Brian Bluck


Brian John Bluck was a Welsh geologist, academic author and professor of sedimentation and tectonics at the University of Glasgow. He was known for his work in sedimentology.

Early life and education

Bluck was born in Pyle, Wales, on 29 August 1935 to a working-class family. He attended Bridgend County Grammar School and while at Cardiff Technical College, he was initially attracted towards politics. However, due to the location of his upbringing amongst Wales' coal mines and limestone landscapes, he decided to study geology at University College in Swansea.

Career

University of Illinois

In 1961, Bluck successfully applied for a postdoctoral position at the University of Illinois after being encouraged to do so by Professor Frank Rhodes. It was at this time that Bluck began his interest in coarse clastic sediment after being persuaded by Paul Potter to work on modern alluvial fans in Death Valley, Nevada.

University of Glasgow

In 1963, Bluck was appointed as an assistant lecturer in Geology at the University of Glasgow. In 1965 he became a lecturer, then a senior lecturer and reader, before finally becoming a professor in 1989. In 1985, he was the recipient of a DSc by the University of Glasgow and later was made Emeritus Professor in Sedimentation and Tectonics upon his retirement.
Bluck was an Honorary Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Geographical and Earth Sciences.
He was on the editorial boards of the Journal of Sedimentary Petrology, Scottish Journal of Geology, and the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Awards

Throughout his career, Bluck was the recipient of the following awards:

''Brian Bluck Medal''

The University of Glasgow issued a medal in memory of Bluck, the Brian Bluck Medal. The medal and monetary prize is awarded to the best performing student in Earth Science honours.

Personal life and death

Bluck was married to Mary, who together had two children. Bluck died on 29 June 2015, at his home in Old Kilpatrick.

Academic works

Bluck has helped to produce 82 publications in his geological career. An inventory of publications he was involved with from January 2000 to September 2010 are listed below:Old Red Sandstone basins and alluvial systems of Midland Scotland Caledonian and related events in Scotland Where ignorance is bliss 'tis a folly to be wise' - Controversy in the basement blocks of Scotland Detrial muscovite 40Ar/39Ar ages from Carboniferous sandstones of the British Isles: Provenance and implications for the uplift history of orogenic belts Timing of deposition, orogenesis and glaciation within the Dalradian rocks of Scotland: Constraints from U-Pb zircon ages The making of a diamond mega-placer on the margin of the Kalahari craton: Guidelines for future prospecting Zircon growth in slate Diamond mega-placers: Southern Africa and the Kaapvaal craton in a global context Geochronology of a granitoid boulder from the Corsewall Formation : Implications for the evolution of southern Scotland Characteristics of diamondiferous Plio-Pleistocene littoral deposits within the palaeo-Orange River mouth, Namibia Some observations on diamondiferous bedrock gully trapsites on Late Cainozoic, marine-cut platforms of the Sperrgebiet, Namibia Structure and directional properties of some valley sandur deposits in southern Iceland The effects of fluctuating base-level on the structure of alluvial-fan associated fan-delta deposits – an example from the Tertiary-of-the-Betic-Cordillera, Spain The sedimentary history of some Triassic conglomerates in the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales The Orange River, southern Africa: An extreme example of a wave-dominated sediment dispersal system in the South Atlantic Ocean Anomalies on the Cambro-Ordovician passive margin of Scotland Evolution of a Strike-Slip Fault-Controlled Basin, Upper Old Red Sandstone, Scotland
  • ''Structure of gravel beaches and their relationship to tidal range''