PREFACE

This Memoir is dedicated to George P. Woollard who conceived the Nazca plate study and who
served as director of the Nazca Plate Project. Dr. Woollard died in 1979 during the late stages of
preparation of manuscripts for this publication. He wrote the bulk of the paper "History of the Nazca
Plate Project" in this volume, but unfortunately his additional papers on the gravity of the Nazca plate
were not sufficiently completed to be included herein.
As early as twelve years ago, George Woollard believed that an integrated investigation of a
relatively small lithospheric plate could yield basic information for the developing theory of plate
tectonics. He selected the Nazca plate as the primary area for such a study. During a period of several
decades, Dr. Woollard had initiated a number of fundamental gravity studies on the South American
continent. He formed an enduring relationship with his South American colleagues, on a personal as
well as a scientific basis. This close working relationship lead to the endorsement of the Nazca Plate
Project by his South American colleagues and produced an administrative and scientific structure that
allowed for effective cooperative studies and dissemination of the resulting scientific information.
George Woollard led a productive and creative life. His formal education culminated with B.S. and
M . S . degrees in engineering (1932, civil; 1934, geologic) f r o m the Georgia Institute of Technology and
M.A. and Ph.D. degrees (1935, mineral deposits; 1937, structural geology) f r o m Princeton University.
He held several postdoctoral and honorary fellowships as well as honorary degrees from Uppsala
University, Sweden, and the University of Wisconsin. Dr. Woollard developed two centers for
geophysical research: The Geophysical and Polar Research Center at the University of Wisconsin and
the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics at the University of Hawaii. He served as President of the
American Geophysical Union and received the William Bowie Medal of that society. He held positions
on the Council of the Geological Society of America and on the Board of Directors of the American
Geological Institute. He was a member of many standing and special committees at the university,
national, and international levels.
His scientific contributions, fundamental and numerous, are primarily in the field of geophysics and
the geological interpretation of geophysical data. Although his m a j o r works were in gravity
measurements and their standardization and interpretation, he also contributed in many ways to the
disciplines of magnetics, seismic refraction, and marine acoustics. Nearly forty students worked under
his supervision; many now hold important positions in science, administration, and industry. An
earlier scientific Memoir, The Geophysics of the Pacific Ocean Basin and Its Margin (American
Geophysical Union Geophysical M o n o g r a p h 19), published in 1976, was dedicated to George
Woollard. In addition to the excellent papers contained therein, the reader is referred to that volume
f o r further details on Dr. Woollard's life. One should not miss the monograph's epilogue which
consists of affectionate doggerel by G. G. Shor and by Woollard himself. Finally, a comment should
be included about the man himself: Everyone liked and respected him! O n e measure of his life is simply
the fact that he and his wife, Eleanore, reared nine children, five of w h o m they adopted; supported
eighteen foster children; and were devoted participants in children placement programs.
Sixty-eight papers based on information collected as part of the Nazca Plate Project have been
published, not including those contained in this Memoir. The thirty-five papers herein include twenty-
eight authored by participants in the project and seven by investigators independent of the project. A
complete listing of these papers is given in "History of the Nazca Plate Project" in this volume.
Two sets of maps published by the Geological Society of America are supplemental to the materials
in this Memoir. They were funded by I D O E / N S F through the Nazca Plate project and are:
Bathymetry of the Southeast Pacific. J. Mammerickx and S. M. Smith. 1978. GSA M a p and Chart
Scries MC-26.
Part I: Bathymetry of the Peru-Chile Continental Margin and Trench. R. A. Prince, W. J.
Schweller, W. T. Coulbourn, G. L. Shepherd, G. E. Ness, A. Masias. Part / / . Chemical Composition
of Nazca Plate Surface Sediments. J a c k Dymond, J o h n B. Corliss. G S A M a p and Chart Series M C -
34.
This Memoir is organized into five sections. The history of the Nazca Plate Projectproject
ix
initiation, objectives, participants, cruise activities, and publicationsis described in chapter one.
Subsequent chapters are arranged in the natural order of the evolution of the oceanic crust at the
spreading East Pacific Rise (DIVERGENT BOUNDARY); the sedimentation on the evolving crust as it is
transported across the Nazca plate (METALLIFEROUS SEDIMENTS); the disruption and destruction of
the subducting plate along the Peru-Chile Trench and its influence on the evolution of the Andean
continental margin (CONTINENTAL MARGIN AND TRENCH); and the effect of subduction on the
volcanism, mountain building, and ore deposits of the Andes (ANDEAN CONVERGENCE ZONE).
We thank our many South American colleagues who participated in the Nazca Plate Project in so
many different ways. This project would not have been possible without their gracious assistance; see
"History of the Nazca Plate Project" for special thanks to individuals.
The editors gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Mary Jo Armbrust in typing the majority of
the tables appearing in the Memoir and for reading and correcting many of the galley proofs. We
especially thank the Associate Editor, R o x a n n e Roderick, for her invaluable assistance: for typing
several of the manuscripts and all of the reference material in GS A format, for coordinating the review
of the papers, f o r communicating with the authors, and for reading the galley and page proofs.
We thank the more than 70 colleagues external to the Nazca Plate Project for their review of the
papers in this Memoir. Their time and effort are greatly appreciated.
Funding for the research activities conducted under the auspices of the Nazca Plate Project was
provided by the International Decade of Ocean Exploration ( I D O E ) of the U.S. National Science
Foundation (NSF). Supplemental funds were also provided by I D O E / N S F for the publication of this
Memoir.
LAVERNE D . KULM
JACK DYMOND
E. JULIUS DASCH
D O N A L D M . HUSSONG