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University Daily Kansan Friday. Nov. 9, 1962
Geology Research Indicates Antarctica Was Tropical
Today it is a barren wasteland covered by many feet of snow and ice and supports only the meagerest plant life. But, over a million years ago, Antarctica was a tropical region which flowered with abundant plant life.
The proof of this little-known and perplexing fact is one of the projects that are currently being worked on by KU geology graduate students.
THE EXPERIMENT consists primarily of measuring Antarctic marble samples in a machine that charts
Dr. Edward J. Zeller, professor of geology, and Luciano B. Ronca, assistant instructor, have traveled twice to Antarctica, in 1958 and 1959. Studying thermoluminescence, the earth's accumulation of light, they are trying to determine how long Antarctica has been cold. The discovery of petrified wood and coal layers in this area has proved that the South Pole has not always been glaciated.
the thermoluminescence, or light. When these samples are heated, a "photo-tube" plots the light intensity on a graph. This intensity, worked out in a mathematical formula, can give the length of time a sample has been at a certain degree below zero degrees centigrade. In this manner the experimenters may compare rocks from all parts of the world.
As Mr. Ronca enthusiastically explained in his thesis, it has become evident that scientists may be able to further discover exact times of prehistoric ages by this method of light measurement. Mr. Ronca said the tropical condition in Antarctica probably occurred one to two million years ago.
ANOTHER AREA of endeavor was explained by the Mrs. Laura Turner. This is the forthcoming three-month Puerto Rican trip by her husband, Mort D. Turner. Mr. Turner was chief geologist for the Puerto Rican government for four years
He has been given a grant by the Office of Naval Research for strategic field mapping in the San Sebastian area.
Mr. Turner will leave in November for the Central American country, continuing work on his Ph.D. in geology. Dr. Frank Foley, professor of geology, plans to join him this winter for two weeks. Mr. Turner has also traveled to Antarctica with the National Science Foundation.
Another busy graduate student is Max Reams, who plans a career in teaching. He is attempting to determine the process of chemical solutions which have formed large, vertical openings in dissolved limestone. Asked this was of importance to geologists, Dr. Wakefield Dort, professor of geology, explained that these holes may contain petroleum or rich ore deposits. Mr. Reams is presently conducting field studies in Mammoth Cave, Kentucky.
The statue, standing before Green Hall, is inscribed, "In Memory of James Woods Green, 1842-1919. Forty Years Dean of the School of Law: Erected by Those Who Loved Him."
'Uncle' Jimmy Green-A Memory in Brass
Jimmy Green is given, by biographer Cyrus Crane, the credit for promoting the organization of KU Law School and for working later to get a law school building.
His sister-in-law, Miss Kate Stephens, claims that not Green, but his father-in-law, Judge Stephens, is responsible for the organization of the School of Law. Judge Stephens was offered, but declined, the
Jimmy Green's hand rests on the shoulder of a young student, modeled after Alfred C. Alford, the first KU student slain in the Spanish-American War.
WHAT KIND of a man was "Uncle" Jimmy Green? His knowledge of law, his ability, and his simplicity and clarity of exposition gained him admiration.
But the basis of his strength was his love for the students around him.
position of dean of the school, she says.
At the June, 1924, unveiling of Daniel Chester French's statue, Crane restated the purpose of the statue.
"WE LEAVE IT with the earnest hope, with the heartfelt prayer, that it may be an inspiration to lofty ideals of helpfulness and service; that it may reiterate the old, yet off so forgotten truth, that learning culture and knowledge are vain and barren things unless transfused with human kindness and sympathy . . . and above all, that it may keep in living memory throughout the timeless future, that wise, tender and manly soul, whom we lovingly, gratefully — even reverently — called our 'Uncle Jimmy Green.'"
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