(1929- ) British Tectonic Geologist
After the pioneers of the plate tectonic theory proved that there was such a process, the monumental task of placing the rest of the features of the Earth into that framework remained. The first group of giants included the likes of ALLAN V. COX, HARRY H. HESS, W. MAURICE EWING, and J. TUZO WILSON. The second group is no less daunting, and prominent among them is Kevin Burke. When Kevin Burke began his research, the geology of the continents was an open book for study, just waiting to be interpreted in this new context. Kevin Burke and his comrades formed a kind of “tectonic cavalry” attacking mountain belts and ocean basins alike with voracity. Burke’s area of interest is primarily stratigraphy and the development of sedimentary basins but he teamed with others to address virtually every tectonic problem. His primary research collaborators include JOHN F. DEWEY, A. M. ^ELAL SENGOR, and Bill Kidd. They applied the theory of triple junctions in continental extension not only in the type example of Saudi Arabia where the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea form active arms and the East African Rift System forms the failed arm, but worldwide where the relations are not as clear. They were especially interested in the failed arm, which forms a large sedimentary basin with potential petroleum reserves called an aulocogen as in the 1977 paper “Aulocogens and Continental Breakup.” He compared aulocogens to basins created by continental collisions which he named impactogens in the 1978 paper “Rifts at High Angles to Orogenic Belts: Tests for their Origin and the Upper Rhine Graben as an Example.” He took the then-nascent idea of escape or extrusion tectonics as defined in the Himalayas and while most geologists were still trying to understand the process, he identified every place it was currently happening on Earth. This 1984 paper is entitled, “Tectonic Escape in the Evolution of the Continental Crust,” with A. M. ^elal Sengor. Escape tectonics is the lateral movement of continental mass out of the way of a progressing continental collision. It is analogous to how clay squirts sideways when impacted with a fist or other object. He also addressed the processes of sedimentation in island arc settings with the Caribbean Sea as his area of choice.
However, Burke was not satisfied with working only on currently active orogens and basins, he also addressed ancient examples. Everything from small regional studies to large-scale sedimentary basin analysis were placed into plate tectonic context. Because plate tectonics control the distribution of hydrocarbons, much of Burke’s work was of great interest to oil companies as exemplified by his 1975 paper, “Petroleum and Global Tectonics.” He consulted with such companies as Exxon USA for a decade during the oil crisis. He also worked extensively with NASA on basalt vol-canism as well as planetary evolution. His latest endeavor is the study of phenomenally large sand oceans that formed after the breakup of the super-continent of Rodinia in the Late Proterozoic time (about 600 to 700 million years ago). They had an order of magnitude more sand than any other observed deposits ever. The largest of these is in North Africa and underlies the current Sahara Desert. Africa is one of Burke’s favorite areas, but he is also well known for his work in the Caribbean Sea and in Asia.
Kevin Burke was born on November 13, 1929, in London, England. He attended University College, London, where he was a Goldsmid Scholar from 1948 to 1951 and the recipient of a DSIR Research Studentship from 1951 to 1953. He earned a bachelor of science degree in geology in 1951 and a Ph.D. in geology in 1953. He worked as a lecturer in geology at the University of Gold Coast, Africa, from 1953 to 1956, before working in exploration for raw materials for atomic energy both for the Geological Survey of Great Britain and as an international atomic energy adviser for the Republic of Korea. He was a member of the faculty and department head at the University of West Indies, Jamaica, from 1961 to 1965 before accepting a professorship at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, where he remained until 1971. He was a visiting professor at University of Toronto, Canada, in 1972 and 1973 and then moved to the State University of New York at Albany as professor and chair, where he remained until 1982. During that time, Burke was a visiting professor at California Institute of Technology (1976), University of Minnesota (1978), and University of Calgary (1979). He moved to Houston in 1982 where he was the deputy director and later the director of the Lunar and Planetary Institute of NASA as well as professor of geology at the University of Houston, where he continues today. From 1989 to 1992, Burke left the university to work at the National Research Council in Washington, D.C., on a major project to decide the future of solid Earth sciences. Kevin Burke married Angela Phipps in 1961; they have three children.
Kevin Burke has contributed some 140 scientific articles in international journals, professional volumes, and governmental reports. Many of these papers are true classics of plate tectonics and appear in the most prestigious journals, like Nature. He was named a Du Toit Memorial Lecturer by the Geological Society of South Africa in recognition of these achievements.
Kevin Burke served as editor or associate editor for some of the most prestigious journals in the world, including Tectonics, Tectonophysics, Geological Society of America Bulletin, Geology, Journal of Geology, and Journal of Geophysical Research, among others. He has served on some of the most prestigious boards and panels for agencies and societies such as NASA, National Academy of the Sciences, International Geological Congress, CO-CORP (continental seismic program), NATO Advanced Study Institute, Ocean Drilling Program, and NFR Sweden.
