Robin JS Cooke
Robin John Seymour Cooke ( 1938 - March 8, 1979 in Karkar ) was an Australian volcanologist .
He initially worked for the Bureau of Mineral Resources, Geology and Geophysics , where over the years he participated in numerous routine geophysical studies measuring gravitational fields in Australia and the Antarctic . Eventually, however, his research interests changed and he turned increasingly to practical volcanology, which is why he moved to the Rabaul Volcanological Observatory (RVO) in New Britain in the summer of 1971 . At that time the island still belonged to Australia and from 1975 to the newly founded Papua New Guinea . Shortly after his arrival, he experienced two strong earthquakes in the northern Solomon Islands (July 14th and 26th, 1971), as a result of which the port of Rabaul was devastated by a tsunami . In 1973 Cooke was promoted to Senior Volcanologist at the Institute. He made significant contributions to seismic monitoring and was known for generously sharing his knowledge of local volcanism with researchers around the world. Cooke was considered a very tenacious scientist who persistently defended his arguments and was extremely disciplined and accurate in reporting results. His passion was to unearth historical documents about volcanic eruptions and observations from the closer oceanic area. During Cooke's work on the RVO, there was also a remarkable accumulation of eruptions at eight different volcanoes in the region, which caused a sensation in expert circles.
After eruptive activity had been registered on the small volcanic island of Karkar in January 1979 , the RVO sent alternating teams of geologists to observe. Cooke and his local colleague Elias Ravian reached the island on the evening of March 7th - they were to be relieved on March 11th or 12th. Three phreatic explosions occurred during the night . When the duo did not answer via their radio receiver as agreed in the morning, a search party was organized. Both bodies were found in the RVO camp, buried under a layer of ash almost 15 centimeters thick. The area also were volcanic bombs descended of up to one meter in diameter. The bodies were transported to Rabaul by helicopter. Cooke was buried in the European cemetery there. A memorial stone was erected in Rabaul in honor of the two geologists.
Publications (selection)
- R. Cooke: Rabaul Caldera Seismic Activity Progress Report, November 1972 . Geological Survey of Papua New Guinea - Department of Lands, Surveys and Mines, Note on investigation, № 72-0281972, Port Moresby 1972.
- R. Cooke: Abstracts from 1973 Annual Report, Volcanological Section, Geological Survey of Papua-New Guinea . 1974.
- R. Cooke: Volcanological report 1973. In: Report of the Geological Survey of Papua New Guinea. 1975, № 8, Port Moresby.
- R. Cooke, C. McKee, D. Wallace: 1974-75 eruptions of Karkar volcano Papua New Guinea. In: Report of the Geological Survey of Papua New Guinea. 1975, № 16, Port Moresby.
- R. Cooke, J. Baldwin, T. Sprod: Recent volcanoes and mineralization in Papua New Guinea. 25th International Geological Congress, Excursion Guide № 53AC . Canberra 1976.
- R. Cooke, R. Johnson: Volcanoes and volcanology in Papua New Guinea. In: Report of the Geological Survey of Papua New Guinea. 1978, № 2, Port Moresby.
- R. Johnson: Cooke-Ravian Volume of Volcanological Papers . Port Moresby 1981.
Individual evidence
- ^ Obituary for Cooke and Ravian . Retrieved from volcano.si.edu ( Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program ) on October 12, 2014.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Cooke, Robin JS |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Cooke, Robin John Seymour (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Australian volcanologist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1938 |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 8, 1979 |
| Place of death | on Karkar |