geochronology is the science of determining the age of rocks, fossils, and sediments, within a certain degree of uncertainty inherent to the method used. A variety of dating methods are used by geologists to achieve this, and schemes of classification and terminology have been proposed...
, volcanologist
Volcano
2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...
, geophysicist
Geophysics
Geophysics is the physics of the Earth and its environment in space; also the study of the Earth using quantitative physical methods. The term geophysics sometimes refers only to the geological applications: Earth's shape; its gravitational and magnetic fields; its internal structure and...
, and founder of the Berkeley Geochronology Center
Berkeley Geochronology Center
The Berkeley Geochronology Center is a non-profit geochronology research institute in Berkeley, California. It was originally a research group in the laboratory of University of California Berkeley geophysicist and geochronologist Garniss Curtis, now professor emeritus...
. In 1960, Curtis and fellow UC Berkeley geophysicist Jack Evernden used potassium-argon dating
Potassium-argon dating
Potassium–argon dating or K–Ar dating is a radiometric dating method used in geochronology and archeology. It is based on measurement of the product of the radioactive decay of an isotope of potassium into argon . Potassium is a common element found in many materials, such as micas, clay minerals,...
methods developed by UC Berkeley physicist
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
John Reynolds
John Reynolds (physicist)
John Hamilton Reynolds was an American physicist and a specialist in mass spectrometry.-Life:John H. Reynolds was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. He studied first at Harvard University and, after serving in the Navy during World War II, at the University of Chicago. There, he was...
on minerals found in tephra
Tephra
200px|thumb|right|Tephra horizons in south-central [[Iceland]]. The thick and light coloured layer at center of the photo is [[rhyolitic]] tephra from [[Hekla]]....
deposits collected by Evernden to date Mary Leakey
Mary Leakey
Mary Leakey was a British archaeologist and anthropologist, who discovered the first skull of a fossil ape on Rusinga Island and also a noted robust Australopithecine called Zinjanthropus at Olduvai. For much of her career she worked together with her husband, Louis Leakey, in Olduvai Gorge,...
's 1959 Olduvai Gorge
Olduvai Gorge
The Olduvai Gorge is a steep-sided ravine in the Great Rift Valley that stretches through eastern Africa. It is in the eastern Serengeti Plains in northern Tanzania and is about long. It is located 45 km from the Laetoli archaeological site...
Bed I hominin
Hominini
Hominini is the tribe of Homininae that comprises Homo, and the two species of the genus Pan , their ancestors, and the extinct lineages of their common ancestor . Members of the tribe are called hominins...
Zinjanthropus (Paranthropus boisei
Paranthropus boisei
Paranthropus boisei was an early hominin and described as the largest of the Paranthropus species...
) to 1.89 to 1.57 Mya. The great age of the fossil hominid and associated stone tools in the bed pushed back the then accepted age of the Pleistocene
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....
another million years, causing a stir in the geology community. The dating of these fossil finds is considered a starting point for the collaboration of paleoanthropology
Paleoanthropology
Paleoanthropology, which combines the disciplines of paleontology and physical anthropology, is the study of ancient humans as found in fossil hominid evidence such as petrifacted bones and footprints.-19th century:...
and geochronology
Geochronology
Geochronology is the science of determining the age of rocks, fossils, and sediments, within a certain degree of uncertainty inherent to the method used. A variety of dating methods are used by geologists to achieve this, and schemes of classification and terminology have been proposed...
.