(1932-1984) American Mineralogist, Petrologist
It requires solid laboratory experimentation on rocks and minerals to provide the physical constraints of formation (pressure-temperature, etc.) on what is observed in their natural setting in the field. Experimental geochemists and petrologists typically spend most of their careers in the laboratory with rare excursions into the field to observe a phenomenon or to touch base with the reality of the chemical systems that they are modeling. In contrast, field geologists might use analytical equipment in the laboratory to aid in their field interpretations but they typically do not have the patience or perhaps the interest to conduct experiments to model their observations. David Wones was an exception to this apparent exclusivity. His experimental research was mostly on micas and assemblages of minerals in which mica is a major component. This outstanding research established him as the leading authority on micas. He even had a newly discovered mica named after him, wonesite, in recognition of his contributions.
On the other hand, Wones was an outstanding field petrologist. Most of his research was on granite plutons but he dabbled with other rocks as well. He conducted extensive field research on the Sierra Nevadas in California, as well as the granite plutons of New England, and especially Maine. In fact, as with micas, he was the leading authority on the plutons of New England and among the top few in the world on the processes of granite emplacement and crystallization.
David Wones on a field trip into the Boulder Batholith, Montana
Even with all of his research prowess, one of David Wones’s greatest traits was his ability to mentor and to inspire camaraderie. He took a highly fractured department at Virginia Tech and inspired an astonishing period of cooperation and mutual respect almost immediately. He inspired his students and colleagues alike with his unbridled passion for geology of all types while maintaining his genuine concern and respect for them. His tragic death at an early age left a void in the lives of many who knew him.
David Wones was born on July 13, 1932, in San Francisco, California. His father was a colonel in the U.S. Army and as a result he lived in various places as the assignments changed. He graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in San Antonio, Texas, in 1950. He attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and earned a bachelor of science degree in geology in 1954. He also did his graduate studies at MIT but earned a Vannevar Bush Fellowship and did his dissertation research at the Geophysical Laboratory at the Carnegie Institution of Washington, D.C., from 1957 to 1959. He earned his doctorate in 1960. He joined the U.S. Geological Survey in 1959 as an experimental petrologist, but he also did field research in California and New Mexico. In 1967, Wones joined the faculty at MIT. He returned to the U.S. Geological Survey in 1971 as chief of the Branch of Experimental Geochemistry and Mineralogy. He then accepted a position at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1977 and served as department chair from 1980 to 1984. David Wones married Constance Gilman in 1958 and they had four children. David Wones was killed in 1984 in an automobile accident while going to pick up a lecturer from the airport for a departmental seminar.
David Wones led a highly productive career, publishing numerous articles in international journals and collected volumes. Many of these are seminal works on micas as well as granite petrology and emplacement. David Wones performed extensive service to the profession. He was president of Geological Society of America in 1978-1979 as well as of the Mineralogical Society of America. He played a major role in the International Geological Correlation Project of the International Geological Congress, including the running of a major convention.
