Tribute To The Late Bob Carter

Remembering Bob Carter: A GSNZ Tribute
9 March 1942 19 January 2016
Photo source: Anne Carter
Geoscience Society of New Zealand

Newsletter 19A (Supplement) July 2016
Compiler: Cam Nelson
ISSN 1179-7983 (Print)
ISSN 1179-7991 (Online)
Remembering Bob Carter: A Geoscience Society of NZ Tribute

Contents
Page
Introduction - Cam Nelson (Compiler) .. 2
Tributes ......................................................................................................................
#1
Eulogy (24 January 2016) for Bob Carter, 1942-2016 - Bill Lindqvist
#2
A supreme field geology mentor Steve Abbott ...............................
#3
Molluscan fossil collectors together Alan Beu
#4
Temporarily being a petrophysicist - Greg Browne, Martin
Crundwell, Craig Fulthorpe, Kathie Marsaglia ...
#5
A trilogy (A-C) of Bob Carter remembrances - Hamish Campbell .
#6
All at sea with Bob Carter - Lionel Carter ..........................................
#7
Livening up geological discussions - Penny Cooke .
#8
A family of young academics - Alan Cooper ..
#9
He sure made you think critically- Dave Craw ...
#10
He underpinned my career development - Barry Douglas ..
#11
An influential Australasian ODP/IODP proponent - Neville Exon ......
#12
An insightful and inspirational geologist - Ewan Fordyce ..................
#13
Go-to person for A Continent on the Move - Ian Graham .
#14
Two Bob Carter field stories - Bruce Hayward ..
#15
An inspirational teacher and research mentor - Doug Haywick .
#16
Evolution of JCU Marine Geophysics Laboratory - Mal Heron ..........
#17
Tough field experiences - Fiona Hyden .............................................
#18
What a stimulating colleague - Chuck Landis ...................................
#19
Spruce up your attire Piers! - Piers Larcombe ..................................
#20
Bold ideas about New Zealand geology - Daphne Lee .....................
#21
Unstoppable, generous and legendary - Keith Lewis ..
#22
The wilds of Westland and Fiordland - Jon Lindqvist ..
#23
A masterful writer and editor - David Lowe
#24
ODP Leg 181 Co-Chiefs - Nick McCave ....
#25
Partners in crime in Whanganui Basin - Tim Naish ...........................
#26
Sailing with Bob - Helen Neil
#27
An exceptional sedimentary/marine geologist - Cam Nelson .
#28
What a stimulating collaborator - Richard Norris ..
#29
Architect of JCUs Marine Geophysics Laboratory - Alan Orpin
#30
A quiet beer or two - Brad Pillans ......................................................
#31
The global warming issue - Ian Plimer
#32
An incomparable teacher and communicator - John Rhodes .
#33
Advancing Great Barrier Reef shelf sedimentology - Peter Ridd ...
#34
Climate skeptics together - Gerrit van der Lingen ............................
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Publications of Bob Carter Cam Nelson 61

Acknowledgements 73
Introduction
Cam Nelson (Compiler)
School of Science, University of Waikato
Private Bag 3105, Hamilton, New Zealand 3240
c.nelson@waikato.ac.nz
New Zealand (NZ), Australian and many other geoscientists were saddened to learn
of the sudden death of Professor Robert (Bob) M. Carter in Townsville on 19 January
2016. During his long teaching and research career, based first at the University of
Otago (Dunedin 1968-1980) and later at or associated with James Cook University
(Townsville 1981-2013). Undeniably, Bob made significant contributions in advancing
our knowledge and understanding of many aspects of the geosciences in New
Zealand and the wider SW Pacific region, especially in the fields of paleontology and
paleoecology, stratigraphy and paleoenvironments, marine geology and
paleoceanography, and environmental and climate change science.
Bob always maintained a very close association with the Geoscience Society of NZ
(GSNZ), including as a long-time member and frequent annual conference attendee,
as organiser and leader of several NZ field trips, through the supervision of many
postgraduate research students on NZ projects, as a prolific publisher of peerreviewed papers on NZ geosciences, including being a major contributing author to
the Societys recent monograph A Continent on the Move, as the Societys
Hochstetter Lecturer in 1975, as an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of NZ since
1997, and as a member/leader of 12 scientific research cruises in NZ waters,
including notably as Co-Chief Scientist on ODP Leg 181 (Southwest Pacific
Gateway) in 1998. In appreciation of these remarkable contributions to NZ and SW
Pacific geosciences, and with my prompting, the Society approved the preparation of
this special GSNZ Newsletter Supplement dedicated to Bob Carter.
I agreed to act as the Compiler of the Supplement. Colleagues, students and friends
of Bob, past and present, in NZ, Australia and elsewhere, were invited by email or
advertisement [GSNZ Newsletter 18 (2016), p. 29] to submit some personal
recollections about Bob for publication in the Supplement. By deadline, 34
contributions had been received and, with typically only a small amount of editing to
maintain some consistency in content, style and format, they follow this Introduction.
Most will know that over the past decade or more Bob became heavily involved in
researching and debating climate science issues, and he refused to accept the idea
of any major influence by humans on global warming. His significant contributions in
this regard are well documented on The Heartland Institute website which, following
his death, also hosted many tributes for Bob from climate colleagues all over the
world (see https://www.heartland.org/robert-m-carter). In comparison, the tributes
appearing here for Bob focus more on his contributions to NZ, Australian (especially
Great Barrier Reef shelf) and the wider Southwest Pacific geosciences field, but
nevertheless do include some documenting his climate-related work.
Bobs CV and professional work history are already well documented online at
http://members.iinet.net.au/~glrmc/new_page_3.htm, and again by Wikipedia at
2
Issue 19A Supplement
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_M._Carter, where interested readers can get

further specific information. Using these sources, as well as personal contacts, I have
produced a biographical synopsis for Bob Carter in Table 1 that provides a summary
background and context for several of the articles appearing in the Supplement.
Table 1 - Biographical synopsis for Bob Carter.
Full name
Born
Died
Usual first name
Citizenship
Nationality
Emigration
Secondary education
Married
Children
Degrees
PhD thesis
Main career positions
Main research fields

Research cruises
Some committee and
other positions
Robert Merlin Carter

9 March 1942, Reading, England
19 January 2016, Townsville, Australia (aged 73)
Bob
British, Australian
English
To New Zealand (NZ) in 1956; to Australia in 1981
Roysses Grammar School, Abingdon, UK (1952-1955)
Lindisfarne College, Hastings, NZ (1956-1959)
Anne Catherine (nee Verngreen) in 1964
Susan (born 1969)
Jeremy (born 1972)
* BSc(Hons First Class) in Geology, Otago, NZ 1963
* PhD in Paleontology, Cambridge, UK 1968
The Functional Morphology of Bivalved Mollusca (1968)
* Assistant Lecturer, University of Otago, NZ (1963-1964)
* PhD research, University of Cambridge, UK (1965-1967)
* Lecturer/Senior Lecturer, University of Otago, NZ (1968-1980)
* Professor/Head of Department of Geology, James Cook
University, Townsville, Australia (1981-1999)
* Adjunct Research Professor, Marine Geophysical Laboratory,
James Cook University, Townsville, Australia (1999-2013)
* Adjunct Research Professor, Geology & Geophysics, University
of Adelaide, Australia (2000-2005)
* Emeritus Fellow, Institute of Public Affairs (IPA, Melbourne)
(2010-2013)
Cenozoic paleontology and paleoecology, stratigraphy and
paleoenvironments, marine geology and paleoceanography, and
sea-level and climate change science
>15, mainly in NZ and Queensland waters (e.g. Fig. 1)
* Member then Chair, Earth Sciences Discipline Panel of
Australian Research Council (ARC) (1987-1992)
* Chair, Australian Marine Sciences and Technologies Advisory
Committee (AMSTAC) (1996-?)
* Director, Australian Office of the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP)
(1995-1997)
* Co-Chief Scientist, Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 181
(Southwest Pacific Gateways) (1998)
* Chief Science Advisor, International Climate Science Coalition
(ICSC) (2007-2016)
* Scientific Advisor, Science and Public Policy Institute,
Washington (2007-2016)
* Director, Australian Environment Fdn, Melbourne (2011-2015)
* Expert witness and invited speaker on many occasions in several
countries on geological and especially climate science issues
Table 1 (Continued)
Some awards
Some Society
memberships
Publications
* Commonwealth Scholarship, British Council, University of

Cambridge, UK (1964-1967)
* Nuffield Fellow, University of Oxford, UK (1974)
* Hochstetter Lecturer, Geological (now Geoscience) Society of
New Zealand (1975)
* Bennison Distinguished Overseas Lecturer, American
Association of Petroleum Geologists (1992)
* Honorary Fellow, Royal Society of New Zealand (1997)
* Special Investigator Research Award, Australian Research
Council (1998)
* Outstanding Research Career, marine geology, GSNZ (2005)
* Lifetime Achievement Award, Heartland Institute, USA (2015)
* Geological (now Geoscience) Society of New Zealand (GSNZ)
* Geological Society of Australia (GSA)
* Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM)
* Geological Society of America (GSA)
* American Geophysical Union (AGU)
* American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
* Society of Sedimentary Geology (SEPM)
* New Zealand Climate Science Coalition (NZCSC)
* 137 peer-reviewed scientific articles (1965-2015)
* 2 books and 6 major reports on climate change (since 2010)
* Numerous conference presentations/abstracts (1965-2015)
* 266 newspaper/popular articles (mainly since 2002)
* 25 radio interviews (mainly since 2002)
* 21 video presentations (mainly since 2002)
Fig.1. Bob reviewing some core

logs on the JOIDES Resolution
IODP Expedition 317 off eastern
South Island, New Zealand in
late 2009. Photo source: William
Crawford, IODP.
Tributes
The following personal tributes for Bob Carter (#1 - #34) have been arranged in
alphabetical order of the surnames of contributors, except that the eulogy given at
Bobs funeral by Bill Lindqvist, Bobs brother-in-law, has been placed first as it covers
many facets of Bobs life.
4
#1 - Eulogy (24 January 2016) for Bob Carter, 1942-2016

Bill Lindqvist (Bobs brother-in-law)
3 Cazadero Lane, Tiburon
California 94920, USA
william_lindqvist@yahoo.com
I first met Bob some 53 years ago. The year was 1962. He was a 3rd year honours
geology student at Otago University in Dunedin, New Zealand, and I was doing 1st
year geology as part of a mining engineering degree.
I soon got to know Bob quite well since, being one of the most dynamic and
enthusiastic of the senior students, he was asked to assist the teaching staff on 1 st
year geological field trips. One early memory is that Bob, in addition to his geological
skills, was able to roll cigarettes with one hand while driving the departmental land
rover with the other.
It was obvious early on that Bob had a passion for fieldwork on soft rocks and fossils
and this was a love that never left him.
And talking of love, Bob began courting a beautiful young arts student from
Invercargill with the name of Anne Verngreen. And as luck would have it and quite
independently, I started courting an equally striking young science student with the
name of Helen Verngreen Annes younger sister.
Bob and Anne graduated in 1963 and shortly thereafter married. A few months later
they set off for England where Bob, with a Commonwealth Scholarship tucked in his
pocket, started a PhD on Functional Studies of Bivalvia at Cambridge. Anne took a
teaching job at the Bell School of Languages to help keep Bob in red wine.
Meanwhile Helen and I graduated and also married and two years later we arrived in
London where I started a PhD at Imperial College. It wasnt long before we met up
with the Carters again.
A deciding moment, or I should say deciding month, came along as the four of us
embarked on a four week long camping trip to Scandinavia. Needless to say we all
got along swimmingly and this experience cemented a close and valued friendship
that has continued to this day.
We have several memories of this trip and here is one. It was in a forest in southern
Sweden infested with hordes of tiny biting flies known as noseums. Bob and I, being
true gentlemen, retreated to the tents to smoke and drink beer in a valiant attempt to
keep flies at bay while the ladies stayed outside to cook dinner surrounded by
clouds of the nipping insects. We never quite lived that down.
After Cambridge, Bob and Anne returned to Otago University in Dunedin where Bob
was appointed to a lectureship in Geology, and in the years that followed two bright
young children came along first Susan and then Jeremy.
And so our lives diverged once again. I became an exploration geologist in the
mining industry, started work in the UK and in the early 1970s we moved to the USA.
Along the way Helen and I also came up with two children in the same order first a
daughter and then a son.
Over the decades that followed we shared many adventures and family gatherings
with the Carters in New Zealand, Australia and the States, and on several
occasions we had the three sisters Anne, Helen and Clare - present with their
families. Bob liked to refer to the sister trio as The Three Graces which of course
they all lapped up.
During one visit by the Carters to Denver, where we lived at the time, Bob and I
spent an exciting day looking at the spectacular geology along the Front Range of
the Rockies. But on the drive home we were stopped by the county sheriff amidst a
flurry of sirens and flashing lights, ordered out at gun point and told to stand at the
back of the car with our arms raised high while they searched the vehicle. Fifteen
minutes later we were told to stand down since they had nabbed the bearded purse
snatcher at the same quarry where we had looked at the rocks. Two innocent but
frightened geologists breathed a sigh of relief and headed home for a stiff, single
malt scotch.
Bob was a great travelling companion and he was a huge fund of knowledge whether
it be sports, arts, politics, science or gadgets. He and I had an easy going
relationship and were frequently bragging and debating as to whom had the longer
telephoto lens, whose binoculars were better, who was the better birder (he won
hands down), pcs versus macs, who had the best single malts (I won that one) and
other subjects that are not appropriate to mention here.
He also liked to quip that I was the Economic Geologist while he had to settle for
being the family Uneconomic Geologist.
Bob had a very distinguished teaching career at Otago University (NZ) and later
James Cook University (Queensland) which spanned some 35 years. And not
surprisingly he left his mark for the better at both institutions.
Bob always retained a passion for fieldwork but his own interests broadened and
expanded with time especially into Marine Science. He participated in several
scientific cruises both in New Zealand waters overlying the continental shelf with NZ
based groups and in the southern Pacific with the big time Ocean Drilling Program
research ships funded by the USA (e.g. Figs 1, 2).
Over the last 15 years, as we all know, he has been increasingly involved with
climate science and the climate record, both recent and historic, much to the chagrin
of the believers and large segments of the academic community that preach free
speech and tolerance but act otherwise.
Whatever Bob tackled, he did so with gusto and focus and incredibly hard work and
he invariably excelled. But somehow he always made time for home projects
including his recent marathon genealogy study covering all sides of the family.
6
Fig. 2. Bob and Xuan Ding sampling sediment core on IODP Expedition 317 of the
JOIDES Resolution in 2009 off the Canterbury coast, New Zealand. Photo source:
William Crawford of IODP.
Fig. 3. Bob in field mode against a backdrop of Paleogene Red Bluff Tuff in northern
Chatham Island, offshore eastern South Island, 2008. Photo source: Bill Lindqvist.
However, without the dedicated help and support from his loving wife Anne, Bobs
endeavours may not have reached the heights we have witnessed. Anne often
recounts the many times she was on her hands and knees bagging and labelling
fossil specimens in such exotic locations as vineyards in France, precipitous slopes
in the Dolomite mountains in Italy and hot, dusty deserts in Turkey. Annes knees tell
the story!
Over his 50-year career of teaching, research, lecturing and academic leadership,
Bob has travelled the world, often with Anne and their two children (when they were
younger) by his side. He has studied, done field research and/or lectured in Australia
and New Zealand (e.g. Fig. 3), the UK and most of Europe, North and southern
Africa, parts of the Middle East and Asia (including Japan and China), Antarctica and
across the USA and Canada. His scientific papers are almost endless and he wrote
and had published two climate books to boot. What energy that man had!
Not many of you may know that at the tender age of 21 he joined a scientific
expedition to Pitcairn Island and was the first ever geologist to map that remote
terrain. Rumor has it that he also acted as part-time cook on the island. Thats Bob
Carter!
Over the years Bob has mentored hundreds of students, has been honoured with
many awards and, judging by the avalanche of tributes that have come in following
his death, he is renowned, respected and loved across the globe.
Helen and I accompanied Bob and Anne to three International Climate Conferences
in recent years where we witnessed first-hand Bobs extraordinary reputation
amongst his peers. At the Heartland Climate Conference in Washington DC in June
2015 he received the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award. That was quite an
emotional evening for us all.
To sum up, Bob has had a distinguished and very productive academic career,
supported by Anne and family, and as our brother-in-law and long time friend and the
uncle to our children, he has always been a stimulating companion and mentor. Our
eight year old grandson likes to call Bob Uncle Fossil.
His family, relatives and friends will all hugely miss Bobs quick wit, the twinkle in his
eye, his mischievous grin, his infectious laugh, his generosity and gentle nature, his
sense of fairness and, above all, the sheer pleasure of his company.
#2 - A supreme field geology mentor

Steve Abbott
Geoscience Australia
GPO Box 378, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
steve.abbott@ga.gov.au
My involvement with Bob began in 1987 at James Cook University (JCU) when I was
a newly arrived student in search of a PhD project. I recall meeting a welcoming,
although slightly officious, individual whose appearance (walk shorts, long socks and
immaculately groomed beard) contrasted with the colourful tee shirt and jandals
8
world of the tropical JCU campus. On a number of occasions I was summonsed to

Bobs office with its distinctive dcor (masonry block with a hint of Cambridge). There
he could be found tapping away on his new 286 personal computer as if playing a
piano accompaniment to the classical music playing in the background, replete with
punctuational flourishes.
I settled on my PhD project when Bob showed me cross-sections of the coastal
Castlecliff section in Charles Flemings Bulletin 52 on the Whanganui Subdivision. At
that point he sent me away with his copy of Bulletin 52, a copy of Menards Science:
Growth and Change, and touch typing tutorial software. He more or less told me not
to come back until I had mastered the latter! I arrived at JCU as Bob was developing
a research programme on the sequence stratigraphy of the New Zealand PlioPleistocene and resuming his passion for New Zealand field geology.
By the mid-1980s Bob recognised that the Plio-Pleistocene basins of New Zealand
presented an opportunity to contribute to the rapidly developing sub-discipline of
sequence stratigraphy. A prominent school of thought controversially asserted, in the
absence of compelling evidence, that eustasy was the main control on sequence
development. Bob would gleefully point out at every opportunity that Plio-Pleistocene
strata provided a true test of sequence stratigraphic principles because, rather than
assumed, the glacioeustatic control on strata of this age had been established
independently from oxygen isotope studies of deep-sea cores.
The research programme ran for about a decade and a half and was initially based
around PhD projects in the Hawkes Bay (Doug Haywick), Whanganui (Gordon Saul
and I), and Wairarapa (Paul Gammon) basins. Bob enjoyed renewing his interaction
with the New Zealand Geoscience community including Brad Pillans (stratigraphy),
Alan Beu (molluscs and stratigraphy), Norcott Hornibrook (forams), and Ian Graham
(Be isotope stratigraphy). Along the way there were numerous journal articles
published as well as a Geological Society of NZ conference field trip, field
workshops, a visit to JCU by ESSO Distinguished Lecturer Peter Vail (a co-inventor
of sequence stratigraphy), Bobs AAPG Distinguished Lecturer tour, and poster
presentations at the 1996 AGU meeting in San Francisco. In the late 1990s Tim
Naish (then a JCU Post-Doctoral Fellow), led the synthesis of the Whanganui Basin
work that culminated in a series of papers that presented an integrated
cyclostratigraphy for the basin. The New Zealand outcrop work conceived and
overseen by Bob continues to be well cited in the sequence stratigraphic and
Quaternary science literature.
Some of my fond memories of Bob derive from my orientation tour of the Whanganui
Basin. Our road trip around the Whanganui hinterland and Castlecliff coast included
key geological sites from Bulletin 52 and a visit to Bobs Honours field area in the
Pohangina Valley. During our travels I received instruction on everything from
terraces and lahars to the features of Maori Pa sites, all to the soundtrack of
classical music from the car stereo. Book shops, bakeries, antique shops and corner
shops called dairies, and a special type of sandwich called a jammie, rounded out
my introduction to the New Zealand fieldwork experience.
Fig. 4. Bob (white cap at top), while precariously perched, professing the
paleoecological and sequence stratigraphic significance of the Tainui Shellbed,
Castlecliff coast section, Whanganui, on a Geological Society of NZ field trip,
November 1991. Photo source: Steve Abbott.
Fig. 5. Bob pointing to the rootlet bed and erosion surface (NC11 sequence
boundary) between the Middle Maxwell Formation and Mangahou Siltstone,
Nukumaru coast section, Whanganui, 2003. Photo source: Steve Abbott.
10
During that orientation trip and subsequent fieldwork Bobs endless enthusiasm for
stratigraphy and fossils was always on display. He could hardly contain the
excitement of scrutinising the ecosystem of a shellbed (Fig. 4), documenting a
sequence bounding unconformity (Fig. 5), liberating a delicate Poirieria with all of its
spines intact, or diagnosing a beach environment of deposition from a bed of
Paphies to the refrain of because that is where it lives today on the beach behind
you!
Bobs formal university persona melted away in the field to reveal his warm soul and
(at times disconcertingly wicked) sense of humour. He was a generous mentor who
not only guided his students through the various stages of their studies, but taught us
by example the powers of observation and critical thought (including in his role as a
peerless devils advocate). It is satisfying to reflect on how we produced such an
important contribution to sequence stratigraphy based on careful field observations
recorded with a pencil, notebook, and camera (actually two 35 mm SLR cameras,
one for colour slides and the other for black and white prints).
#3 - Molluscan fossil collectors together

Alan Beu
GNS Science
PO Box 30368, Lower Hutt, New Zealand 5040
a.beu@gns.cri.nz
My first memory of Bob was a long time ago in January 1963. While starting a
degree at Victoria University, Wellington, I worked as Professor Bob Clarks lab boy
in the Geology Department, with the grand salary of 300 per year, and felt flush
enough to buy a little Morris Minor. Over the Christmas holidays Graeme Wilson and
I set off to collect fossils around much of the North Island. At Te Piki with very
diverse Haweran molluscs in a cutting on the road between Waihau Bay and Hicks
Bay, East Cape I was happily collecting molluscs and Graeme was collecting the
dinoflagellate samples that allowed him to become an early expert in the group. Up
rattled a tiny Morris 8, and out got a chap who introduced himself as Bob Carter. He
was working for Charles Fleming in Paleontology, NZ Geological Survey, over the
university recess, and decided to visit the remote Te Piki locality while he was up in
the North Island. He was dismayed to see us there before him, assumed all the
useful fossils had been collected, shared a beer or two, and then drove on. It was the
beginning of a long but very friendly philosophical tussle between Bob and me about
the interpretation of fossils, whether we need New Zealand stages, how stages
should be defined, and so on, throughout the rest of our careers.
Much later Bob introduced us all in GNS Science to the power of sequence
stratigraphy and the poverty of the global sea-level curve, in a course he held (with
the aid of some of his students such as Steve Abbott) in a rough little motel near the
beach at the north end of Castlecliff, Whanganui, handy to real examples. Bob was
one of the most accomplished lecturers I ever met, with flair and skill, and impressed
me with little extras such as leaving an obvious question out of the talk, and then
11
having an extra slide ready to answer the question when someone in the audience
raised it. The course was as enjoyable as it was illuminating. Ironically, Bob later
recalled to me an event when he was at Cambridge carrying out his PhD in
paleontology on bivalve form and function under Martin Rudwick during 19651967.
He was invited to a party held in the flat of a student who he later realised was Nick
Shackleton. A long graph on endless A4 sheets of paper had been pinned up around
the tops of the walls of the flat. This was the original data for Shackletons paradigmchanging paper on Milankovitch cycles in core V28-238 (Shackleton & Opdyke
1973). The party was to celebrate the completion of the lab work for the fundamental
rewriting of all our concepts of climate and sea-level cyclicity, the timescale of the
Pleistocene and the development of sequence stratigraphy, although its significance
was completely lost on Bob at the time!
More recent reminiscences are of the Chatham Islands, where we both took part in
Hamish Campbells CHEARS expeditions for several years. One year, Bob and I
walked along the north coast of Chatham Island westwards from Cape Young so I
could show him the Tioriori Paleocene succession, with its dinosaur remains and
other interesting fossils. While walking along the cliff edge, we encountered a lone
crested penguin chick sitting by itself in the sun. It was nearly fully fledged, with
brilliant yellow crests well developed on its temples, but still with grey down around
its neck. Bob got up really close to photograph it, but it gave out such a sudden,
immensely loud braying noise that we both nearly fell over! It is the only such large
penguin we ever encountered in the Chathams. We went on and examined the
Tioriori section, where it was interesting to see Bob struggle to fit the stratigraphy
into his preconceived ideas of sequences in the early Cenozoic succession in the
eastern South Island he assured me he had managed it.
The outlying islands are some of the most interesting Chathams localities to visit.
Bob became quite an ornithologist in later life, and his main interest was to see the
rare birds. On Mangere Island he spent a lot of time photographing the red-crowned
parakeets that are so abundant there, but nowhere else. He was also very solicitous
about a Chatham Islands snipe that was nesting not far behind the hut, right on the
edge of the track, where it was passed several times each day by all seven members
of our party. The snipe was obviously put out by all the attention, and seemed as if it
might leave its nest, but in the end it stayed, because Bob pointed out that we should
be quiet near it. Bob and I both struggled with the climb up to the summit plateau of
Mangere (287 m straight up! or so it seemed) but lying about in the flax on the
plateau, with that incredible view to Pitt Island and all the southern islets, made it all
worthwhile. As we were a little low on food there, Bob excelled himself with his
culinary flare, concocting a curious mixture of soups and dehi one evening from the
DOC emergency supplies, to everyones enjoyment. We even found some useful
fossils! including scallops in blocks of Onoua Limestone that had come up through
the Mangere Island volcano and lay around on the beach. We always had a hilarious
time with Bob along, with endless semi-serious discussions about almost any
subject you can think of, not only geology with Bob acting as devils advocate and
pointing out why what we suggested was complete nonsense. His excellent
knowledge of molluscs meant that he and I always had a similar interest in
Chathams stratigraphy and fossils, such as collecting molluscs together from
Titirangi Sand at Lake Te Wapu, near Kaingaroa, at an outcrop discovered by Kat
Holt and Deb Crowley in 2009 (Fig. 6). But Bob always thought about the wider
12
scientific context, and would be trying to extract a story about Pleistocene sea-levels
out of vague slope changes behind the outcrop, etc., as well as studying the obvious
lithostratigraphy. We always had richly enjoyable times when Bob was along, and I
will remember them always as fondly as I will Bob.
Fig. 6. Bob examining a molluscan shellbed in the Pleistocene Titirangi Shellbed

Formation, NE Chatham Island, SW Pacific, 2011. Photo source: Bill Lindqvist.
#4 Temporarily being a petrophysicist

Greg Browne1, Martin Crundwell1, Craig Fulthorpe2, Kathie Marsaglia3
1
GNS Science
Lower Hutt, New Zealand
Instit. Geophysics
Univ Texas, USA
Geol Sciences
Calif State Univ, USA
g.browne@gns.cri.nz, m.crundwell@gns.cri.nz, craig@ig.utexas.edu, kathie.marsaglia@scun.edu
Expedition 317 in late 2009 and early 2010 to the Canterbury margin was Bobs last
voyage on the JOIDES Resolution and his last formal involvement with IODP
operations. He had of course been involved with previous deep water drilling
expeditions, especially ODP 181. But unlike that voyage Bobs involvement on
Expedition 317 was not as a Co-Chief Scientist. However, Expedition 317 derived
from research led by Bob many years before and he wrote the earliest version of the
IODP proposal. Bob did not sail as a sedimentologist, or paleontologist, as might be
expected, but rather as a scientist working on physical properties (Fig. 7).
Petrophysics was a new area for Bob but such was his interest in learning new
things in science. Bob contributed hugely to this expedition with his tireless energy,
experience and expertise, his probing questions at the daily science meetings, and
13
his generosity in helping others out. How could you forget the light-coloured shorts,
his grey or white coloured long socks, and the hand-lens around the neck! He had an
incredible ability to recall facts and publication details. He performed many roles in
addition to undertaking the petrophysical measurements while on board (e.g. Fig. 2),
most notably his identification of macrofossils when such material was recovered in
the cores, his advice to younger scientists, and involvement with media
engagements. Bob would commonly predict what we were going to drill into next,
coming up with the first interpretation of the well logs, relating the sediment on the
description table to the seismic, and using his knowledge of Whanganui stratigraphy
to predict the next cycle boundary!
Following Expedition 317 Bob continued to remain in contact, and performed a major
role in helping to organise the post-cruise workshop field trip to Canterbury and
Oamaru, enjoying visiting locations in South Canterbury such as Otaio River which
he had not frequented for many years. He will be remembered for his wit and
humour, his thought provoking thinking, even if not always accepted by all, his ability
to consider issues outside-the-box, his respect for others, and his energy and drive
in science. It was a huge surprise therefore that we learned of Bobs passing, and he
will be remembered with fond memories by all of us on Expedition 317.
Fig. 7. Bob analysing the physical properties of a sediment core on IODP Expedition
317 of the JOIDES Resolution off eastern South Island in late 2009. Photo source:
William Crawford, IODP.
14
#5 - A trilogy (A-C) of Bob Carter remembrances

Hamish Campbell
GNS Science
h.campbell@gns.cri.nz
(A) Robert Merlin Carter: Strong on Getting a grip
That middle name is so apt. He was a highly energised trick, just such fun to be with,
full of surprises and always generous in thought, spirit and kind. Here is one of my
early memories of Bob.
There is probably a law concerning defacement of railway property but on 31 May
1962, Bob did it big time. He would have researched the matter to the nth degree,
have organised a team of willing fully-briefed fellow student associates and then
executed the project with split-second precision (probably with musical
accompaniment), commencing operations within a minute of the Bluff to Lyttleton
Express arriving at Dunedin Station. Our family was on its way to England for a
sabbatical year by ship (Rangitiki) from Wellington. Pretty much the entire Otago
University Geology Department was on the platform to see us off. There were
speeches. Bob gave a farewell speech on behalf of the students and presented my
father JD (Doug) Campbell, with a magnificent parting gift: an expensive new watch.
It was then time to board the train and find our seats. I was just 9 and my brother
Neil 7, Joanna just 5 and Rosemary almost 3. Imagine our astonishment when we
discovered head and shoulder portrait photographs of our father neatly sellotaped to
every single window in every carriage on the train! Furthermore, there were two
photos back to back so Dads smiling face beamed both inward and outward of the
glass. Every photo was perfectly aligned and the sellotape was the strongest
industrial-strength adhesive on the market. Bob was always fastidious with
presentation. There was little prospect of removing these photos. My father would
have been mortified on the one hand, tickled pink on the other. He knew Bob better
than Bob new himself, but the platform antics were so powerful that Dads vigilance
must have been compromised.
I say this because within 5 minutes of the express departing, my parents established
that one piece of luggage, the pig skin grip, was missing. It contained essentials
such as shaving gear, medicines and contraceptives. This was serious. Dad was
coerced by my mother (of course, and rightly so; she was a chronic asthmatic with
no need of further children*...) into pulling the emergency stop. The express came to
a halt near St Leonards. The ever so slightly irritated Guard decided that a message
could be sent from Port Chalmers station. Who to? Bob. Who else? It was ringleader Bob and associates who had failed to load the grip on the train. Besides, Bob
was a natural leader of men and totally reliable. The message eventually got
through. The bag was found in the Lost Property office and extricated. The next
problem was how to get it to Lyttleton and the interisland ferry prior to its over-night
sailing that evening? Whatever transpired, it failed. So, the next challenge was to
transport the grip to Wellington from Lyttleton over-night so as to connect in time with
the Rangitiki prior to its departure at 10:30 am on 1 June. A small plane was
15
involved. But my father had to go to Wellington Airport to collect the grip and, as a
consequence, he was the last person to run up the gangway moments prior to
departure. Some of us never recovered from this emotional trauma. On discussing it
with Bob he was always dismissive, as if it was of no great consequence. He would
say: So what? That is what life is about surely! And besides, it all ended happily.
[*We left England bound for New Zealand on the Himalaya, departing 7 May 1963,
with new baby Fergus aged 2 months.]
(B) Being on time with Bob
As a child, I remember going on my first one-day field trip with Bob and my father
(Doug Campbell) to Oamaru. I was about 11, so it probably was in 1964. Specifically,
we went to search and collect a shell-bed at Target Gully. As I recall it was a
disappointment. The famous locality had been highly modified by farming practice
and there was little outcrop available for fossil collecting. There was much animated
discussion about the significance of this predicament because it is (or was) an
important type locality. We travelled in Bobs Morris 8. He would have been dressed
for the part, closely resembling Toad of Toad Hall. I recall being anxious on our way
home because I had a 5:30 pm swimming lesson at the Dunedin Municipal Pool in
Moray Place. Bob assured me we would make it in plenty of time. However, we only
just made it. The road had been washed out at the big dip between the top of the
new motorway over Mount Cargill and Pigeon Flat. It seemed to take us ages to
inch our way through. Bob delivered me with panache at precisely 5:30 with the
exclamation: There you are! I told you we would be on time. That may be so but I
still received the full wrath of the swimming instructor for not being in the water at
exactly 5:30! Timing is everything.
I commenced my BSc (Hons) in geology at Otago University (OU) in 1971, and Bob
was one of my lecturers, spanning five years (I took a gap year in 1974). At the
beginning of my 3rd year, in early 1973, I was a field assistant to Chris Badger, doing
a 4th year honours project in the head of Edwardson Sound, Fiordland. It so
happened that Bob was the master-mind of a multi-faceted project in SW Fiordland
that summer using the OU research vessel Munida. Some others involved were John
Begg as a field assistant to another 4th year, Gary Post. After a false start on board
the Munida from Dunedin (the alternator packed up off the coast of Brighton),
Chris and I were flown in to Fiordland by float-plane from Te Anau. We did so on a
superb summers day. Our only one! It started raining the next day and stayed that
way forever after. About 10 days later, now with a dead radio and virtually no food, a
naked Bob Carter suddenly appeared at our tent door. By way of explanation he said
that clothes are pointless in this rain (he was always best-dressed). Our great
mentor and leader, and the Munida, had miraculously found us! They were only a
week late.
Chris abandoned that project. After all, we had only found one rock (float) in 12 days.
He was given another project area on Chalky. Meanwhile I spent some days on the
Munida helping Bob and John Coggon with a magnetic survey chasing the Last
Cove Fault. It took us a long time to figure out that the crazy data we were collecting
was entirely due to Bobs pragmatism: he had carefully screwed on a metal handle to
the fibre-glass torpedo housing for the magnetometer so as to make life easy
16
deploying it. Not much came out of this Fiordland campaign. It was bad timing and
bad luck.
At the beginning of 1975, I was now field assisting for Bruce Houghton in the
Takitimus. He and I were delivered to the Wairaki Hut by Bob on one of his many
field trips exploring the Waiau Basin. After a very long demanding drive from
Dunedin in the OU Geology Department short-wheel-base Landrover, Bob reached
the end of his tether and declared that he was taking us no further. He leapt out and
opened the back door thus releasing all three dozen eggs that had been perched as
fragile items on top of all else. The whole lot was smashed. Hence that low hill to the
immediate west of the Tin Hut Fault Zone and Wairaki River is affectionately known
as Carters Egg.
Bob ran a lecture course on integrated stratigraphy in my 4 th year called 4i.There
were just two of us in the class: Tom Loutit and myself. We critically analysed the
latest publications on new-fangled stratigraphic approaches to the rock record,
namely magnetostratigraphy, oxygen isotope stratigraphy and chronostratigraphy. It
was an exercise in first principles. Every statement would be examined and all
assumptions and error ranges explored and every reference checked. It was
exacting, revealing and damning. We shredded paper after paper on that course! To
me Bob was a terrific teacher and he came across as very well read, an outstanding
critical thinker and a sucker for innovative new ways of doing things. I enjoyed his
style and approach immensely. His lectures were about ideas rather than facts, and
hence always difficult to construct notes from. He was just so stimulating and made
you think. However, he often played the devils advocate, much to the annoyance of
many students, and it was never easy determining what he really thought. But that
was his point: what he thought was irrelevant. To him, what was important was your
ability (as a student) to make sense of observations using rational thought and logic.
Did I mention showman?! Very few of us come close to Bobs amazing ability to hold
an audience. I think that I am right in saying that Bob is the only Hochstetter Lecturer
to use recorded orchestral accompaniment. He always had something profound to
say and his talks were always well-rehearsed and to time.
(C) Bob in the Chatham Islands
Bob visited the Chatham Islands with me and my many and varied field companions
on six occasions: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2011. Bob would come for 5 to
10 days at a time. He participated entirely on his own free will and expense. This
was some commitmentcoming especially all the way from Townsville. He greatly
enjoyed the Chatham Islands and came for four main reasons: to escape the
summer heat of northern Queensland, to indulge in two of his many enthusiasms of
bird watching and photography, to apply his considerable geological knowledge and
experience in a remote part of New Zealand, and to relax in congenial and
stimulating intellectual company (fellow geologists, biologists and research students
in their element: the field.but not necessarily like-minded note) within a ready
back-drop of real people (i.e. Chatham Islanders) who, like him, lived off their wits
and lived well off the land and sea (red wine and fine cuisine dominated by blue
cod).
17
To some extent, the Chathams offered respite for an embattled Bob, so intensely
committed and embroiled in keeping climate change science honest. Where better to
hide for a few days and recharge the batteries but at the very end of the weather
forecast?! Needless to say, it fell on us his erstwhile companions to try and keep him
honest. A constant battle in itself but boldly addressed by the likes of Chuck Landis,
John Begg, Alan Beu and everyone else when needs be. On two of these trips Bob
was accompanied by his brother-in-law and close friend Bill Lindqvist, a Californiabased consulting geologist, married to Annes sister Helen.
Every moment with Bob was memorable and he contributed greatly to our
experiences in the Chathams and our geological understanding. On his first trip (2530 Jan, 2005), he joined us on a one-day trip to the Forty Fours (27 Jan), an
albatross colony far to the east of Chatham Island, but sadly Bob chose not to
attempt to land claiming that his upper body strength was not up to it. We had to
negotiate a near-vertical 60 m cliff aided with ropes. I am quite sure that he would
have managed just fine. The party included: Chris Adams, Bill Carter, Steve Trewick,
John Begg, Rowan Emberson, David Given, Paul Scofield, Mark Bellingham, Peter
Johnston and myself.
Bobs second visit (27 Jan-3 Feb, 2006) involved an ambitious 4-day trip to The
Horns at the SW tip of Chatham Island with John Begg, Chuck Landis, Alan Beu,
Jeremy Titjen and Chris Consoli. This letter from Bob just prior to the trip says it all:
24/1/06
Hamish, honeybun
I did not realise that you had dobbed me in for the doubtless magnificent experience
of sleeping under canvas on tussock again.
As I am now in transit (passing through Brisbane airport) I can't grab a sleeping bag
(which is probably a good thing, given the amount of clobber that I'm already
carrying).
I'm staying with Lionel [Carter] tomorrow and Thursday nights, and will see if I can
borrow one from him. Failing that, you may get a phone call asking if you can throw
in an extra.
Torch? Persons of my age have specially well-developed sixth senses which enable
them to avoid pissing on others when they creep out for their nightly visit. Besides,
we don't want to scare the petrels.
See you soon. Bob
It demonstrates classic Bob: his natural collegiality, charming his way around
authority, following instructions in a timely fashion and revealing the main reason for
his visit: bird watching!
The third trip (31 Jan-9 Feb, 2007) involved another very memorable visit this time to
Southeast Island (6-7 Feb), home to millions of seabirds not to mention the Black
18
Robin, Chatham Snipe and Shore Plover. The party included Alan Beu, Alex
Malahoff, Nigel Miller, Phil Sirvid and myself.
The fourth visit (29 Jan-6 Feb, 2008) involved two nights on Pitt Island staying at The
Bluff (James & Annette Moffett) with Bill Lindqvist, Alex Malahoff, Alan Beu, Nigel
Miller and his son Oliver, Peter Cook and myself (e.g. Figs 3, Front cover).
The fifth visit (26 Jan-4 Feb, 2009) was another very memorable visit, this time to
Mangere Island (2-3 Feb) with Alan Beu, Nigel Miller, Kat Holt, Deborah Crowley and
myself. Bob made a spectacular landing on his hands and stomach, as he misjudged
the leap from the boat. His flesh wounds required the combined services of both
doctor (Nigel) and nurse (Deborah). A lasting memory I have of this trip is assisting
Bob with DOCs demands to rid his field clothing and gear of undesirable seeds. It
took many hours for the whole team to de-seed Bob to an acceptable standard!
Bobs last visit was in 2011 (26 Jan-2 Feb), again with Bill Lindqvist. The party
included Alan Beu, Alex Malahoff, David Johnston and his wife Carol Stewart and
their son Joshua, Deborah Crowley, Alexa van Eaton and myself. We visited Pitt
Island (Fig. 8), staying at The Bluff with the Moffetts again (27-30 Jan), but this time
we had our very own French cook, Nathalie Robert-Peillard.
Fig. 8. Hamish Campbell and Bob Carter aboard the Chatham Express vessel on a
trip from Chatham Island to Pitt Island in 2011. Photo source: Bill Lindqvist.
19
#6 - All at sea with Bob Carter

Lionel Carter
Antarctic Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington
PO Box 600, Wellington, New Zealand 6012
lionel.carter@vuw.ac.nz
As the research ship Tangaroa I sailed south from Wellington Harbour on a wintery
day 4 August 1977, little did we know that this was the start of a research
collaboration between Bob Carter and myself that lasted over 25 years. And let me
set the record straight from the start, Bob Carter and Lionel Carter were neither
brothers nor father and son; we were the clich.just good friends!
In the halcyon days of the 1970s, the New Zealand Oceanographic Institute (NZOI)
allocated ship time for the universities and in 1977 it was Otago University's turn with
Bob as the cruise leader. We both had a deep interest in the research, which was to
establish the dispersal of sediment along and across the Otago continental margin
into the Bounty Trough. But my main role was to represent the Oceanographic
Institute to ensure the voyage ran smoothly. This became a life lesson, namely that
sailing with Bob was anything but dull. On this voyage an altercation broke out
amongst two crew members. This required Tangaroa I to return to Port Chalmers
where the police met the ship and retained the crew members. The cook was also
taken away in an ambulance due to burns sustained in the galley following a
particularly severe roll of the ship. The unscheduled port call was prolonged by a
search for replacement crew who eventually arrived from Auckland. The follow-up
voyage in 1979 was accompanied by the loss of a Klein side-scan sonar - a towed
seabed mapping system, which in those days was worth a year's salary. When the
ship returned to Wellington, the Oceanographic Institute truck was waiting for us,
complete with a hangman's gibbet and noose. This subtle hint indicated whose
salary was in peril - mine. However, Bob came to the rescue with a NZ$5,000
contribution that assuaged the NZOI administration and ensured his presence on
future voyages. Yet again, the Carter curse struck, this time in 1990 on the Rapuhia Tangaroa's successor. The main winch broke down while coring in 4000 m of water.
For the next 31 hours, Rapuhia drifted in moderate seas with 4 km of heavy wire
attached to a one ton corer hanging over the side. Positioning was also a problem
because it was the time of the Gulf War and the satellites that formed the nascent
global positioning system were realigned to cover the Middle East.
While it is fun to reminisce over a beer, these events were in reality a mild distraction
from the science. Between 1977 and 1998, five voyages off the eastern South Island
revealed the evolution of a remarkable sedimentary system from its inception in the
Cretaceous through the Quaternary climatic cycles to the present day. It was the first
Source-to-Sink analysis that traced the passage of river sediment from the coast,
across the continental shelf, down the continental slope via submarine canyons and
into the Bounty Channel system where turbidity currents transferred South Island
debris over 1000 km eastward to feed the vast submarine Bounty Fan. Sediment did
not stop there. The Pacific deep western boundary current entrained fan sediment
and carried it another 3000 km to accumulate in the Kermadec subduction zone.
20
Thanks to Bob's expertise and great enthusiasm, plus help from his friends, we were
beginning to learn how undersea New Zealand functioned. Over 20 papers appeared
under the co-authorship of Carter and Carter (and many colleagues). One wit
compared C and C to Thomson and Thompson in the Tintin chronicles, but hopefully
the publications of the former were a little more factual than the comic books.
As the eastern South Island marine geology became clearer, Bob noted that it would
be a suitable topic for the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP). That was in 1993. Five
years later, ODP Leg 181 came to fruition with the drilling of 7 sites off eastern New
Zealand. This furthered our knowledge of paleoceanography and marine geological
evolution of the key region of the SW Pacific Ocean where tectonic plates and major
ocean currents collide. That research continues today using the cores archived from
Leg 181 and other ocean drilling legs. Leg 181 would not have happened without
Bob's energy and persuasive skills. At the time, New Zealand was not a member of
ODP and thus could not develop and lead voyages. However, Australia was a
member and Bob, who was then domiciled in Queensland, could begin the long
proposal process. The proposal received a major boost when Nick McCave
(Cambridge University, UK) joined. This brought the UK membership to bear. Bob's
"people skills" were much needed in light of the political and competitive elements of
large multinational programmes. My contribution was to keep the proposed drilling
site data and science components on cue. This called for reflex responses to phone
calls along the lines "Hello. Bob here. I'm in College Station, Texas. An ODP
scientist has just noted that waves on the Chatham Rise are too large for safe
drilling. Can you run an analysis of the wave climate and get back to me within the
hour?" Such was life with RMC.
Following the undeniable success of Leg 181, Bob expanded his interest in
sequence stratigraphy, the marine geology of the Great Barrier Reef and of course
climate change. While our views differed regarding the last topic, the friendship
endured. Without doubt, Robert Merlin Carter was a major contributor to New
Zealand marine geology through his research, enthusiasm and ability to make things
work (apart from ship's winches). It is a fine legacy.
#7 - Livening up geological discussions

Penny Cooke
Brookes Bell Group (Marine Consultants & Surveyors)
Walker House, Exchange Flags, Liverpool, UK L2 3YL
cooke.penelope@gmail.com
My memories of Bob are somewhat intermittent as they focus around the annual
conference of the Geoscience Society of New Zealand (GSNZ). I recall him being
very friendly and inclusive, and louder than many. I recall annual conference dinners
being improved by his contributions to discussions, even after several bottles of wine
had been consumed by all involved (Fig. 9). In addition, he was the external
overseas examiner for my PhD thesis on Neogene paleoceanography in the Tasman
Sea, about which he was very complimentary, and he only required minor changes
for which I was most grateful.
21
Fig. 9. Participants engrossed in deep stimulating conversation with Bob (and wine
drinking) at the BBQ at GSNZ annual conference in Kaikoura, 2005. People
recognised are (left to right) Alan Orpin, Cam Nelson, Penny Cooke, unknown, Bob
Carter, David Smale and Anne Carter. Photo source: Unknown.
I became aware some years later that Bob was being described as a 'humaninduced climate change skeptic' and had been presenting his views on this matter to
government committees. I have to say I was a little surprised as he had been
involved over the years in research dealing with marine sediment records and the
climate records they contain. I understand and commend the independence of
scientists to interpret the data they see in the way they deem appropriate, and Bob
certainly did this over his long and distinguished career. The news released in May
2016 by NASA that April was the seventh month in a row that broke global
temperature records would have made for interesting discussions with Bob I suspect.
I can only hope that all those still employed in climate science are able to include a
little skepticism into their research as it is only by questioning the accepted views
that we can progress. Having read many of Bob's articles on climate change, I
personally still remain convinced that humans are influencing our global climate, but
to what extent remains debatable. I shall be enjoying my glass of wine in the warm
spring 2016 sunshine in the UK and will be thinking very fondly of Bob and his major
contributions to New Zealand geosciences over many decades.
22
#8 - A family of young academics

Alan Cooper
Geology Department, University of Otago
PO Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand 9054
alan.cooper@otago.ac.nz
In the late 1960s to early 1980s, during the Carters stay in Dunedin, the Geology
Department at Otago was a dynamic and enjoyable place to work. It included a
group of other young families (Reay, Landis, Norris, Henley, Bishop and Cooper)
busy bringing up young children and building careers. Despite that, there was time
for socialising and, regardless of the heavy teaching loads for the guys, even time for
the occasional Wednesday afternoon round of golf! Bob and I worked at opposite
ends of the geological spectrum, but we were mates and took an interest in what the
other was doing (Fig. 10). Bob even spent time with me in an appropriately named
Roaring Swine tributary of the Haast River during my PhD. For a week we huddled
under a three-sided, plastic-sheeted shelter while the heavens opened and the valley
filled with water and the creek lived up to its name. The upper echelons of the
Department were somewhat taken aback when RMCs princely field allowance of $2
per day was subsequently claimed for field supervision (in metamorphic petrology!).
Bob was one of our leading lights, energetic, innovative, inspirational and an
excellent communicator. We missed the Carters when they moved to Townsville and
we will miss him now.
Fig. 10. Bob, interested in all

things geological, including
metamorphic rocks, examining a
sample of Alpine Fault mylonite.
Photo source: Alan Cooper.
23
#9 He sure made you think critically

Dave Craw
dave.craw@otago.ac.nz
Bob was one of the most inspiring lecturers I had as a student at Otago in the 1970s.
He even managed to make paleontology interesting to this physical scientist, by
bringing in a wide range of ideas and different threads to his accounts of how the
biological world works. He made me THINK, which was quite an achievement. His
enthusiasm and energy were boundless around the Geology Department, and he
was innovative in everything he did. I was sorry to see him leave, and that was
definitely James Cook University's gain. I kept in touch with him over the years as I
evolved into an economic geologist, and always admired his enthusiasm and
foresight in setting up the Economic Geology Research Unit in Townsville. This was
the right move at the right time, a very astute step that did a great deal to help the
Townsville department expand and appear on the international radar of an important
industry to Australia. Bob was still making me think in his later years when he
entered the controversial world of climate change, and I thoroughly enjoyed talking to
him about these things, even if I didn't always agree with him. He brought some
serious science to that debate, especially with regard to sea levels, and I found his
research and ideas fascinating in that general area. I last saw Bob when he visited
Otago recently to talk about climate change, and he was in excellent form then, still
enthusiastic, stimulating, a great lateral thinker, and an excellent public speaker.
That's the Bob Carter that I will always remember.
#10 - So influential on my career development

Barry Douglas
Douglas Geological Consultants
14 Jubilee Street, Belleknowes, Dunedin, New Zealand 9011
barrydouglas@xtra.co.nz
Fresh from his PhD research at Cambridge, Bob Carter returned in 1968 to the
Otago Geology Department as a lecturer in Cenozoic paleontology and stratigraphy.
I was fortunate to be among the first group of students to attend Bobs lectures.
Bob made an immediate impact in his teaching at Otago. His lectures on functional
morphology, taxonomy, paleoecology, stratigraphy, Recent and ancient sedimentary
environments and paleoclimate change with relevance to New Zealand strata were
the conceptual roots from which I and many of his students formulated their
approach to postgraduate research. Bob was an inspiring lecturer and he involved
24
his students in his research interest. In those early years Bob also forged the link
between the Geology Department and the Universitys Portobello Marine Biological
Station through his close association with the then Director Dr Betty Batham. He took
his research students to sea, out over the Otago shelf on the University research
vessel Munida, to observe at first hand the sediment-fauna relationships of modern
communities as retrieved from sea-floor grab samples. Under heavy swell, Bob was
a better sailor than I was!
Bobs dedication to facilitate excellence in research was exemplified by the energy
and enthusiasm he exuded in his self-driven task of updating and further developing
the molluscan collection in the Geology Department Museum at Otago. He worked
tirelessly in the evenings and weekends in the museum or in the adjoining curators
room under the watchful portraits of Marwick, Finlay, Hutton and Fleming, as he
catalogued specimens and developed a formidable illustrated reference card system
(pre-computers). His new specimens were foraged from field collections from both
North and South Island (NZ) and elsewhere. Bob never missed an opportunity to
improve the collection. I recall, in 1971, when he dispatched me to collect type
section specimens from the bed of the Waiau River at Clifden during a temporary
controlled low river level. It was a case of one eye on the task and one eye on the
rising water level! Long after his departure from Otago the curatorship and welfare of
the molluscan fossil collection was of foremost concern to Bob. Our last conversation
specifically related to this matter.
Bob often invited his students to accompany him in the field and this was also
generally the case when he was in the company of a visiting distinguished
researcher. He generously offered his students every opportunity. He introduced his
students to the key field sections of the regional Cretaceous-Cenozoic sequence.
Bobs observations were acute, his commentary informative and his questions
thought provoking. I have had the opportunity to revisit many of those sections over
the years and without exception I am reminded of the occasion of my first visit to
those sites with Bob. Such was the influence of Bob and his teaching, that in the
years gone by, there is hardly a day when logging a cored bore or measuring a
stratigraphic section in southern New Zealand that I have not thought of Bob Carter
and been grateful for the skills of observation and detailed recording I developed
from his teaching.
Bob supervised my MSc investigation of the South Canterbury Tengawai River
section. In 1973, on a day trip to Lauder to collect oncolites he introduced me to the
non-marine sediments of Central Otago. That same year we co-authored a report on
the Otago lignite deposits for ICI (NZ) Ltd. in collaboration with associated work
carried out at the Otago School of Mines. The thrust of my future research and
employment specialisation was nurtured in those early discussions with Bob on
Otago-Southland non-marine sedimentary environments.
Bob was one to quip a cheeky remark. I vividly recall the occasion around 1977 on
the isolated Doolans Saddle track between the Gibbston Coalpit Saddle and the
Lower Nevis Valley where we bogged the Land Rover to the axle and were almost
immediately accosted by an enraged high country station owner. Infuriated with
Bobs quip in defence of the situation the frustrated landowner swung at Bob. Bob
25
dodged the blow, but the fist made contact with Bobs tartan cap which was sent
flying through the air.
Bob stood tall in defence of good science practice and honesty. I was grateful for his
support in1977 during my challenges to aspects of the Upper Clutha hydro scheme
and again in the late 1970s when I was embroiled in argument with the Mines
Department over the Central Otago coal drilling fiasco. Bobs departure from Otago
was a huge loss. His book Climate: The Counter Consensus champions the pile of
books on the top of the piano in my lounge. Bobs legacy will live on with this
geologist!
#11 An influential Australasian ODP/IODP proponent

Neville Exon
Australian and New Zealand IODP Program Scientist, Australian National University
Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia
neville.exon@anu.edu.au
Bob Carter, an influential geologist and marine geologist, remained an important
supporter of ocean drilling throughout his long and distinguished career. In fact, Bob,
then at James Cook University (JCU), was one of the leaders in getting Australia
established as a member in the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) in 1988. A number of
us played a part in that wonderful step forward for Australian geoscience and marine
geoscience, but Bob was a personable, enthusiastic, lucid and effective advocate.
He hosted the ODP Secretariat for a time at JCU, and was lead proponent and then
CoChief Scientist of the highly successful Southwest Pacific Gateways ODP Leg
181 in 1998. That leg drilled seven sites in deep water east of New Zealand,
investigating the effects of changing current patterns over time. It was especially
notable for investigating the EoceneOligocene unconformity that represents the start
of a fast, cold current around at least a part of Antarctica, and the production of
increased volumes of cold bottom water.
In late 2009, Bob joined IODP Expedition 317 in the Canterbury Basin east of New
Zealand, which was investigating sea-level fluctuations as represented by prograding
wedges of carbonate sediments laid down mostly in the last 20 million years (Figs 2,
7). I remember a press conference about the expedition in Townsville before the
expedition, when the reporters immediately asked him questions about his climate
skepticism. He said simply that the past sea-level fluctuations being investigated on
this expedition were clearly driven by climate change, that his skepticism of modern
global warming had nothing to do with the expedition, and referred the press to the
expedition leaders for more information. Later he asked me with an amused smile
Did I handle that OK?
Bob was a paleontologist, stratigrapher, marine geologist and environmental
scientist, who started his geological career in New Zealand and earned degrees from
the University of Otago and the University of Cambridge. He was Professor and
Head of School at James Cook University from 1981 to 1999, and there developed a
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strong marine geology group. During that time, he continued to carry out research in
New Zealand, particularly in the Whanganui Basin (Fig. 11), where he recognised
the opportunity to test sequencestratigraphic models in PlioPleistocene sediments
that were deposited during a period of known glacialinterglacial sealevel changes.
Talking to various geological friends of his, they all say that his skills as a
sedimentologist, teacher and advocate of geology, plus his open and warm style,
made him an outstanding colleague and human being. We will miss you Bob.
Fig. 11. Bob Carter, speaking as leader of a field trip to the Whanganui Basin in New
Zealand, in about 1994. Steve Abbott, his then PhD student (now at Geoscience
Australia) is holding the umbrella, as any good student would do for his esteemed
supervisor. Photo source: Brad Pillans.
#12 - An insightful and inspirational geologist

Ewan Fordyce
ewan.fordyce@otago.ac.nz
From the outside perspective (I knew Bob not very well when I took over his office),
Bob appeared an energetic, insightful and often inspirational geologist who was
unafraid to challenge conventional wisdoms. He could ignore or sideline troublesome
facts in the promotion of an interesting idea, which is important in science. I heard
Bobs GSNZ Hochstetter Lecture in 1975 when I was a student at University of
27
Canterbury, and remember that there was some tooth-sucking from older geologists
at the deluge of information, the mix of ideas, and flamboyant rapid fire and use of
two projectors! - the vivid image is still in mind. At Otago, Bob ranged widely through
basin studies in the broad sense, and made enduring contributions. Its interesting
that he didn't write much in paleontology, in spite of being appointed to work on that
field, but his early paper on borings in bivalves is still cited, and he made really
important fossil collections of marine invertebrates that are now in the Geology
Museum at University of Otago. The work that Bob did with Richard Norris on
southern basins and plate tectonics seemed ground-breaking to me, especially when
we consider that was in the days when others in New Zealand geology were
reluctant to accept rapid and major Neogene movement on the Alpine Fault. The
Norris and Carter report on the Waiau Basin didn't get the recognition it deserved,
but it inspired and/or contributed to other studies. Bob recognised the Marshall
unconformity (Fig. Back cover), still a contentious feature (Marshall didnt believe in
it, and it is not a paraconformity as proposed). He made original contributions in
stratigraphy, including recognition of New Zealand stages as Oppelzones, although
the latter didnt stick; after Bob left Otago, JD Campbell was quick to remove the
oppelzone appelation from our Museum displays. Bobs concept of the Kaikoura
Synthem was much ahead of its time (building on ideas from another inspired
geologist, Harold Wellman, who conceived the big cycles in 1953), and it was good
to see that Mortimer et al. acknowledged Bobs contributions in their big review of
New Zealand stratigraphy in NZJGG in 2014. Bob worked very effectively with Lionel
Carter, too, on shelf-slope settings. He was one of the lead writers on the big ODP
Leg 181 Initial Report on work off the eastern South Island. Another major
contribution was the work with Tim Naish on Whanganui Basin - really important on a
global scale as one of few onshore localities that preserves most of the Pleistocene
glacioeustatic cycles. All in all, Bob did some memorably impressive science. Many
will acknowledge his stimulation. I owe him not only for the intellectual stimulation,
but also because he got tired of the wait for promotion in the days before one could
apply for it - and went to a professorship at James Cook University, leading to my
appointment at Otago where this tribute was written in the former Carter office.
#13 Go-to person for A Continent on the Move

Ian Graham
GNS Science
i.graham@gns.cri.nz
Our paths crossed first when I was a raw first-year student at Otago University in
1974. There Bob's inspirational lecturing, dazzling intellect and enthusiasm for his
subject were instrumental in my decision to pursue geoscience as a career. One
memory that sticks from that time was his (surprising, but gratifying) use of my
father's series of Royal Society papers on the North Otago shelf fauna in his lectures
- my father was a commercial fisherman, self-taught as a marine biologist. It was a
great privilege to be able to collaborate with and co-author several papers with Bob
in subsequent years. Bob was one of the 'go-to' people for the original 2008 A
Continent on the Move New Zealand Geoscience into the 21st Century [GSNZ
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Misc. Publ. 124, 388 pp.]. His contribution as a sub-editor was outstanding, as were
his original articles. His four-page piece on Charles Fleming, in particular, is not only
most elegantly written, but is an important tribute to New Zealand's most-celebrated
geoscientist. Despite expressing misgivings about one article in Chapter 11, Bob
described the revised 2015 Second Edition [A Continent on the Move New Zealand
Geoscience Revealed; GSNZ Misc. Publ. 141, 408 pp.] as 'a triumph'. He was
undoubtedly one of the finest scientists I ever had the privilege to work with - his
meticulous gathering and analysis of data, and his insightful interpretation of their
meaning, were rare commodities, and his contribution to scientific debate on
important issues will be missed.
#14 Two Bob Carter field stories

Bruce Hayward
Geomarine Research
19 Debron Avenue, Remuera, Auckland, New Zealand 1050
b.hayward@geomarine.org.nz
It was relatively late in Bobs career that we became research colleagues and good
friends, so I will leave it to the many others who have known him a lot longer to write
about his research career and always friendly gentleman-like character. Instead I
recount two events that still today bring a smile to my face as I remember the Bob I
knew.
(A) Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 181
My involvement with Bob started on ODP Leg 181 where Bob was Co-Chief Scientist
and I was a first-time micropaleontologist on board. The first site we cored was in
relatively shallow water in Canterbury Bight (Hole 1119) and it was the site he
personally had wanted drilled. The prime role of the micropaleontologists on board
was to provide rapid age assessments of the cored sediment within hours of it being
hauled on board, so that the chief scientists can monitor where we are in the
sequence and make decisions if needed on what kind of coring is required and when
to stop.
On my first 12-hour shift, 9 m-long cores were arriving on deck every 45 min and it
was our job to go up and collect sediment from each core catcher, take it back to the
lab to wash out the mud, dry it and then examine for age diagnostic foraminifera.
This was frenetic and there was no way I could keep up. In hindsight I probably
should have only processed every third core catcher, but this was the first hole and
we were all learning the ropes. After lunch Bob sauntered in to see how we were
going and to get the latest age determinations (which later we started writing up on
the blackboard for all visitors to see). He saw my predicament with samples all
around me and with very little encouragement and a smile on his face he assisted in
the lab washing of samples quite unheard of for a Co-Chief Scientist to be doing
(Fig. 12). As a paleontologist early in his career, Bob always recognised the value of
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the fossil record in helping date the sedimentary record and unravel the paleoclimate
and paleoceanographic history of the region we were studying.
Fig. 12. Bob Carter, the CoChief, pitching in and washing

foraminifera samples with
Agata di Stephano
(nannofossils, Sicily) and
Julianne Fenner (diatoms,
Germany) on ODP Leg 181,
1998 off eastern South Island.
Photo source: Bruce Hayward.
Later in the trip the tasks of the Co-Chiefs became more demanding as they had to
read, edit and synthesise the preliminary results and reports of all the scientists on
each hole soon after it was drilled and while the next hole was going down. I
sometimes wandered past their joint office and one day snapped both of them fast
asleep in their swivel chairs in front of their computer screens (Fig. 13) not at all
surprising considering the very long hours they were working.
Fig. 13. Nick McCave and Bob

Carter (right), Co-Chief
Scientists on ODP Leg 181,
napping in their ship-board
office during the long hours of
writing up preliminary reports
of the expedition, 1998 (see
also Fig. 20). Photo source:
Bruce Hayward.
(B) The Whangarei field trip saga, 2002

In 2002 I was convenor of the Whangarei GSNZ Conference. We had midconference field trips one day for everyone. All trips were arranged to share the first
stop at the limestone-allochthon contact in Hikurangi Quarry and we had arranged
minivans and drivers and buses to take all 250 participants there from Forum North
in Whangarei. At the quarry, Mike Isaac was to lead the observations and
discussion, but he had not turned up. Someone got a call from Chris Hollis that the
minivan he was driving (with Mike Isaac on board) had broken down back in
Whangarei. Apparently there was a loud alarm going off inside the vehicle. They
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were unable to turn it off nor diagnose what was causing it, but presumed it to be an
engine fault. With no warning Cam Nelson was asked to talk about the limestone and
paleokarst and I had to invent some words about how the allochthon had come in
over the top. Meanwhile Chris Hollis had rung the hire company office in Auckland
and the Hiace van service garage in Whangarei. When they joined up with us 45 min
late at the quarry, Chris explained that the service man put his head inside the van
and removed one of the participants coats that had been neatly hung on the
emergency door release lever thereby depressing it and setting off the alarm.
Bob Carter, in his usual unflappable manner, took all this in his stride. It was clearly
not his fault that a coat hook in the van should also double as an emergency escape
lever. His actions certainly caused me many anxious minutes while I tried to resolve
how we could get all the trips back on track. Later in the day at one of our last brief
stops (as we were still running behind schedule) I snapped Bob dozing on the grass
on the side of the road (Fig. 14)....perhaps the events of the day had caught up with
him!
Fig. 14. Bob Carter (identified only by the name tag!) taking a short nap on the side
of the road, Taurikura Bay, GSNZ Whangarei Conference field trip, 2002. Photo
source: Bruce Hayward.
Two days earlier, Bob had been on another field trip that I was leading. At the top of
the Brynderwyns we got out to discuss the geology of the spectacular view and use
the toilets. As we went to move off it was noted that Bob was missing and after a
frantic search we found him seated in the cafe above admiring the view and enjoying
his coffee.
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#15 - An inspirational teacher and research mentor

Doug Haywick
Department of Earth Sciences, University of South Alabama
Mobile, Alabama, USA 36688
dhaywick@southalabama.edu
Excuse this lengthy background, but it provides context for what follows. The first
time I ever talked to Bob Carter was as a student in Canada. I had applied for a
Commonwealth Fellowship to study in Australia after I finished my BS degree at
McMaster. I had received advice about quality universities in Australia from my
Honours mentor as well as others at McMaster. Each had their personal
recommendations about good sedimentology universities, but most agreed that
James Cook University (JCU) was one of them and that Bob Carter was the person
to work with Down Under. So I selected JCU, but only as my second choice. I think
Roger Walker (my research mentor) preferred ANU. I eventually got a letter from
Canberra stating that I won one of the fellowships, but the decision was so slow in
coming that I had instead accepted an offer to do a Masters project at Memorial
University. That's how I came to work with Noel James. Anyway, how does Bob fit
into this? Well I had taken a summer job with a petroleum company in Calgary and
one very early morning I got a knock on the door to the dormitory room that I was
staying in from another sleepy-eyed dorm resident saying that there was a phone
call for me on the hall floor telephone from Australia. I thought it was a joke, but
when I picked up the receiver, there was Bob! The first thing that he said to me over
the phone was "Why did you choose JCU second on your application for the
Commonwealth Fellowship?" Then he asked me "What time is it over there
anyway?" The funny thing is that at no time did Bob's question strike me as being
arrogant. He just said it as a matter of fact and that stuck with me. After I explained
that I had already accepted another offer, Bob told me that the next time I applied for
the fellowship (there was apparently no doubt in his mind that I would apply again
after the end of my MS degree) to choose JCU first because it was the best
university in Australia for the type of research that I was interested in doing. Then he
went on to talk to me for about half an hour about how best to prepare myself for the
transition into graduate school and what a joy it was going to be for me to work with
Noel James. To a recent graduate like me, this meant a LOT. Here was a total
stranger volunteering advice/support and doing it from the other side of the planet. I
had already decided to reapply for the Commonwealth Fellowship, but after I hung
up the phone there was no doubt in my mind which university was going to be first
on the list the next time around. I never regretted my decision to go to JCU. It ended
up being the smartest move in my career and I owe it all to that poorly timed phone
call from Bob.
Bob was an excellent teacher, particularly in the field (Fig. 15), and a very caring
individual. He was both patient and very supportive of me throughout the study (see
below). His office door was always open to me whenever I ran into difficulties in my
study or had a personal problem. I don't want to think about the number of times he
had to help me with sequence stratigraphic interpretations. But the one event that
really demonstrated how far he supported me was the time he took on the Federal
Government over funding. The Commonwealth Fellowship was supposed to provide
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Fig. 15. Bob at the Miocene Pareora River section in Canterbury, one of his New
Zealand favourites, explaining the sedimentological significance of the deposits to
Cecilia McHugh of Queens College, New York. Photo source: Greg Browne.
additional support for students to purchase supplies during their stay in Australia, but
because my study was focused on a New Zealand research site (Tangoio, Hawkes
Bay), the Australian agency that provided funding balked on any additional support
for me. "It's a New Zealand study!" they argued. "Get the money from the Kiwis!" Bob
disagreed. Moreover, he felt that he should do something about their attitude. So
while on a trip to Canberra, he visited the Minister of Education's office. From what I
recall Bob telling me, he (Bob) requested a face to face meeting with someone in the
Ministry. I am not absolutely sure if it was The Minister himself or just a lackey, but I
do remember Bob saying that he "provided a very convincing argument in favour of
getting me my fair share of the support." Unfortunately the Minister/lackey refused to
budge on his decision. Bob responded that "He was not leaving until the Ministry
changed their mind" at which point the person he was talking to got up, turned off the
light and left the room. Bob sat there in the dark for a few more minutes before he
too departed. He didn't win his/my case, but he damned near did everything possible
to try!
I have been trying to remember if Bob and I ever got into an argument. I don't think
we did. We occasionally disagreed about some interpretations as far as data were
concerned, but to his credit he always treated me as an equal participant in our
research project. I learned after the conclusion of my PhD that he did not agree with
my systems tracts interpretation of the Tangoio study area in Hawkes Bay, New
Zealand, at least not at first. It wasn't until a year after the completion of my PhD
when we (that would be me, Bob and I believe Tim Naish) travelled back to New
Zealand to re-visit the study area that he finally "saw what I saw" in the strata. I took
him to a spot where you could see a large area of the study site and where you could
33
visually trace out bedding surfaces. He sat down on the grass and told us to "bugger
off for a bit while he thought about things". After about 30 minutes he got up and said
"Right.I believe you" and walked off back to the car. Later that night while we were
asleep, he wrote a first draft of a new paper. When he set his mind to it, Bob got
things done. Bob was an amazing geologist and an excellent teacher/mentor to his
students. He also ended up being a good friend to me. I miss him.
#16 Evolution of JCU Marine Geophysics Laboratory

Mal Heron
37 Manersley Place, Townsville
Queensland, Australia 4814
mal.heron@ieee.org
When Bob Carter came to James Cook University (JCU) as Professor of Earth
Sciences, I was a Reader in the Department of Physics. Geology, Physics and
Mathematics shared a 3-storey building that was beginning to stretch at the seams
even though it was only seven years old. Mathematics were appropriately occupying
the top floor, but Bob found himself in confrontation with Professor Jim Ward
(Physics) about the lower two floors and the workshops. Geology was developing a
very successful postgraduate programme and had students sitting in broom
cupboards. Physics had a remarkably well fitted-out precision engineering workshop
to support undergrad laboratories and research. Eventually, with some
encouragement from above, Bob came up with the concept of combining the
Geology and Physics workshops into a shared space, and creating the Marine
Geophysics Laboratory (MGL) as a shared facility.
Initially the sediment laboratory with Bob at the helm dominated the MGL. Bob was
running ODP legs on the JOIDES Resolution from the MGL; John Hughes-Clarke
was doing deep-water side scan sonar with a GLORIA Towfish around the
continental shelf breaks; and Piers Larcombe and Peter Ridd were leading the
sedimentation programme on sediment dynamics on the coasts and in the estuaries.
The collaboration with Physics was sustained by Peter Ridds development of
nephelometer instrumentation and my development of High Frequency (HF) surface
radar for currents and waves. This was a golden era with many graduates and many
more research papers coming out of the MGL. There are a few times in ones life (if
you are lucky) when your spirit is lifted to a high level. This is when your team wins
the grand final; or your daughter wins the national aria competition. The MGL
through the 80s and 90s had this euphoria. It was a good place to work and
individuals were having successes in all directions.
James Cook University was not able to take the MGL jewel and polish it as part of its
treasure chest for the future. During the 90s Bob was challenged by the science of
climate and he progressed on to a world stage. If JCU could not handle the
blossoming MGL, it certainly could not handle the brilliance of Bob Carter. This,
coupled with the coming and going meant that the MGL began to look more like a
normal university unit, and continues on as one of the most financially self-sufficient
units on the campus.
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#17 Tough field experiences

Fiona Hyden
12 Abbey Court, Cerne Abbas,
Dorchester DT2 7JH, England
f.m.hyden@open.ac.uk
Bob was one of two supervisors in the 1970s for my PhD project on temperate-water
carbonates in southern New Zealand. He was always encouraging and supportive,
and his enthusiasm was infectious. He introduced me to the delights of fieldwork,
such as camping in freezing conditions, wading through water (Fig. 16) and driving
across snow at speed all new experiences for a postgrad used to less frontier-like
conditions in the UK.
Fig. 16. Follow me, the

outcrop is this way (says
Bob). Photo source: Bill
Lindqvist.
#18 What a stimulating colleague

Chuck Landis
284 Coast Road, Warrington
Dunedin, New Zealand 9471
landis@clear.net.nz
Bob and I met in October 1963, my first week in New Zealand. Bob was a young ball
of energy with a good sense of humour, the life-of-the-party but also a very switchedon young geologist. He was heading for a paleontological career and was particularly
interested in 'form and function' as well as paleoenvironmental reconstructions. He
was very gregarious, chatty and enquiring. We quickly became good friends.
Shortly after arriving, I was planning a trip to the Key Summit-Hollyford region,
checking out potential projects for my intended PhD research. I asked Bob if he and
Anne would like to join us. So they joined my wife Carolyn, baby Allison and me
35
heading into the wilds of Fiordland. We had a wonderful trip and Bob was a great
person to discuss matters ranging from Atomodesma limestones to Fiordland
tectonics to beech forest distribution, and even the proposed flooding of Lake
Manapouri. Carolyn couldn't believe Bob could talk geology non-stop for 12 hours!
Bob returned to Otago after completing his PhD in Cambridge. Full of ideas and
energy, he became a vital member of the Otago department, stimulating both staff
and students. I found him always a good listening-post with a well-informed
approach to many problems. Bob often courted controversy and I sometimes had
trouble telling whether he was serious or just pulling my leg to check the response.
Looking back, my best times with Bob were in the field ('on the sea' became an
integral part of 'in the field'). He mainly focused on studies of mid- and late-Cenozoic
stratigraphy and paleoenvironments as well as marine/estuarine processes and
evolution of the sea floor around South Island. Although he retained his original
interest in paleontology, he gradually leaned more towards sedimentology, physical
aspects of Quaternary stratigraphy (particularly sequence stratigraphy where he
made important contributions) and later, modern climate change. My last trip with
Bob was to the Chatham Islands with Hamish Campbell in 2006, studying
submergence and later emergence of this fascinating landmass. What a fertile mind!
What a great friend!
#19 Spruce up your attire Piers!

Piers Larcombe
School of Earth & Environment, University of Western Australia, RPS MetOcean
31 Bishop Street, Jolimont, Western Australia, Australia 6014
piers.larcombe@uwa.edu.au
Just before Xmas 1989 a fresh-faced Englishman arrived from a cold UK autumn
into the heat and humidity of a Townsville spring. He was met at the airport by an
energetic and welcoming man, Bob, who took the tired traveller to his house to meet
his wife Anne, daughter Susan, son Jeremy and dog, whose name Ive forgotten, but
memory was never my strong point. Strong though was Bobs hospitality, and his
enthusiasm for immediately educating me about things Great Barrier Reef (GBR)
and geological whilst walking the dog. These factors remained a constant for the
next 25 years or so. I had been lucky enough to walk into what was to become the
leading marine geological group in Australia at the time. Opportunities abounded,
most furnished by Bob. Upon finding himself double-booked, he nominated me and a
youthful Helen Neil (from New Zealand) to co-lead a CSIRO cruise aboard RV
Franklin, taking piston cores in the Queensland Trough an unexpected and
fantastic experience, which might have been daunting if it werent for Bobs calmly
expressed utter confidence in us.
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Fig. 17. Bob impeccably

attired in smart shirt and
bowtie at the lecture podium.
Photo source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Robert_M._Carter).
As many of you will know, Bob had a penchant for sartorial elegance (Fig. 17). I
remember his always elegant dress, especially the waistcoats, smart shirts and
cravats for evenings, his trusty flat cap for windy field conditions, and his famous
Panama hat for almost everywhere else. One sun-repelling wrap-around hat I was
foolish enough to wear on a family photo I sent him, gained the reply Ingrid and the
kids look lovely. But your hat is simply execrable. He was right of course. His
evident enjoyment at teaching me the finer points of describing and analysing core
material from the GBR shelf faded markedly when he realised my likely level of dress
sense (low to zero) and lack of decent shoes (or indeed any shoes) for a days
workshop he and I were giving to the Queensland Government in Brisbane on the
sedimentology of Trinity Bay, Cairns, then a hot topic. With evident (and justified)
horror at my suggested attire, he and Anne drove me to shops in Townsville I never
knew existed, whereupon they liberally spent my money on their choices of trousers,
belt, shirt, tie and shiny black shoes. I still have the shirt, tie and shoes, in near
pristine condition, the latter two of which have probably only ever been worn twice but we did look good that day - even though the then increasingly venerable
Queensland Chief Scientist slept through most of the afternoon.
Bob was indeed a great man. He was the most complete marine geologist I have
ever known and can imagine I will know. I remember us walking along beaches or
talking over an evening beer on the RV James Kirby and having thoughts that maybe
no-one had ever had before. More importantly, he was an outstanding human being
with a respect for those with genuine questions and an ability to explain the key
concepts without talking down to anyone. Much has been written in other places
about his science and his human qualities. Those qualities are undeniable. Anne, we
loved him.
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#20 Bold ideas about New Zealand geology

Daphne Lee
daphne.lee@otago.ac.nz
I can still recall Bobs very first lectures on paleoecology these opened up a whole
new world of ideas for me, and led in due course to my present research career. Bob
took our classes out to Portobello to the Marine Laboratory to spend time looking at
the ecology of modern marine ecosystems with Betty Batham we went out on the
Munida and collected living material, and then related it to fossil assemblages in the
Oamaru and Winton limestones. Fossils came to life again (Fig. 18).
Bob was my 3rd and 4th year project supervisor. As the only two female students at
300-level, Glenys and I wanted two adjacent field areas so Bob recommended
Swinburn on the edge of the Maniototo which I later suggested as a great place to
hold the Otago Geology Department 300-level field school (and it is still held there
today). In a small area were beautifully exposed schist basement rocks, a wide
range of terrestrial and marine sediments, a complex set of volcanic units of the
Waipiata Volcanic Field, and the best exposure of a major fault I had ever seen. Bob
borrowed some of my field photos, including one of the Waihemo Fault, for his 1977
GSNZ Queenstown Conference post-conference field guide. I enjoyed this taste of
field mapping and have worked ever since on fossils like those in the field area and
more recently on maars in the Waipiata Volcanics.
One of the most important pieces of advice I recall from Bob was that it is very
important to have two strings to your bow meaning, I think, that brachiopods alone
(for me) were not enough. Very true, and advice I took. Bob and Anne were very
hospitable to students, and Bill and I appreciated this very much as rather diffident
postgrads. Bob was indirectly responsible for our most enjoyable 18-month stint in
Cambridge in the 1980s - we found a house to rent, and when the landlady asked for
a reference, we discovered she knew Bob - no reference needed!
What we enjoyed most about Bob was his bold ideas-approach to science. He asked
big questions about New Zealand geology and used a range of quantitative methods.
For us he showed how research in New Zealand could contribute internationally to
emerging ideas.
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Fig. 18. The appearance of

fossils in outcrop (here
Tertiary age, coastal San
Francisco) always brought a
twinkle to Bobs eye as he
quickly suggested some
paleoenvironmental or
sequence stratigraphic
interpretation for the deposits.
Photo source: Bill Lindqvist.
#21 Unstoppable, generous and legendary

Keith Lewis
12 Ventnor Drive
Paraparaumu, New Zealand 5032
keithlewis247@icloud.com
[Bob] "Heh! Youve got to bring this story to Dunedin".
Who is this guy? Id been looking forward to a moment of calm after my 20 min talk
at an early 1970s Geological Society of New Zealand Conference.
[Keith] "Sorry, I dont have any travel funds for that."
[Bob] "Well find some."
39
[Keith] "I cant fly down with my rotating blackboard". I needed it to show how
continental shelves develop from offshore/onshore migrations of wave erosion and
depositional lenses during the glacial/interglacial cycles.
[Bob] "Well make one".
There was no stopping this bloke.
[Bob] "Hi, Im Bob Carter".
There never would be any stopping him.
After the Dunedin talks, Bob and Anne invited me up to their lairds castle
overlooking the scarfie city. Its ballroom-sized bathroom seems designed to show off
a huge, mainly maroon, map of The Empire c.1901 frowning down over the clawfoot
bath. After a welcome wallow in the suds, Bob found us a pint bottle of Speights and
we discussed whether 'shelf' was a useful concept pre-Pleistocene. We talked of
family then and sporadically for the next four decades. Meetings were always
marked for me by Bobs great generosity. I cherish books on early expeditions that
he found in second-hand book shops - havens of calm and lost treasures for him. He
was generous also with his time, showing me the spectacular geology and scenery
of Otago, and later of Queensland where he also knew the best places to see
cassowary, platypus, pythons and miniature wallabies. A generous friend indeed.
On one early trip, we stopped to observe the dam beginning to tower above
Cromwell. After explaining the project, and possible administrative and geological
faults, he offered to bet a bottle of 45 South whisky that the new road, being cut into
strata dipping down towards the soon-to-be-drowned apricot terraces, would cost
more than what was then the original budget for the whole "think big" project.
Fortunately I hesitated. He was never afraid to back his interpretations.
Bobs interest in erosion, deposition, and active geology generally, didnt stop at the
shoreline. As half of the Carter (Bob) and Carter (Lionel) duo (one enthusiastic
American reader asked me once if the authors were married!), he helped explore the
canyon system that heads a thousand kilometres eastward from its 'headwaters' off
Otago; it was the ultimate sink for Otagos eroded sediments. He was a prime mover
in getting Deep Sea Drilling to New Zealand waters. In 2002, he joined a cruise
looking at the sinks for the flood of sediment from the eroding North Island East
Coast (Fig. 19). He photographed the uplifted marine terraces and helped plot the
lenses of sediment that were building up the continental shelf, thereby bringing his
interest in New Zealands offshore Pleistocene cycles full circle. He also collected
mainly comic shots of participants. The one forming Fig. 19 shows him helping to
launch a corer - the self-deprecating caption is totally his, part of his post-cruise slide
show celebrating science and Tolkien
Bobs incredible breadth of knowledge is legendary. So is his loyalty to old mates,
although in later years, it became a matter of, as Basil Fawlty might have said and
my partner Robyn did say, "Dont mention the weather"!
We will miss him.
40
Fig. 19. Bob helping launch a

corer from RV Tangaroa on a
Source to Sink research cruise
off Ruatoria, eastern North
Island in 2002. The selfdeprecating caption is totally
his, part of his post-cruise
slide show celebrating science
and Tolkien. Photo source:
Keith Lewis.
#22 The wilds of Westland and Fiordland

Jon Lindqvist
Consultant, 76 Passmore Crescent
Maori Hill, Dunedin, New Zealand 9010
jonlind@ihug.co.nz
I met Bob when I was a 1st year student at Otago in 1969. He impressed me during a
fieldtrip through the Dunedin succession, striding fast up to an outcrop in the Fairfield
coal mine, perhaps 50 m along the track from the bus before most of the students
gathered their wits and followed.
I have fond memories of a 3rd year extramural trip Bob led during the 1971 May
vacation across the North Island from the Whanganui coast to Cape Kidnappers.
41
The next year Bob supervised my 4th year student project in the Inangahua Basin,
north Westland. My developing interests in things sedimentary were strongly
influenced by his process-orientated approach. Part of my Inangahua work Bob later
incorporated into a paper on the Marshall surface [Jl Roy Soc NZ (1982) 12: 11-46].
At the same time fellow student Ian Crooks worked on the Matiri Valley section in
Murchison Basin [Jl Roy Soc NZ (1976) 6: 459-487]. I recall Bob giving up a family
Easter to accompany both of us in the field. This early experience installed a taste
for fieldwork in remote parts of New Zealand.
During the next two years Bob supervised my MSc work on Mid-Cretaceous,
Eocene, and Oligocene sediments on the Fiordland coast east of Puysegur Point
and in Preservation Inlet. While he was on sabbatical at Oxford he read and mailed
back instalments of my hand-written thesis draft in good time, complete with copious
comments in red ink. Part of the initial bout of fieldwork in Fiordland starting in
February 1973 was supported by Otago Universitys research vessel Munida. Other
department staff and students working with Munida assistance around the southern
sounds and tops included John Coggon, Dick Henley, Graeme Oliver, Gary Post,
Chris Badger, and John Begg. Bob and I also spent a fruitful five days on Chalky
Island looking over a remarkable Oligocene retrogradational succession of boulder
breccia, turbidite sands, and coccolith limestone. I suspect the work on Chalky
Island, coupled with Deep Sea Drilling Project reports that were then appearing,
boosted Bobs interest in offshore sedimentation. He worked at an alarming pace,
developing two manuscripts in his field notebook in neat tiny script [Sedimentology
(1975) 22: 465-483; Pacific Geology (1977) 12: 1-46]. I remember during our steam
back to the Puysegur Point Lighthouse landing in Preservation Inlet, the Munida
crew chuckling over Bobs very correct use of two-way radio etiquette, with copious
rogers and overs, inciting a dour fisherman to chip in and ask if we had a Roger on
board.
#23 A masterful writer and editor

David Lowe
d.lowe@waikato.ac.nz
Bob Carter I recall seemed a somewhat intimidating figure during my early graduate
days, clearly very knowledgeable and a powerful speaker (his memorable
Hochstetter Lecture in 1975 being a terrific and daunting introduction to graduate
study). In later years I was very impressed with the synthesis he wrote on New
Zealand climate since 3.9 Ma, based around findings from ODP Site 1119, that
encompassed both a broad perspective and many layers of detail from terrestrial and
marine environments [Jl Roy Soc NZ (2005) 35: 9-42]. It was only in my working as
(sub)editor of Chapter 11 Climate Swings and Roundabouts in the second edition of
A Continent on the Move [COTM; GSNZ Misc Publ 141 (2015), 408 pp.] that I
engaged more directly with Bob and discovered his very supportive character,
helpfulness, and willingness to go the extra mile to get things right, along with his
42
wide and deep knowledge and strong writing ability. Bob had been the subeditor of
Chapter 11 for the first edition of COTM (published in 2008) and had prepared an
overview of the chapter, including a masterly diagrammatic synthesis of New
Zealands history since 65 Ma. In beginning the revision process of Chapter 11, I
read Bobs overview very closely. Apart from a few editorial changes dealing with
updates on new articles and so on in the revised chapter, I could not improve on it,
and so it stands virtually unchanged as an exemplary introduction. As well as
penning the overview, Bob also expertly wrote or co-wrote four other articles in
COTM: Plumbing the Depths, Core Beliefs, Flemings Legacy, and Kaleidoscope.
During my editing process, Bob additionally provided me with a lot of support by
reading in detail all the revised or new articles, suggesting editorial improvements
and ideas for additions (including figures) to enhance the texts. He also provided
possible new text or captions (rather than simply comments such as needs
improving or similar). It was Bobs (good) idea to add the seminal work of Brad
Pillans on Whanganui Basin uplift to the article Flemings legacy, which I think
remains as one of the best and most readable articles in the entire volume. His
expertise and selfless help were greatly appreciated.
#24 - ODP Leg 181 Co-Chiefs

Nick McCave
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge
Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EQ, UK
mccave@esc.cam.ac.uk
In 1993 Bob and I found ourselves sequestered in the science lab of a rusting
Russian research ship, the Akademic Lavrentyev, indulging in a little coring and
seismic work east of New Zealand. We were stuck in the science lab because we
had a toaster oven there and a supply of TV dinners, necessary to sustain us for the
next three weeks. The food was pretty awful, as we had been informed by members
of the staff at New Zealands National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research
(NIWA) who had been on the ship on its first leg. The former New Zealand
Oceanographic Institute (having been incorporated with other research groups to
form NIWA) was the beneficiary of the first action of the Board to sell their ship
Rapuhia and hire something cheaper. This something came down from Vladivostok
complete with a couple of women in the galley, ostensibly the cooks, who having
entered into a knife fight were separated by working on alternate shifts. Whether the
food would have been half or twice as bad were both to have worked simultaneously
remains a moot point. Anyway meal times were announced over the Tannoy with a
phrase concluding 'enjoy your meal' that was pronounced in such a way that it
sounded rather like the name of a person, N.J. Yormil. So we, that is Bob, Lionel
Carter, Phil Weaver and I, plus technical staff, became the 'Yormil gang'. Lionel and I
had previously conducted a study of much of the existing seismic work on the
sediment drifts east of New Zealand and so talk down in the science lab turned to
what should we do about finding out something of the history recorded by the
sediments displayed in our seismic profiles.
43
This naturally led to the suggestion that we should write a proposal to bring the ODP
drill ship JOIDES Resolution down to this part of the world in order to conduct a
lengthy drilling campaign. Originally we conceived of a two leg (that is to say four
months) strategy, one leg to be devoted to drilling the sediment drifts under the deep
western boundary current (DWBC) and the other to be devoted to examination of the
great deep sea fan and turbidite systems which end up under the DWBC. We all had
various suggestions and wrote bits at sea, but I think it's fair to say that Bob did the
majority of the work in writing and assembling these pieces into a coherent proposal.
As he was the Australian representative on one of the ODP committees he was able
to steer and chart the progress of our proposals through the ODP committee
structure. The first thing that had to happen was the merging of the two legs into one.
This proposal went through more than one iteration until it was approved for drilling.
There was then the problem that although 'approved' the ship may be at the other
end of the Earth, and being approved is not the same as being scheduled for
drilling. Eventually the JOIDES Resolution came down to the Southwest Pacific and
drilled Leg 180 in the Woodlark Basin, continuing on to Sydney. There we did
various PR exercises to promote the Australian geological community's involvement
in the Ocean Drilling Program and were marshalled by Bob into demonstrating the
great scientific and economic benefit that would accrue to Australian science from
the country's continued participation in the ODP. Eventually in August 1998, 5 years
after the first rough draft, we set sail with Bob and I as Co-Chief Scientists straight
into inclement weather in the Tasman Sea (as usual) to work our way across to the
first drill site (ODP 1119) in Bob's happy hunting ground just off Canterbury. The leg
was most successful in acquiring some very long sediment records; in particular we
recovered a 20 million year record under the DWBC at a site (ODP 1123) on the
North Chatham drift.
Bob, Lionel and I assembled a range of papers published in 2004 as a special issue
of Marine Geology (vol. 205) recording our drilling activities and their contribution to
understanding the Paleoceanographic Evolution of the Southwest Pacific Gateway.
This remains an absolutely key area for research on the history of the deep ocean
circulation as it is the entry point of deep water to the largest of all the oceans,
containing about 50% of the water on Earth.
There was one final thing we had to do and that was to write an introductory
synthesis chapter for the Scientific Reports volume of the ODP (Fig. 20). I don't think
any of us accorded the highest priority to this because although they may be useful
works of synthesis, the Scientific Reports are not particularly highly cited (e.g. not
listed in the ISI database) so we agreed that we would all write a few thousand
words on different aspects of the drilling and stick it together as a chapter that might
come in with a dozen figures at under 10,000 words. Lionel and I duly wrote about
3000 words each and sent them off to Bob. It is a testimony to Bob's phenomenal
energy that a couple of months later we were presented with a hefty manuscript
containing 32,000 words, 26 figures and 362 references that printed out at 111
pages as the record of our ODP Leg 181 research cruise [Proc. Ocean Drilling
Program, Scientific Results (2004) 181, 111 pp.]. This was one of Bob's great
strengths an ability to synthesise a wide range of geological, paleontological,
geophysical, and geochemical data to produce a coherent geological history. We are
all in his debt for the origin, conduct and records of ODP Leg 181, a major
contribution to offshore New Zealand geology.
44
Fig. 20. The often onerous nature of long hours and write ups for the Co-Chief
Scientists could take its toll. Here Bob and Nick were caught resting/napping (left) by
the ship's photographer who wished to record the activities of the Co-Chiefs, but the
whirring shutter was heard and a few seconds later (right) they were wide-eyed and
alert as ever. Photo source: ODP Leg 181 Ship Photographer.
#25 Partners in crime in Whanganui Basin

Tim Naish
Antarctic Research Unit, Victoria University of Wellington
PO Box 600, Wellington, New Zealand 6012
timothy.naish@vuw.ac.nz
I was in a tent in Antarctica when I received a radio message, relayed from Gavin
Dunbar in New Zealand, that Bob Carter had passed away. It was a shock that this
vibrant, outspoken, and sometimes controversial personality, who had been a huge
influence in my life, was no longer with us. As I spent time in that tent, I reflected on
wonderful memories of Townsville during my post-doc, and working with Bob for
many years after as a partner in crime in Whanganui Basin, New Zealand (Fig. 21).
Bob and I had seen less and less of each other over the years. Partly because our
paths crossed less as I became immersed in Antarctic research, and if Im honest,
partly because our views on climate change science began to diverge.
That is not to say that Bob wasnt, and didnt remain, very important to me as a
friend, mentor and highly respected colleague. I will always be grateful for the day
that Bob and Anne came to our flat in Auckland, and convinced me to go to James
Cook University for a post-doctoral research fellowship. It was a fantastic time, and
one of the most stimulating and creative periods of my career. Back then Bob was at
the peak of his powers in the field of sequence stratigraphy and sea-level change.
He provided me with free reign and funding to continue researching in Whanganui
Basin and writing up papers from my PhD. We travelled to the USA, Japan and Italy
looking at classical Plio-Pleistocene marine sequences, and together with Brad
Pillans, Alan Beu, Brent Alloway and Steve Abbott we brought the detailed evidence
of Quaternary global sea-level change recorded in Whanganui Basin to the attention
of the world.
45
Many memorable moments were shared with Bob. One particular dinner hosted by
Bill Lindqvist (his brother-in-law) in San Francisco during an AGU conference comes
to mind. Bob had also invited over for dinner Sir Nicholas Shackleton, the
grandfather of deep-marine oxygen isotope stratigraphy. Bob and his archaeologist
brother, Patrick, had been friends with Nick in Cambridge. It was a slightly surreal
experience, as Steve Abbott, Bob, Sir Nick and I made the trip across the Golden
Gate Bridge to the Lindqvists place in a stretched limo. As a naive and slightly
intimidated early career scientist I asked Shackleton why he thought our Whanganui
work was so important. He responded, Dear boy, because it proves that I was right!
He was referring to the fact we had documented the physical evidence of water
depth and shoreline changes corresponding to the numerous glacial-interglacial
cycles of global sea-level implied by his oxygen isotope records.
Fig. 21. Bob in

jet boat
traversing the
Whanganui
River PlioPleistocene
section. Photo
source: Steve
Abbott.
During the Townsville days, and following my move back to New Zealand to join
GNS Science, Bob and I co-authored 16 papers on Whanganui Basin stratigraphy
and sea-level change. Never one to accept the status quo, Bob would continually
challenge orthodox views, and our days and evenings doing fieldwork were filled with
good-humoured debate, and many discussions that soon wandered a long way from
the original point at issue. Those who knew Bob well, knew he loved playing the
devils advocate, and he taught me one of the most important qualities of a scientist;
never stop questioning and dont be lulled into following the status quo. Bobs many
and varied scientific contributions always advanced the field and the thinking, and
although not everyone agreed with his views, he challenged us all to dig a bit
deeper.
He had a strong sense of history and often talked fondly, and with sense of
reverence, about the contributions of the great New Zealand geologists and
paleontologists (e.g. Fleming, Suggate, Wellman, Finlay, Marwick and Hector) that
had gone before. I have no doubt that the contribution that Professor Robert Merlin
Carter has made to New Zealand geoscience will be remembered with a similar
feeling of significance and appreciation.
46
Below (Fig. 22) is a photo from the last time I saw Bob, at the Brisbane International
Geological Congress in 2012. It was a fun dinner with some of the great characters
of the New Zealand geosciences community together. Bob never forgot his friends,
and I will be forever grateful for knowing him as well as I did.
Fig. 22. Four of Bobs close geoscience colleagues snapped at a Bob Carter
organised dinner gathering in Brisbane during the Brisbane International
Geological Congress (IGC) in 2012. From left to right: Brad Pillans, Lionel Carter,
Bob Carter, Cam Nelson and Bruce Hayward. Photo source: Tim Naish.
#26 Sailing with Bob

Helen Neil
National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA)
Private Bag 14901, Kilbirnie, Wellington, New Zealand 6241
helen.neil@niwa.co.nz
Bob was a great mentor to many students and colleagues over the years and I was
fortunate to encounter Bobs energy early in my career. As an undergraduate I had
the opportunity to join a New Zealand Oceanographic Institute (now NIWA) voyage,
led by Lionel Carter, with Cam Nelson, Nick McCave, and Bob Carter. This was to be
the first of a number of voyages where I was privileged to sail with Bob. My enduring
memory of those times is the many evenings in the coring lab or container
processing mud, often cold and a little unstable on the running swells. Bob would
pop by each evening, arriving by stealth in his plaid house shoes, bearing a few
squares of chocolate for me and a wee tipple of sherry for him different times to
today. Each evening started with a discussion of the mud, but frequently veered off
onto any topic or thought that grabbed Bobs interest. Bob remained totally dedicated
47
and engaged with science conversations throughout his life. Over the years my
conversations with Bob continued to range, and regardless of the side of the
conversation we positioned ourselves, at times disagreeing for the sake of it, it is
Bobs passion for science in its widest guise that remains with me.
#27 An exceptional sedimentary/marine geologist

Cam Nelson
c.nelson@waikato.ac.nz
As a young Lecturer in Geology (University of Auckland) then Earth Sciences
(University of Waikato) in the early to mid-1970s I quickly became aware of several
important New Zealand (NZ) sedimentary geology-related papers coming out of the
Geology Department at the University of Otago involving especially an R.M. Carter
(and at times co-authors R.J. Norris and/or C.A. Landis, and sometimes others). The
papers covered three themes: (1) Relating the Cenozoic sedimentary record of
southern NZ to the developing concept of plate tectonics [e.g. Earth & Plan. Sci. Lett.
31 (1976), 85-94; Jl Geol. Soc. London 135 (1978), 191-205]; (2) The significance of
Oligocene unconformities in Australasia [e.g. Nature 237 (1972), 12-13]; and (3)
Possible new nomenclature for NZs Tertiary time-scale and rocks [e.g. NZJGG
(1970) 13, 350-363; Jl Roy. Soc. NZ (1974) 4, 5-18]. The graduate students in my
MSc Sedimentary Geology courses at the time were required to read, understand
and critically assess these papers, and to consider their relevance in relation to our
North Island Tertiary successions. We kind of got to know and admire the work of
this Bob Carter remotely, before ever meeting him.
And then in 1975 I met Bob for the first time when he became the GSNZ Hochstetter
Lecturer and travelled NZ giving talks on various aspects of the above topics. At
Waikato we publicised the occasion widely and captured a crowd of >100 people
crammed into our large 1st year laboratory. Bob required dual 35 mm slide projectors
and accompanying orchestral audio for his Hochstetter Lecture, delivering with
theatrical enthusiasm a superb talk that greatly impressed the audience. I was
captured by Bob from that time and we remained firm friends ever since.
Bob appreciated that my interests in sedimentary geology spanned very much into
the marine waters around NZ, having been involved in a Tangaroa 1 research cruise
to Marlborough Sounds in 1974 and was to be Co-Chief of a University of Waikatorelated cruise to the Three Kings platform in 1978 to study the sea-floor carbonate
sediments. In 1978 Bob had some association with a planned Joint US/NZ
Workshop on Ocean Exploration and he twisted my arm to present an overview of
the state of marine geology in NZ at that time [Univ Auckland Proc Report P1 (1978),
A45-91]. That summary, I think, was partly responsible for Bob following a strong
research interest in all things marine geological in NZ in subsequent years. In my
talk the first slide showed two cartoon characters fishing from a wharf, one saying
Ocean floor below the ground, Tell us something real profound. Undeniably, Bob
48
Carter and colleagues have gone on to do this for NZ, with dozens of relevant
publications covering large areas of the sea floor off eastern NZ in particluar.
Following my participation in 1982/83 as sole NZer aboard Glomar Challenger on
DSDP Leg 90 investigating the Neogene paleoceanography of Tasman Sea and
Southwest Pacific, I became the GSNZ Hochstetter Lecturer in1984 to present the
exciting preliminary results of that expedition. Almost immediately after the
Hochstetter appointment I received a phone call from Bob offering an all-expenses
paid trip to James Cook University (JCU) in Townsville to deliver my Hochstetter
Lecture talks there. Naturally I accepted and I wonder if this might be the only
Hochstetter presentation associated with the trip circuit that ventured outside NZ?
The whole scientific experience proved highly stimulating and was, of course,
supplemented by the unforgettable hospitality at the Carter residence. Although I do
recall one frightening bedroom experience when I awoke for a pee about 3 am to see
a very large (>5 cm size) hairy spider (?a Tarantula or a Huntsman Spider) on the
wall above my head. I was too wary to go back to sleep and left the culprit for Bob to
nonchalantly remove and dispose of before breakfastno problems he said!
A decade later our daughter Miranda who had recently graduated BSc (Waikato)
was hosted by Bob and Anne during her travels in Queensland. She stayed a short
while, was given an air-conditioned bedroom, use of a car, went to the beach with
their children Susan and Jeremy, and recalls Bob giving her a long lesson on how to
use the remote to run their TV, video player and stereo (novel back then!). All in all
treated like royalty. Bob did introduce Miranda to JCU and tried to convince her to
come over and join them to do an MSc, but eventually other plans won out for her.
The congenial and stimulating company of Bob (and Anne) was a hallmark of the
Carters. Over the past couple of decades I mainly saw and chatted with Bob at
various annual geoscience conferences (Fig. 23). He quickly attracted people around
him and encouraged lively discussions, indeed debates, about all kinds of
geoscience issues (e.g. Figs 9, 22, 23). While our current generation of NZ
geoscientists often look back and marvel at the contributions made to the discipline
by early pioneers, I would unquestionably add Bob Carter to this mix of greats for the
future. We will really miss him.
Fig. 23. Cam Nelson and
Bob discussing all things
geological on the steps of
the Nelson Cathedral
during a lunch break at the
GSNZ conference in
Nelson, 2011. Richard
Norris and Alan Cooper
(University of Otago) to the
right. Photo source: Bruce
Hayward.
49
#28 What a stimulating collaborator

Richard Norris*
[*It is with sadness to report that Richard passed away 29 June 2016]

richard.norris@otago.ac.nz
When I arrived in New Zealand to take up my appointment as Lecturer in structural
geology at Otago University in 1970, most of the staff were quite young and recently
appointed. This led to a vibrant atmosphere where established views were
challenged. Leading the charge was Robert M Carter, Lecturer in paleontology, but
with wide interests and a penchant for tilting at the windmills of the status quo! He
and I saw eye to eye on many things. In February 1971, I was taking 3rd year Field
School at Mararoa Station in western Southland. Bob came out just before the end in
a rental minivan to help me lead the last field day measuring sections through the
sequence. At about 6:30 am that morning we were woken by Jack Squires, the camp
manager, bearing plates of bacon and eggs and telling us to get them down before
the students woke up and wanted some! He was followed shortly by the farmer who
asked which of us was Richard. When I indicated, he told me to get my arse into
gear as my wife had gone into labour! Bob immediately told me to take his car and
he would sort out the rest of the trip. So I did and just made it back to Dunedin in
time for the birth of my daughter.
The next year, Bob came out to Field School earlier in order to run a day trip down
the Waiau valley to Clifden. No sealed roads there, in fact in places the road was
little more than a gravelled cart track. It was a chapter of disasters. The rental car
stopped at the farm gate with a blown alternator, we had at least two flat tyres and
one of the landrovers broke down. We finally limped back to camp with the students
crammed into three landrovers. However, Bob and I had seen some superb sections
of sediments around Blackmount, which looked a lot like some at Field School and in
which case were very different from the existing maps. Bob suggested we put some
3rd year students down there for their projects, and then he and I come down after
exams in November to finish off the mapping. Four students were duly allocated
projects; one did a superb job, one a very good job, one a skin-of-his-teeth job, and
one dropped out. And in November, the Carter and Norris families set sail with two
caravans for Blackmount where, over the next two weeks, Bob and I started to
unravel a Pandoras Box of delights that opened our eyes to the whole Cenozoic
evolution of New Zealand. Our collaboration had begun!
Bob was a most stimulating collaborator who had a penchant for throwing out the
most outrageous ideas, some of which had elements of truth. I learnt quickly to
disagree with him at all times! Make him argue his case and put his evidence on the
table. Otherwise he would do a u-turn and leave you lamely trying to defend his
proposition against him! Bob was a great companion to stir up a new and fairly naive
young geologist from the other side of the world whose DPhil had been on
metamorphic rocks. He taught me about New Zealand geology as only Bob could,
and together we made waves!
50
#29 Architect of JCUs Marine Geophysics Laboratory

Alan Orpin
National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA)
Private Bag 14901, Kilbirnie, Wellington, New Zealand 6241
alan.orpin@niwa.co.nz
The legend of Bob Carter (RMC) preceded actually meeting him by some years. As
an undergraduate at Otago University there were fables of the young and dynamic
sedimentolgist who mapped much of the Southland basin sequences during the
school holidays. More frightening were the anecdotes of third-year field camps where
students mapped until dark, and then by car headlight. As the years passed since his
departure from Otago Im sure the legend grew.
At the 1991 Geological Society of New Zealand conference held in Palmerston North
Doug Campbell announced that You must see Bobs talk he always has
something to say. Bob remains one the finest science communicators I have
experienced. But for me, his marine geology legacy was a life-changer; Carter,
Carter, Williams & Landis [1985; NZ Oceanographic Memoir 93, 43 pp.] remained
top of the pile of reprints throughout my MSc study on the Otago shelf. No surprise
then that I applied for a PhD at James Cook University in Townsville, where Bob was
the Head of School. At its peak the department had 50+ PhD students, many of
whom were soft rockers, with a vibrant culture of research and publication. No
mean feat given that JCU was long renowned for its strength in economic geology.
Over the 1980s and early 90s Bob had fostered a fully-fledged marine geology
programme. In that regard, Otago and JCU were the only two universities in
Australasia with their own suite of geophysical equipment to operate off their
respective ships; another RMC legacy. The formation of the Marine Geophysics
Laboratory (MGL) was visionary. Bob and his staff had brought together
sedimentologists, stratigraphers, physicists, paleontologists, technology specialists
and a consultancy under one roof. The MGL became something much bigger than
the sum of its parts: organic, vibrant, ambitious, youthful, and on occasion perhaps a
little impetuous. As students we rubbed shoulders with some extraordinary visiting
scientists and research fellows, including: Nick McCave, Tim Naish, Keith Crook,
Steve Abbott, Chris Fielding, James Shulmeister, Phil Weavers, and Brad Pillans
(and Craig Fulthorpe and John Hughes-Clark in earlier years) to name just a few.
The MGL at its zenith was special and Bob was an architect of its success.
Within a short time we all had a working knowledge of the seismic stratigraphy of the
Great Barrier Reef lagoon, sediment hydrodynamics, carbonate production and the
Whanganui Basin sequence. Between Bob, Peter Ridd, Piers Larcombe, Jerry
Dickens and Ken Woolfe we learnt so much about process-based, marine-sediment
research. Reflector A and mid-cycle shell beds soon became the chatter over
morning coffee, along with RMCs latest software. Bob loved his laptops and was
forever upgrading, and had no patience for Windows, Microsoft or Macs Mankind
realised that an icon-based language was flawed with the demise of the Egyptian
empire... two thousand years ago.
51
A culture of lubricating research ideas was optimised by Anne and Bob regularly
hosting Sedimentary Suppers on a Friday evening, which also affirmed their
incredible generosity. Anne was an integral part of the Carter legacy, and her interest
in art and oriental carpets was an engaging counterpoint the rugs in my home are
an ongoing reward of that connection. On occasion, a bit like a raucous family,
research discussions were vigorous, but the chance to share ideas in an informal
atmosphere was usually invigorating. Bob revelled in debate (Fig. 24) and
encouraged us to develop our arguments and delivery. He versed us in the vices of
chart junk and clarity but we couldnt rise to his passion for yellow overheads. Wow,
OHPs, now thats a blast from the past!
It might be all too easy to just remember RMC as the Head of School, a visionary or
as a vigorous debater for science, but that wouldnt fully acknowledge Bobs colour,
generosity and engaging personality. He enriched our lives and I will forever be
thankful for his support of my scientific endeavours.
Fig. 24. Bob explains to

Alan Orpin how it really
happened, but Alan
remains unconvinced!
GSNZ annual conference
social event, Kaikoura,
2005. Photo source:
Unknown.
#30 A quiet beer or two

Brad Pillans
Research School of Earth Sciences, The Australian National University
Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia
brad.pillans@anu.edu.au
I recall a memorable day in the field with Bob, and his then PhD student, Steve
Abbott (Fig. 11). It was a hot day and we had lunch, in the shade, literally right on the
roadside, up the Turakina Valley, east of Whanganui. Sandwiches were produced
and Bob disparagingly referred to the grain-rich bread as bread with rat droppings.
Bob was clearly trying to goad us into an argument, as he often did for the fun of it,
but neither of us took the bait. In that respect he reminded me of Harold Wellman
52
who often made claims, on little apparent evidence, that were intended to provoke
lively debate.
At the end of a long, hot day we headed back to Whanganui. Bob was driving (and
thirsty), so he made a bee-line for the nearest bottle shop. Bob downed a cold can of
beer between the bottle shop and the motor camp, where we were staying, just a few
minutes up the road. After a quick shower and a change of clothes, we headed off
for dinner. By the time we reached the restaurant he had drunk most of another can.
As we waited to be seated at the restaurant (they werent quite ready for us, despite
our booking), Bob finished his beer, and, with the look (and intention) of a naughty
child, he wondered where to dispose of his empty can. With no obvious rubbish bin
in sight, he stuffed the can into a large pot plant in the corner. The waitress
reappeared, Bob looked angelic and we were taken to our table. I dont recall the
details of our dinner conversation that night, but, as on other occasions, Bobs quick
mind would have led us in many interesting directions and lost us a few more friendly
arguments.
#31 The global warming issue

Ian Plimer
PO Box 985, Kensington Gardens
South Australia 5068, Australia
ianplimer@internode.on.net
I first met Bob as the newly appointed Professor and Head of Earth Sciences at
James Cook University of North Queensland (JCU). He was appointed from the
University of Otago (New Zealand) as an international expert in sedimentology,
marine geology and paleontology. His academic career started as an Assistant
Lecturer and, after his Cambridge PhD, Senior Lecturer at Otago.
During his time as Head of Department (1981-1999) at JCU, he led from the front,
mentored hundreds of young people, grew the Earth Sciences department from an
ore deposit specialist department to one with numerous disciplines of international
repute, published scores of leading edge soft rock geological papers, opened up
new institutes and put JCU on the map internationally. This was not without many
internal battles within his Department, Faculty and University which Bob handled with
great guile. The university bureaucrats feared him because he was always wellprepared, used knowledge, common sense and logic.
Bob received many honours such as the New Zealand Geological Societys
Hochstetter Lectureship (1975), Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of New
Zealand (1997), and the Heartland Institutes Lifetime Achievement Award (2015).
He served in various editorial roles in his discipline where he was known as a
pedantic editor with a careful attention to detail and the scientific method and, among
many other positions (e.g. Table 1), he was appointed Chair of the Marine Science
and Technology Commission, Director of the Australian Office of the Ocean Drilling
Program (ODP), Co-Chief Scientist on ODP Leg 181 (Southwest Pacific Gateways)
and Emeritus Fellow (Institute of Public Affairs, Melbourne).
53
In 1987 Bob was appointed to the Australian Research Grants Committee (ARC) and
I spent 5 years closely working with him as a fellow member of the ARC earth
sciences group. Here I saw a polymath who was insightful, could rationally
objectively analyse and had the ability to instinctively see the weakness in a
research project proposal, logic and scientific methodology. As Chair of this ARC
committee, he would mentor new university and museum appointees that we
interviewed, offer partial funding to vice-chancellors on the condition that they topped
up research funds of new and young appointees and guided many young people. He
would always insist on funding for young researchers starting careers, would use
some of the budget to fund curiosity-based research that commonly did not get the
support of referees and was a fearless supporter of the discipline of Earth sciences.
He spent many hours each year in Canberra trying to get a bigger slice of the cake
for geology, geophysics, meteorology and climatology research. Ironically, some of
the more prominent names in current Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW) circles
in Australia who were then just commencing their careers received great support
from Bob in his capacity as Chair of this ARC committee. This shows the character
of the man. After travelling the continent, the final ARC budget sessions were always
held on the Great Barrier Reef followed by wonderful hospitality on the mainland
from Anne and Bob Carter.
In international geological circles, Bob was well known for work on paleoclimatology
(especially with the ODP), the Great Barrier Reef, sea-level change and Cenozoic
stratigraphy. This prepared him well for the next phase of his life. He published more
than 125 papers during his scientific career. After retirement, he was appointed
adjunct professor at JCU. It was then he became known to the public for his critical
analyses of the idea of human-induced climate change. He was always friendly and
cheerful, a captivating public speaker and during debates when he had a tirade of ad
hominem attacks heaped on him, he just kept to the script and devastated
opponents with facts, logic, the scientific method and his intellect. By his principled,
polite and persistent espousing of the truth, he was able to silence opponents, most
of whom were the antithesis of Bob, a true scientist of integrity and a gentleman. He
didnt suffer fools but was always polite and courteous.
Bob was an expert witness in court on climate matters and was interrogated by
parliamentary select committees in many countries. He gave private briefings to
politicians of all persuasions and was a witness to the US Senate Committee of
Environment and Public Works. Bob became one of the most influential voices in the
world on human-induced global warming, was always willing to help those grappling
and understanding the issue and was very free with his time. He was a great
communicator, always the educator, and had the ability in speech and writing to
make important points succinct and understandable to the non-scientist. He had a
keen wit and a good sense of humour. Bob was sole author of Climate: The Counter
Consensus (2010) and lead author of Taxing Air: Facts and Fallacies about Climate
Change (2013), a co-author of the three volume Climate Change Reconsidered
(2011, 2013, 2014) produced by the Nongovernmental International Panel on
Climate Change (NIPCC), and a co-author of Why Scientists Disagree about Global
Warming (2015).
54
He will appear in CFACTs film Climate Hustle (Fig. 25). Bob was active in the
Global Warming Policy Foundation and the Heartland Institute, both of which
provided platforms for his promotion of science. He received no funding from special
interest organisations such as energy companies, environmental organisations or
government departments. This is no surprise because Bob was a fly in the ointment
for funding groups who supported bespoke politically correct science. All Bob wanted
in climate debates was common sense, repeatable validated evidence and scientific
Fig. 25. Bob Carter (third from right) at the premiere of the film Climate Hustle in
Paris, 2015. Photo source: James Delingpole via Heartland website
(www.heartland.org/robert-m-carter).
reasoning. He was not prepared to accept a popular concept, poor reasoning or
concocted statistics and valued validated evidence over models. He was fearless
and suffered because of it. In response to several crank calls, political pressure and
complaints from those with vested interests, JCU withdrew his office facilities, his
unpaid adjunct professorship, his email address and his library access. They found it
easier to blackball the person who had built up the discipline of Earth sciences at
JCU. It was not that Bob had his facts wrong but he was politically incorrect and his
views on climate change did not fit well with the Schools own teaching and
research activities. They dismissed the person who put them on the map.
Bob was a gentleman of passion, a fighter and died with his boots on. We all owe
him a great debt of gratitude and it was a privilege to know such a good man. We will
miss him terribly.
55
#32 An incomparable teacher and communicator

John Rhodes
54 Kempton Street
Greytown, New Zealand 5712
rhodesja@xtra.co.nz
Bob Carter had the knack of making his listeners feel that they were on the same
intellectual plane as himself (although few were); and that they could have
discovered for themselves what he was sharing had they bent their energies in its
direction. Energy, of the mental kind, Bob had in spades. With it came an
unsurpassed ability to communicate (Fig. 26), always in perfectly constructed
sentences - his cerebral word-processor was never idle - and to demolish the
arguments of those he called alarmists. This is not the place to debate the issue
that became central to the last decade of Bobs life, but if I had to Id come down on
his side, having found his books and lectures utterly persuasive.
Being in a despised minority served only to make Bob work harder, to become even
more articulate, and to focus even more relentlessly on flaws in opposing arguments.
To adopt the popular view was not in his nature. If the contrary tide of opinion
depressed or discouraged him, I never saw it. Theres no man to whom Id rather
listen, on any subject. In a court of law hed have been superb, and it is no stretch to
imagine him as a QC defending and winning impossible cases.
But Bob took his silk in Earth science, in which other contributors to this Supplement
can better gauge his achievements. I got to know him when I took up a visiting
teaching fellowship at the University of Otago and became its highest-paid and most
innocent student of 1978. In second year classes, and especially on field trips, Bob
taught us much about stratigraphy and paleoenvironments that later informed my
own teaching. We were the same age, but his knowledge, ability and insight soared
so far above mine that a master-student relationship was perfectly natural. He
introduced me to the power of the 35 millimetre slide as a teaching tool, and - this
has always puzzled me - welcomed me into a friendship to which I could offer little.
Thus we kept in touch with Christmas letters, occasional visits, emails and invitations
to speak, an activity in which (thanks to YouTube) Bob lives on.
That Dunedin year was half a lifetime ago for both of us; now Im left but Bob Carter
isnt. His work has ended, and the world and Earth science are the worse for it.
Fig. 26. Bob explaining the PlioPleistocene Whanganui
cyclothemic sequences to
attentive listeners at the AGU
conference in San Francisco in
1997. Photo source: Steve Abbott.
56
#33 Advancing Great Barrier Reef shelf sedimentology

Peter Ridd
Marine Geophysics Laboratory, College of Science, Technology and Engineering
James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
peter.ridd@jcu.edu.au
I rejoined James Cook University in 1989 at the newly opened Marine Geophysics
Laboratory which had been cooked up by Bob Carter as Head of the Geology
Department and Prof Mal Heron of Physics, who coincidentally is also a New
Zealander. These two decided that much could be done with collaboration between
the disciplines which essentially shared the same building. Geology in particular was
growing rapidly and trench warfare could have easily broken out between the
disciplines over precious space and workshop facilities. However, Carter and Heron
decided to do what often does not happen in academia theyd share the space and
put all the young marine geologists and physicists in the same area and see what
happens. Some workshops were rebuilt, a nice blue carpet was put on the floor and
Bob put up a great big map of the worlds ocean covering 20 square meters of one
wall.
Four post-docs were hired I was one. Of course you dont realise these things at
the time, but it was a phenomenally energetic environment to work. There was
seabed mapping using the old GLORIA system, analysis of deep seismic data, work
on the sea-level history of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), and sediment dynamics. I
knew a bit about oceanography and was working on new methods of measuring
sediment deposition and erosion. In no time I ended up working in a mangrove creek
with Piers Larcombe who was an expert on sediment megaripples. The collaboration
just happened because we were close together. The Marine Geophysics Laboratory
was a model of how to collaborate across disciplines.
Then came the Carter-inspired New Zealand invasion. Dozens, it seemed, of Kiwi
PhD and MSc students appeared in the 1990s. There must have been some sort of
visa scam happening at the time but JCU was the beneficiary. It seems that half of
our knowledge of the sedimentology of the GBR shelf and the sediment transport
into the deeper ocean has been done by Kiwi geologists some of which, such as
Gavin Dunbar and Alan Orpin, still hold more than a passing interest.
The Marine Geophysics Laboratory pushed ahead with the understanding of the
Great Barrier Reef shelf and contributed immensely to the early debates about
threats to the reef itself. As a physicist I found it illuminating to see the totally
different view of the world that they have to other scientists. They see change as
inevitable whereas a marine biologist will see any change as unnatural, probably
bad, and most likely caused by humans. I remember Bob Carter mischievously
asking some biologists How many of the thousands of reefs of the GBR do you think
die naturally each century. Youd have thought he had said a very rude word judging
by the disgusted response. They could not conceive that it could be natural for some
reefs to be killed off. The GBR to them was an unchanging constant and any future
changes must be caused by humans. Carter and his geology group taught me that
this was far from the truth.
57
Even before Bob entered the debate on anthropogenic climate change, he and other
geologists in the Marine Geophysics Laboratory, such as Piers Larcombe and Ken
Woolfe, weighed into another very controversial topic the fate of the GBR and
especially the influence of agricultural runoff in river plumes upon the GBR. The
biologists would simply state that all that extra soil erosion from agriculture must be
destroying the reef. The geologists pointed out that there were naturally far larger
sediment movements due to wave resuspension. They would back this up with
evidence from sediment cores showing that some of the inshore environments had
been highly turbid for almost as long as the Holocene GBR has been around. During
the 1990s there was a healthy tension between the marine biologists and the marine
geologists which eventually became lopsided as the biologists became dominant in
numbers and could set the agenda and, in my view, ignore the inconvenient. This is
presently an unhealthy situation and we need more Bob Carters to use that
geological perspective to see things a little differently.
Bobs contribution to JCU and our understanding of the GBR was enormous, his
leadership inspired the rest of us, and his cheerfulness and hospitality meant he was
also such fun to be around. He is sorely missed.
#34 Climate skeptics together

Gerrit van der Lingen
24 Somerset Terrace
Stoke, Nelson, New Zealand 7010
gerritvdl@xtra.co.nz
I have known Bob Carter for a long time, since he was a Senior Lecturer in the
Geology Department of the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. We knew
each other as colleagues. At that time, Bob had written about a mid-Oligocene
unconformity, which he named the Marshall Paraconformity (Fig. Back cover). This
concept evoked some scientific controversy, in which I was involved [Geol. Soc. NZ
Newsletter 72, 1986: 26-33]. However, it also generated much new research.
We lost contact after Bob became Professor of Earth Sciences at the James Cook
University in Townsville, Queensland, Australia, in 1981. The only scientific
connection was through the Deep Sea Drilling Project. I took part in two early
expeditions on the drilling ship Glomar Challenger (Legs 21, 1971, and 30, 1973).
Bob became involved later on, when the Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) had
morphed into the Ocean Drilling Project (ODP), with a new scientific drilling ship, the
JOIDES Resolution. He spearheaded Australias involvement in the Ocean Drilling
Program and became the Director of the Australian Office. He planned several of its
expeditions in our part of the world, and was Co-Chief Scientist of Leg 181, which
drilled to the east of New Zealand.
After many years, my wife Marianne and I met Bob unexpectedly at the 1996
Townsville International Chamber Music Festival, discovering our shared love of
classical music. We remember that he arrived late at one of the concerts. He felt a
58
bit queasy. While walking to his car in the dark, something hit him in the leg. He
could not see what it was, but it seemed likely that it was a snake. Luckily, no major
damage was done.
Our climate change association happened by chance. When passing through
Christchurch on 26 February 2003, Bob picked up a copy of The Press newspaper in
the airport. In it was an article I wrote, titled Global warming doctrine latest
environmental scare. Realising that I was a fellow climate skeptic, he contacted
me and we stayed in regular contact ever since.
In 2006 we were in Noosa, Australia, where Bob debated Professor Ian Lowe on
climate change, as part of the Noosa Long Weekend programme. Bob won the
debate hands down. This was not difficult, as Professor Lowe refused to address any
of the points raised by Bob. He was more interested in promoting his 2005 book
Living in the Hothouse: How Global Warming Affects Australia. I was able to support
Bob during discussion time. We had dinner together in the Sails restaurant in Noosa
(Fig. 27). A few years later we met Bob and Anne again in Christchurch, where they
were visiting with Annes sister and geology husband, Bill Lindqvist, from California.
Fig. 27. Dinner at the Sails restaurant in Noosa, Queensland, Australia, in 2006.
From left to right: Anne and Bob Carter, Marianne and Gerrit van der Lingen. Photo
source: Gerrit van der Lingen.
Bob has been a powerhouse in the man-made climate change debate. He had an
unbridled energy and sharp intellect. His contributions to New Zealand and
Australian geology were impressive. He has made huge contributions through
research and teaching, recognised by many awards. Notwithstanding this record he
has been vilified for his activities as a man-made-climate-change realist (sometimes
called skeptic), in which he has fearlessly defended the scientific method. An
outstanding contribution was as co-author of the impressive publications by the
59
Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC). He also wrote

two books on climate change: Climate: The Counter Consensus, and Taxing Air. The
latter was produced together with the Australian cartoonist John Spooner.
Cartoonists often can make a point succinctly and Spooner is a master in this art.
Bob Carter was mentioned in one of his cartoons in Taxing Air (p. 62). It shows the
former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard berating the man-made-climate-change
extremist, Professor Tim Flannery (Fig. 28). Tim Flannery was made a Climate
Commissioner by Julia Gillard with a handsome salary (incidentally, he was sacked
in this role by Prime Minister Tony Abbott, the successor of Julia Gillard).
Bob was a very generous person. Whenever I asked him for comments or
information, he answered promptly. He did so even after he recently came back from
the Paris COP21 conference (late 2015) when I asked him to send me some of his
impressions of COP21. I also asked him if he was willing to write a short
endorsement to put on the back cover of my (self-publishing) upcoming book The
Fable of a Stable Climate. He promptly replied to both requests on 27 December
2015. I will treasure his endorsement, which was possibly one of his last actions in
the climate science debate. The geoscientific community owes Bob Carter so much
and he will be truly missed.
Fig. 28. Cartoon by John Spooner. Prime Minister Julia Gillard berating climate
commissioner Professor Tim Flannery, referring to Bob Carter. From Taxing Air,
2013, p. 62. John Spooner is thanked for permission to use his cartoon.
60
Publications of Bob Carter

Cam Nelson
The following bibliography for Bob Carter shows his books and mainly peer-reviewed
publications in reverse chronological order from 2015 to 1965. The list derives partly
from Bobs personal website (http://members.iinet.net.au/~glrmc/new_page_4.htm)
but has been updated and edited here to be as complete as possible. Not listed are
his very large number of conference presentations/abstracts, his newspaper and
popular articles (>266), his radio interviews (>25), and his video presentations (21),
some of which can be accessed at https://www.heartland.org/robert-m-carter and at
http://members.iinet.net.au/~glrmc/new_page_1.htm. In the following listing Bobs
authorship appears variously as Carter, R.M., Carter, R. or Carter, B.
The list contains 145 publications. Breaking these down into the broadest of
categories shows that 68% relate to various aspects of New Zealand onland or
offshore geosciences, 16% to a global warming/climate theme, 9% to Australian
(principally Great Barrier Reef shelf) geosciences, and 7% to other (mainly
paleontological articles associated with his PhD research). The New Zealand
articles span the 50 years of Bobs research career from 1965 to 2015, the global
warming ones only since 2006, the Australian ones between 1986 and 2009, and
the other mainly before 1976. The overwhelming predominance of New Zealandrelated publications in Bobs bibliography clearly highlights the continuing strong
attachment he maintained throughout his research career with all things geological
in and about New Zealand, despite residing in Australia since 1981.
2015
Idso, C.D., Carter, R.M., Singer, S.F. 2015. Why Scientists Disagree about Global
Warming: The NIPCC Report on Scientific Consensus. Nongovernmental
International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), The Heartland Institute, Chicago,
Illinois. 106 pp.
Carter, B. 2015a. Overview [of Chap. 11, Climate Swings and Roundabouts
Paleoclimate Fluctuations across Zealandia]. In: Graham, I.J. (ed), A Continent on
the Move: New Zealand Geoscience Revealed (2nd edition). Geoscience Society
of New Zealand Miscellaneous Publication 141: 264-267.
Carter, B. 2015b. Flemings Legacy. In: Graham, I.J. (ed), A Continent on the Move:
New Zealand Geoscience Revealed (2nd edition). Geoscience Society of New
Zealand Miscellaneous Publication 141: 278-281.
Graham, I., Carter, B., Thomson, J. 2015. Kaleidoscope. In: Graham, I.J. (ed), A
Continent on the Move: New Zealand Geoscience Revealed (2nd edition).
Geoscience Society of New Zealand Miscellaneous Publication 141: 356-360.
Nelson, C., Carter, B. 2015. Core Beliefs. In: Graham, I.J. (ed), A Continent on the
Move: New Zealand Geoscience Revealed (2nd edition). Geoscience Society of
New Zealand Miscellaneous Publication 141: 268-271.
61
Nelson, C., Carter, R. 2015. Plumbing the Depths. In: Graham, I.J. (ed), A Continent
on the Move: New Zealand Geoscience Revealed (2nd edition). Geoscience
Society of New Zealand Miscellaneous Publication 141: 42-45.
Yan, H, Wei, W., Soon, W., An, Z., Zhoe, W., Liu, Z., Wang, Y., Carter, R.M. 2015.
Dynamics of the intertropical convergence zone over the western Pacific during
the Little Ice Age. Nature Geoscience 8: 315-320. doi: 10.1038/ngeo2375.
2014
Carter, R.M. 2014. Global warming: the scientific context of the policy debate. In:
Moran, A. (ed), Climate Change: The Facts. Institute of Public Affairs, Melbourne,
Chapter 5: 67-82.
Carter, R.M., de Lange, W., Hansen, J.M., Humlum, O., Idso, C., Kear, D., Legates,
D., Morner, N.A., Ollier, C., Singer, F., Soon, W. 2014. Commentary and analysis
on the Whitehead & Associates 2014 NSW sea-level report. NIPCC
(Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change) Policy Brief. 44 pp.
Idso, C.D., Idso, S.D., Carter, R.M., Singer, S.F. 2014a. Climate Change
Reconsidered II: Biological Impacts. Report of the Nongovernmental International
Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), The Heartland Institute, Chicago, Illinois.
1000+ pp.
Idso, C.D., Idso, S.D., Carter, R.M., Singer, S.F. 2014b. Climate Change
Reconsidered II: Biological Impacts, Summary for Policy Makers. Report of the
Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), The Heartland
Institute, Chicago, Illinois. 20 pp.
Soon, W., Velasco Herrara, V.M., Selveraj, K., Traversi, R., Usoskin, I., Chen, C-T.A.,
Lou, J-Y., Kao, S-J., Carter, R.M., Pipin, V., Severi, M., Becagli, S. 2014. A review
of Holocene-linked climatic variation on centennial to millenial time scales:
Physical processes, interpretative frameworks and a new multiple cross-wavelet
transform algorithm. Earth-Science Reviews 134: 1-15.
2013
Carter, R.M., Spooner, J., Kininmonth, W.R., Field, M., Franks, S., Leyland, B. 2013.
Taxing Air: Facts and Fallacies about Climate Change. Kelpie Press, Melbourne.
267 pp.
Idso, C.D., Carter, R.M., Singer, S.F. 2013a. Climate Change Reconsidered II:
Physical Science. Report of the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate
Change (NIPCC), The Heartland Institute, Chicago, Illinois. 1000+ pp.
Idso, C.D., Carter, R.M., Singer, S.F. 2013b. Climate Change Reconsidered II:
Physical Science, Summary for Policymakers. Report of the Nongovernmental
International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), The Heartland Institute, Chicago,
Illinois. 20 pp.
Idso, C.D., Singer, S.F., Carter, R.M., Soon, W. 2013. Scientific Critique of IPCCs
2013 Summary for Policymakers. Policy Brief (October 2013), The Heartland
Institute,
Chicago,
Illinois.
[Discussion
at
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/10/19/scientific-critique-of-ipccs-2013-summaryfor-policymakers/].
62
2011
Idso, C.D., Singer, S.F., Carter, R.M. 2011. Climate Change Reconsidered: 2011
Interim Report of the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change
(NIPCC). The Heartland Institute, Chicago, Illinois.
Briggs, W.M., Soon, W., Legates, D., Carter, R.M. 2011. A vaccine against
arrogance. Water, Air and Soil Pollution 220: 5-6.
Carter, R.M. 2011. Ways to combat green totalitarianism over global warming. In:
Brodsky, J. (ed), Todays World and Vaclav Klaus. Nakladatelestvi FRAGMENT,
Prague. Pp. 27-35.
Fulthorpe, C.S. et al. (including Carter, R.M.) 2011. Proceedings of the Integrated
Ocean Drilling Program, Canterbury Basin Sea Level. Report, Integrated Ocean
Drilling Program Management International.
2010
Carter, R.M. 2010. Climate: The Counter Consensus. Stacey International, London.
315 pp.
Fulthorpe, C.S. et al. (including Carter, R.M.) 2010. Canterbury Basin Sea Level:
Global and Local Controls on Continental Margin Stratigraphy. Report, Integrated
Ocean Drilling Program Management International.
Land, M, Wust, R.A.J., Robert, C., Carter, R.M. 2010. Plio-Pleistocene paleoclimate
in the Southwest Pacific as reflected in clay mineralogy and particle size at ODP
Site 1119, SE New Zealand. Marine Geology 274: 165-176.
McLean, J.D., de Freitas, C.R., Carter, R.M. 2010. Censorship at AGU: scientists
denied the right of reply. SPPI Original Paper (March 30, 2010).
http://scienceandpublicpolicy.org/originals/censorship_at_agu.html.
2009
Carter, R.M., Larcombe, P., Dye, J.E., Gagan, M.K., Johnson, D.P. 2009. Long-shelf
sediment transport and storm-bed formation by Cyclone Winifred, central Great
Barrier Reef, Australia. Marine Geology 267: 101-113.
McLean, J.D., de Freitas, C.R., Carter, R.M. 2009a. Influence of the Southern
Oscillation on tropospheric temperature. Journal of Geophysical Research
(Atmospheres) 114 (D14104), 8 pp. doi: 10.1029/2008JD011637.
McLean, J.D., de Freitas, C.R., Carter, R.M. 2009b. Correction to "Influence of the
Southern Oscillation on tropospheric temperature". Journal of Geophysical
Research (Atmospheres) 114 (D20101), 2 pp. doi: 10.1029/2009JD013006.
2008
Carter, B. 2008. Flemings Legacy. In: Graham, I.J. (ed), A Continent on the Move:
New Zealand Geoscience into the 21st Century (1st edition). Geoscience Society
of New Zealand Miscellaneous Publication 124: 264-267.
Carter, R.M. 2008. Knock, knock: where is the evidence for dangerous humancaused global warming? Economic Analysis and Policy (Journal of the Economic
Society of Australia Queensland) 38: 177-202.
63
Graham, I., Carter, B. 2008. Kaleidoscope. In: Graham, I.J. (ed), A Continent on the
Move: New Zealand Geoscience into the 21st Century (1st edition). Geoscience
Nelson, C., Carter, B. 2008. Core Beliefs. In: Graham, I.J. (ed), A Continent on the
Move: New Zealand Geoscience into the 21st Century (1st edition). Geological
Nelson, C., Carter, R. 2008. Plumbing the Depths. In: Graham, I.J. (ed), A Continent
on the Move: New Zealand Geoscience into the 21st Century (1st edition).
Geological Society of New Zealand Miscellaneous Publication 124: 42-45.
2007
Carter, R.M. 2007a. Stratigraphy into the 21st Century. Stratigraphy 4: 187-193.
Carter, R.M. 2007b The myth of dangerous human-caused climate change.
Conference Proceedings, Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy
(AusIMM), New Leaders Conference (25), Brisbane, 2-3 May 2007. Pp. 61-74.
Carter, R.M. 2007c. The role of intermediate-depth currents in continental shelf-slope
accretion: Canterbury Drifts, Southwest Pacific Ocean. In: Viana, A. R., Rebesco,
M. (eds), Economic and Palaeoceanographic Significance of Contourite Deposits.
Geological Society, London, Special Publications 276: 129154.
Carter, R.M., de Freitas, C.R., Goklany, I.M., Holland, D., Lindzen, R.S. 2007.
Climate change. Climate science and the Stern Review. World Economics 8: 161182.
Holland, D., Carter, R.M., de Freitas, C.R., Goklany, I.M., Lindzen, R.S. 2007.
Climate change. Response to Simmonds and Steffen. World Economics 8: 143151.
2006
Carter, R.M. 2006. Great news for the Great Barrier Reef: Tully River water quality.
Energy and Environment 17: 527-548.
Carter, R.M., de Freitas, C.R., Goklany, I.M., Holland, D., Lindzen, R.S. 2006. The
Stern Review: A Dual Critique. Part I: The Science. World Economics 7: 165-198.
James, N.P., Bone, Y., Carter, R.M., Murray-Wallace, C.V. 2006. Origin of the Late
Neogene Roe Plains and their calcarenite veneer: implications for sedimentology
and tectonics in the Great Australian Bight. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences
53: 407-419.
2005
Abbott, S.T., Naish, T.R., Carter, R.M., Pillans, B.J. 2005. Sequence stratigraphy of
the Nukumaruan stratotype (Pliocene-Pleistocene, c. 2.08-1.63 Ma), Wanganui
Basin, New Zealand. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand 35: 123-150.
Carter, R.M. 2005a. The status of local "stages" in the New Zealand Plio-Pleistocene.
New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics 48: 623-639.
Carter, R.M. 2005b. A New Zealand climatic template back to c. 3.9 Ma: ODP Site
1119, Canterbury Bight, south-west Pacific Ocean, and its relationship to onland
successions. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand 35: 9-42.
64
Carter, R.M., Norris, R.J. 2005. The Geology of the Blackmount district, Te Anau and
Waiau Basins, western Southland. Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences,
Science Report 2004/23. 97 pp., Figs. 1-156, 1:50 000 map, CD-ROM.
Holland, M.E., Schultheiss, P.J., Carter, R.M., Roberts, J.A., Francis, T.J.G. 2005.
IODP's untapped wealth: multi-parameter logging of legacy core. Scientific Drilling
1: 50-51.
Naish, T.R., Field, B.D., Zhu, H., Melhuish, A., Carter, R.M., Abbott, S.T., Edwards,
S., Alloway, B.V., Wilson, G.S., Niessen, F., Barker, A., Browne, G.H., Maslen, G.
2005. Integrated outcrop, drill core, borehole and seismic stratigraphic architecture
of a cyclothemic, shallow-marine depositional system, Wanganui Basin, New
Zealand. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand 35: 91-122.
2004
Carter, L., Carter, R.M., McCave, I. 2004. Evolution of the sedimentary system
beneath the deep Pacific inflow off eastern New Zealand. Marine Geology 205: 927.
Carter, R.M., Fulthorpe, C.S., Lu, H. 2004. Canterbury Drifts at Ocean Drilling
Program Site 1119, New Zealand: climatic modulation of southwest Pacific
intermediate water flows since 3.9 Ma. Geology 32: 1005-1008.
Carter, R.M., Gammon, P. 2004. New Zealand maritime glaciation: millennial-scale
southern climate change since 3.9 Ma. Science 304: 1659-1662.
Carter, R.M., Gammon, P.R., Millwood, L. 2004. Glacial-interglacial (MIS 1-10)
migrations of the Subtropical Front (STC) across ODP Site 1119, Canterbury
Bight, Southwest Pacific Ocean. Marine Geology 205: 29-58.
Carter, R.M., McCave, I.N., Richter, C., Carter, L. 2004. Fronts, flows, drifts,
volcanoes, and the evolution of the southwestern gateway to the Pacific Ocean,
eastern New Zealand. In: Richter, C., Carter, R.M., McCave, I.N., Carter, L. et al.
Southwest Pacific Gateways, Sites 1119-1125. Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling
Program, Scientific Reports 181: 1-111.
Graham, I.J., Carter, R.M., Ditchburn, R.G., Zondervan, A. 2004. Chronostratigraphy
of ODP 181, Site 1121 (foot of Campbell Plateau, Southwest Pacific Ocean) using
10
Be/9Be dating of sediment and entrapped ferromanganese nodules. Marine
Geology 205: 227-247.
Larcombe, P., Carter, R.M. 2004. Cyclone pumping, sediment partitioning and the
development of the Great Barrier Reef shelf system: a review. Quaternary Science
Reviews 23: 107-135.
McCave, I.N., Carter, L., Carter, R.M., Hayward, B.W. (eds) 2004a. Cenozoic
Evolution of the SW Pacific Gateway, ODP Leg 181. Marine Geology (Special
Issue) 205: 1-262.
McCave, I.N., Carter, L., Carter, B., Hayward, B.W. 2004b. Cenozoic oceanographic
evolution of the SW Pacific Gateway: Introduction. Marine Geology 205: 1-7.
Richter, C., McCave, I.N., Carter, R.M., Carter, L., et al. 2004. Southwest Pacific
Gateways, Sites 1119-1125. Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program, Scientific
Reports 181 (plus CD-ROM).
65
2002
Carter, R.M., Abbott, S.T., Graham, I.J., Naish, T.R., Gammon, P.R. 2002. The
middle Pleistocene Merced-2 and -3 Sequences from Ocean Beach, San
Francisco. Sedimentary Geology 153: 23-41.
2000
Dunbar, G.B., Dickens, G.R., Carter, R.M. 2000. Sediment flux across the Great
Barrier Reef shelf to the Queensland Trough over the last 300 ky. Sedimentary
Geology 133: 49-92.
1999
Abbott, S.T., Carter, R.M. 1999. Stratigraphy of the Castlecliffian type section: ten
mid-Pleistocene sequences from the Wanganui coast, New Zealand. New Zealand
Journal of Geology and Geophysics 42: 91-111.
Carter, R.M., Abbott, S.T., Naish, T.R. 1999. Plio-Pleistocene cyclothems from
Wanganui Basin, New Zealand: type locality for an astrochronologic time-scale, or
template for recognizing ancient glacio-eustasy? Philosophical Transactions of the
Royal Society of London A357: 1861-1872.
Carter, R.M., McCave, I.N., Richter, C., Carter, L., et al. 1999. Southwest Pacific
Gateways, Sites 1119-1125. Proceedings of Ocean Drilling Program, Initial
Reports 181. Pp.1-112 (plus CD-ROM).
Carter, R.M., Naish, T.R. (eds) 1999. The high-resolution chronostratigraphic and
sequence stratigraphic record of the Plio-Pleistocene Wanganui Basin. New
Zealand Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences, Folio 2.
Saul, G., Naish, T.R., Abbott, S.T., Carter, R.M. 1999. Sedimentary cyclicity in the
marine Plio-Pleistocene of Wanganui Basin (N.Z.): sequence stratigraphic motifs
characteristic of the last 2.5 Ma. Bulletin of the Geological Society of America 111:
524-537.
Ward, I.A.K., Larcombe, P., Brinkman, R., Carter, R.M. 1999. Sedimentary processes
and the Pandora wreck, Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Journal of Field
Archaeology 26: 41-53.
1998
Carter, R.M. 1998. Two models: global sea-level change and sequence stratigraphic
architecture. In: Carter, R.M., Naish, T.R., Ito, M., Pillans, B.J. (eds), Sequence
Stratigraphy in the Plio-Pleistocene: an Evaluation. Sedimentary Geology 122: 2336.
Carter, R.M., Fulthorpe, C.S., Naish, T.R. 1998. Sequence concepts at seismic and
outcrop scale: the distinction between physical and conceptual stratigraphic
surfaces. In: Carter, R.M., Naish, T.R., Ito, M., Pillans, B.J. (eds), Sequence
Stratigraphy in the Plio-Pleistocene: an Evaluation. Sedimentary Geology 122:
165-179.
Carter, R.M., Naish, T.R. 1998a. A review of Wanganui Basin, New Zealand: global
reference section for shallow marine, Plio-Pleistocene (2.5-0 Ma)
cyclostratigraphy. In: Carter, R.M., Naish, T.R., Ito, M., Pillans, B.J. (eds),
Sequence Stratigraphy in the Plio-Pleistocene: an Evaluation. Sedimentary
Geology 122: 37-52.
66
Carter, R.M., Naish, T.R. 1998b. Have local Ages/Stages outlived their usefulness for
the New Zealand Plio-Pleistocene? New Zealand Journal of Geology and
Geophysics 41: 271-279.
Carter, R.M., Naish, T.R., Ito, M., Pillans, B.J. (eds) 1998. Sequence Stratigraphy in
the Plio-Pleistocene: an Evaluation. Sedimentary Geology (Special Issue) 122: 1288.
Larcombe, P., Carter, R.M. 1998. Sequence architecture during the Holocene
transgression: an example from the Great Barrier Reef shelf, Australia.
Sedimentary Geology 117: 97-121.
Naish, T., Abbott, S.T., Alloway, B.V., Beu, A.G., Carter, R.M., Edwards, A.R.,
Journeaux, T.J., Kamp, P.J.J., Pillans, B. J., Saul, G.S.; Woolfe, K.J. 1998.
Astronomical calibration of a southern hemisphere Plio-Pleistocene reference
section, Wanganui Basin, New Zealand. Quaternary Science Reviews 17: 695710.
Orpin, A.R., Gammon, P.R., Naish, T.R., Carter, R.M. 1998. Modern and ancient
Zygochlamys delicatula shellbeds in New Zealand, and their sequence
stratigraphic implications. In: Carter, R.M., Naish, T.R., Ito, M., Pillans, B.J. (eds),
Sequence Stratigraphy in the Plio-Pleistocene: an Evaluation. Sedimentary
Geology 122: 267-284.
1997
Abbott, S.T., Carter, R.M. 1997. Macrofossil associations from mid-Pleistocene
cyclothems, Castlecliff section, New Zealand: implications for sequence
stratigraphy. Palaios 12: 182-210.
1996
Carter, L., Carter, R.M., McCave, I.N., Gamble, J. 1996. Regional sediment recycling
in the abyssal Southwest Pacific Ocean. Geology 24: 735-738.
Carter, R.M., Carter, L. 1996. The abyssal Bounty Fan and lower Bounty Channel:
evolution of a rifted-margin sedimentary system. Marine Geology 130: 182-202.
Carter, R.M., Carter, L., McCave I.N. 1996. Current controlled sediment deposition
from the shelf to the deep ocean: the Cenozoic evolution of circulation through the
SW Pacific gateway. Geologisches Rundschau 85: 438-451.
Fulthorpe, C.S., Carter, R.M., Miller, K.G., Wilson, J. 1996. Marshall Paraconformity:
a mid-Oligocene record of inception of the Antarctic circumpolar current and
coeval glacio-eustatic lowstand. Marine and Petroleum Geology 13: 61-77.
1995
Larcombe, P., Carter, R.M., Dye, J., Gagan, M.K., Johnson, D.P. 1995. The nature of
the post-glacial sea-level rise, central Great Barrier Reef, Australia: new evidence
for episodic rise. Marine Geology 127, 1-44.
1994
Abbott, S.T., Carter, R.M. 1994. The sequence architecture of mid-Pleistocene (0.350.95 Ma) cyclothems from New Zealand: facies development during a period of
known orbital control on sea-level cyclicity. In: de Boer, P.L., Smith, D.G. (eds),
Orbital Forcing and Cyclic Sequences. International Association of
Sedimentologists Special Publication 19: 367-394.
67
Beaman, R.J., Larcombe, P., Carter, R.M. 1994. New evidence for the Holocene sealevel high from the inner shelf, central Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Journal of
Sedimentary Research A64: 881-885.
Carter, R.M., Carter, L., Davy, B. 1994. Geologic and stratigraphic history of the
Bounty Trough, southwestern Pacific Ocean. Marine and Petroleum Geology 11:
79-93.
1993
Carter, L., Carter, R.M. 1993. Sedimentary evolution of the Bounty Trough: a
Cretaceous rift basin, southwestern Pacific Ocean. In: Ballance, P.F. (ed), South
Pacific Sedimentary Basins. Sedimentary Basins of the World 2 (Series Editor,
Hsu, K.J.), Elsevier. Pp. 51-67.
Carter, R.M., Johnson, D.P., Hooper, K. 1993. Episodic post-glacial sea-level rise
and the sedimentary evolution of a tropical continental embayment (Cleveland
Bay, Great Barrier Reef shelf, Australia). Australian Journal of Earth Sciences 40:
229-255.
1992
Carter, R.M., Carter, L. 1992. Seismic imaging of Pleistocene deep-sea cyclothems:
implications for sequence stratigraphy. Terra Nova 4: 682-692.
Haywick, D.W., Henderson, R.A., Carter, R.M. 1992. Sedimentology of 40 000 year
Milankovitch-controlled cyclothems from central Hawke's Bay, New Zealand.
Sedimentology 39: 675-696.
1991
Carter, R.M., Abbott, S.T., Fulthorpe, C.S., Haywick, D.J., Henderson, R.A. 1991.
Application of global sea-level and sequence stratigraphic models in southern
hemisphere Neogene strata from New Zealand. In: MacDonald, D.I.M. (ed),
Sedimentation, Tectonics and Eustasy. International Association of
Sedimentologists Special Publication 12: 41-65.
Fulthorpe, C.S., Carter, R.M. 1991. Continental shelf progradation by sediment drift
accretion. Bulletin of the Geological Society of America 103, 300-309.
Haywick, D.W., Lowe, D.A., Beu, A.G., Henderson, R.A., Carter, R.M. 1991. PlioPleistocene (Nukumaruan) lithostratigraphy of The Tangoio block, and origin of
sedimentary cyclicity, central Hawke's Bay, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of
Geology and Geophysics 34: 213-225.
1990
Carter, L., Carter, R.M. 1990. Lacustrine sediment traps and their effect on
continental shelf sedimentation - South Island, New Zealand. Geo-Marine Letters
10: 93-100.
Carter, L., Carter, R.M., Nelson, C.S., Fulthorpe, C.S., Neil, H.L. 1990. Evolution of
Pliocene to Recent abyssal sediment waves on Bounty Channel levees, New
Zealand. Marine Geology 95: 97-109.
68
1989
Fulthorpe, C.S., Carter, R.M. 1989. Test of seismic sequence methodology on a
southern hemisphere passive margin: the Canterbury Basin, New Zealand. Marine
and Petroleum Geology 6: 348-359.
1988
Carter, L., Carter, R.M. 1988. Late Quaternary development of left-bank-dominant
levees in the Bounty Trough, New Zealand. Marine Geology 78: 185-197.
Carter, R.M. 1988a. The nature and evolution of deep-sea channels. Basin Research
1: 41-54.
Carter, R.M. 1988b. Plate boundary tectonics, global sea-level changes and the
development of the eastern South Island continental margin, New Zealand,
southwest Pacific. Marine and Petroleum Geology 5: 90-107.
Carter, R.M. 1988c. Post-breakup stratigraphy of the Kaikoura Synthem (CretaceousCenozoic), continental margin, southeastern New Zealand. New Zealand Journal
of Geology and Geophysics 31: 405-429.
Gagan, M., Johnson, D.P., Carter, R.M. 1988. The Cyclone Winifred storm bed,
central Great Barrier Reef shelf, Australia. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 58:
845-856.
1987
Carter, R.M., Carter, L. 1987. The Bounty Channel system: a 55-million-year-old
sediment conduit to the deep sea, southwest Pacific. Geo-Marine Letters 7: 183190.
Johnson, D.P., Carter, R.M. 1987. Sedimentary framework of mainland fringing reef
development, Cape Tribulation area. Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority,
Technical Memorandum TM-14. 37 pp.
1986
Carter, L., Carter, R.M. 1986. Holocene evolution of the nearshore sand wedge,
south Otago continental shelf, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Geology and
Carter, R.M., Carter, L., Johnson, D.P. 1986. Submergent shorelines in the SW
Pacific: evidence for an episodic post-glacial transgression. Sedimentology 33:
629-649.
Carter, R.M., Johnson, D.P. 1986. Sea-level controls on the post-glacial development
of the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland. Marine Geology 71: 137-164.
1985
Carter, L., Carter, R.M. 1985. Current modification of a mass failure deposit on the
continental shelf, North Canterbury, New Zealand. Marine Geology 62: 193-211.
Carter, R.M. 1985. The mid-Oligocene Marshall Paraconformity, New Zealand:
coincidence with global eustatic sea-level fall or rise? Journal of Geology 93: 359371.
Carter, R.M., Carter, L. 1985. The Motunau Fault revisited. Tectonophysics 115: 164166.
69
Carter, R.M., Carter, L., Williams, J.J., Landis, C.A. 1985. Modern and relict
sedimentation on the south Otago continental shelf, New Zealand. New Zealand
Oceanographic Institute Memoir 93. 43 pp.
1983
Griggs, G.B., Carter, L., Kennett, J.P., Carter, R.M. 1983. Late Quaternary marine
stratigraphy southeast of New Zealand. Bulletin of the Geological Society of
America 94: 791-797.
1982
Carter, L., Carter, R.M., Griggs, G.B. 1982. Sedimentation in the Conway Trough, a
deep near-shore basin at the junction of the Alpine transform and Hikurangi
subduction plate boundary, New Zealand. Sedimentology 29: 475-497.
Carter, R.M., Carter, L. 1982. The Motunau Fault and other structures at the southern
edge of the Australian-Pacific plate boundary, offshore Marlborough.
Tectonophysics 88: 133-159.
Carter, R.M., Lindqvist, J.K., Norris, R.J. 1982. Oligocene unconformities and nodular
phosphate-hardground horizons in western Southland and northern West Coast.
Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand 12: 11-46.
Norris, R.J., Carter, R.M. 1982. Fault-bounded blocks and their role in localising
sedimentation and deformation adjacent to the Alpine Fault, southern New
Zealand. Tectonophysics 87: 11-23.
1980
Norris, R.J., Carter, R.M. 1980. Offshore sedimentary basins at the southern end of
the Alpine Fault, New Zealand. International Association of Sedimentologists
Special Publication 4: 237-265.
1979
Carter, R.M. 1979. Trench-slope channels from the New Zealand Jurassic: the
Otekura Formation, Sandy Bay, south Otago. Sedimentology 26: 475-496.
Goldberg, L., Carter, R.M. 1979. A Pleistocene molluscan fauna beneath the Maui-A
gas platform. New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics 22: 407-409.
1978
Bishop, D.G., Carter, R.M., Norris, R.J. 1978. Lithological and paleontological content
of the Carboniferous-Jurassic Canterbury Suite, South Island, New Zealand. New
Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics 21: 138-139.
Carter, R.M., Hicks, M.D., Norris, R.J., Turnbull, I.M. 1978. Sedimentation patterns in
an ancient arc-trench-ocean basin complex: Carboniferous to Jurassic Rangitata
Orogen, New Zealand. In: Stanley, D.J., Kelling, G. (eds), Sedimentation in
Submarine Canyons, Fans and Trenches. Dowden, Hutchinson & Ross,
Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. Chapter 23: 340-361.
Norris, R.J., Carter, R.M., Turnbull, I.M. 1978. Cainozoic sedimentation in basins
adjacent to a major continental transform boundary in southern New Zealand.
Journal of the Geological Society of London 135: 191-205.
70
1977
Carter, R.M., Lindqvist, J.K. 1977. Balleny Group, Chalky Island, southern New
Zealand: an inferred Oligocene submarine canyon and fan complex. Pacific
Geology 12: 1-46.
Carter, R.M., Norris, R.J. 1977. Redeposited conglomerates in a Miocene flysch
sequence at Blackmount, western Southland, New Zealand. Sedimentary Geology
18: 289-319.
Carter, R.M., Norris, R.J. 1977. Queenstown Conference tour guide for postconference excursion to Blackmount, Waiau Basin, December 5-7th. Geological
Society of New Zealand Miscellaneous Publication MP22C. 31 pp.
1976
Carter, R.M., Norris, R.J. 1976. Cainozoic history of southern New Zealand: an
accord between geological observations and plate tectonic predictions. Earth and
Planetary Science Letters 31: 85-94.
Crooks, I., Carter, R.M. 1976. Stratigraphy of Maruia and Matiri Formations in their
type section (Trent Stream, Matiri River, Murchison). Journal of the Royal Society
of New Zealand 6: 459-487.
1975
Carter, R.M. 1975a. Mass-emplaced sand-fingers at Mararoa construction site,
southern New Zealand. Sedimentology 22: 275-288.
Carter, R.M. 1975b. A discussion and classification of subaqueous mass-transport
with particular application to grain-flow, slurry-flow and fluxoturbidites. EarthScience Reviews 11: 145-177.
Carter, R.M., Lindqvist, J.K. 1975. Sealers Bay submarine fan complex, Oligocene,
southern New Zealand. Sedimentology 22: 465-483.
Turnbull, I.M., Barry, J.M., Carter, R.M., Norris, R.J. 1975. The Bobs Cove Beds and
their relationship to the Moonlight Fault Zone. Journal of the Royal Society of New
Zealand 5: 355-394.
1974
Carter, R.M. 1974a. A New Zealand case-study of the need for local time-scales.
Lethaia 7: 181-202.
Carter, R.M. 1974b. Geographies of the past Part I. New Zealand's Nature Heritage
1: 102-107.
Carter, R.M. 1974c. Geographies of the past Part II. New Zealand's Nature
Heritage 1: 129-135.
Carter, R.M. 1974d. The moulding of the landscape Part I. New Zealand's Nature
Carter, R.M. 1974e. The moulding of the landscape Part II. New Zealand's Nature
Carter, R.M., Landis, C.A., Norris, R.J., Bishop, D.G. 1974. Suggestions towards a
high-level nomenclature for New Zealand rocks. Journal of the Royal Society of
New Zealand 4: 5-18.
71
Duncan, R.A., McDougall, I., Carter, R.M., Coombs, D.S. 1974. Pitcairn Island another Pacific hot spot? Nature 251: 679-682.
1972
Carter, R.M. 1972a. Wanganui strata of Komako District, Pohangina Valley, Ruahine
Range, Manawatu. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand 2: 293-324.
Carter, R.M. 1972b. Adaptations of British Chalk Bivalvia. Journal of Paleontology 46:
325-340.
Carter, R.M., Landis, C.A. 1972. Correlative Oligocene unconformities in southern
Australasia. Nature (Physical Science) 237: 12-13.
1971
Carter, R.M. 1971a. Ctenodonta elongata Salter 1873 (Mollusca, Bivalvia): request
for suppression under the plenary powers. Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 28:
102-103.
Carter, R.M. 1971b. Revision of Arenig Bivalvia from Ramsey Island, Pembrokeshire.
Palaeontology 14: 250-261.
1970
Carter, R.M. 1970. A proposal for the subdivision of Tertiary time in New Zealand.
New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics 13: 350-363.
1968
Carter, R.M. 1968a. On the biology and palaeontology of some predators of bivalved
mollusca. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology and Palaeoecology 4: 29-65.
Carter, R.M. 1968b. Functional studies on the Cretaceous oyster Arctostrea.
Palaeontology 11: 458-485.
1967
Carter, R.M. 1967a. On the nature and definition of the lunule, escutcheon and
corcelet in the Bivalvia. Proceedings of the Malacological Society of London (now
Journal of Molluscan Studies) 37: 243-263.
Carter, R.M. 1967b. On Lison's model of bivalve shell form, and its biological
interpretation. Proceedings of the Malacological Society of London (now Journal of
Molluscan Studies) 37: 265-278.
Carter, R.M. 1967c. The shell ornament of Hysteroconcha and Hecuba (Bivalvia): a
test case for inferential functional morphology. The Veliger 10: 59-71.
Carter, R.M. 1967d. The geology of Pitcairn Island, south Pacific Ocean. Bulletin of
the Bernice P. Bishop Museum 231. 38 pp.
1965
Wright, J.B., Carter, R.M. 1965. Observations on the geology of an area near lakes
Thomson and Hankinson, Fiordland. New Zealand Journal of Geology and
72
Acknowledgements
First and foremost Cam Nelson (Compiler) sincerely appreciates and thanks Anne
Carter for her encouragement and assistance throughout the production of this
GSNZ tribute for Bob. All contributors are acknowledged for taking time to put finger
to keyboard in a timely fashion to meet deadline schedules. In particular I wish to
acknowledge Bill Lindqvist, Bobs brother-in-law, for his permission to reproduce the
eulogy he gave at Bobs funeral, and Neville Exon and Ian Plimer for permission to
use and edit earlier tributes they wrote for Bob. I thank Piers Larcombe for helping to
establish a contact list of Australian colleagues of Bob. While several people
contributed photos for use in the Supplement, I especially thank the collections
supplied by Anne Carter, Bill Lindqvist, Steve Abbott, Bruce Hayward, Greg Browne
and Martin Crundwell. Considerable information about Bob is contained online at a
Heartland Institute website (https://www.heartland.org/robert-m-carter), at a
Wikipedia website (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_M._Carter), and at Bobs
personal CV website (http://members.iinet.net.au/~glrmc/new_page_3.htm), all of
which are acknowledged for providing some of the material recorded in the
Introduction and Publications sections of this Supplement.
At the completion stage of compiling this GSNZ tribute my attention was drawn by
Nick McCave to a recent newspaper article in the UK that mentions Bob Carter. It
was written by Clive James, an internationally acclaimed Australian author, critic and
broadcaster, now living in the UK. Below I quote, with acknowledgement, that part of
the article referring to Bob since I believe it highlights a fundamental aspect of his
character, namely his gentlemanly politeness.
People that I hoped would be there for ever have begun to vanish..The
Australian scientist Bob Carter died far too young. The climate change orthodoxy can
be a tough proposition to be sceptical about if you mind being accused of betraying
the future of the human race. Carter knew how to maintain a gentlemanly vocabulary
even when the guardians of dogma were calling him names. Its a hard trick to work:
sometimes its just easier to join in and call your persecutors intensely dense. But
Carter always behaved as if they might have had a point. Perhaps he was working on
the principle that politeness is an argument in itself..
Extract from an article by Clive James Reports of my death appearing in the
Guardian Weekend in the UK on 6 February 2016.
Disclaimer: Note that the views and opinions expressed in the articles in this GSNZ
Supplement are solely those of the contributing authors and do not necessarily
reflect those of the Geoscience Society of New Zealand.
This Supplement appears online at the GSNZ website www.gsnz.org.nz under
publications. Limited numbers of hard copies are available on request from Adrian
Pittari (apittari@waikato.ac.nz) at the University of Waikato, Hamilton, NZ.
Reference: Nelson, C. (Compiler) 2016. Remembering Bob Carter: A GSNZ Tribute.
Geoscience Society of New Zealand Newsletter Supplement 19A. 73 pp.
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Tribute To The Late Bob Carter

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Tribute To The Late Bob Carter

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Geoscience Society of New Zealand

ISSN 1179-7983 (Print)

ISSN 1179-7991 (Online)

Remembering Bob Carter: A Geoscience Society of NZ Tribute

Publications of Bob Carter Cam Nelson 61

Geoscience Society of New Zealand

Issue 19A Supplement

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_M._Carter, where interested readers can get

Main research fields

Robert Merlin Carter

Geoscience Society of New Zealand

* Commonwealth Scholarship, British Council, University of

Fig.1. Bob reviewing some core

Issue 19A Supplement

#1 - Eulogy (24 January 2016) for Bob Carter, 1942-2016

Issue 19A Supplement

#2 - A supreme field geology mentor

Issue 19A Supplement

world of the tropical JCU campus. On a number of occasions I was summonsed to

Geoscience Society of New Zealand

Issue 19A Supplement

#3 - Molluscan fossil collectors together

Issue 19A Supplement

Fig. 6. Bob examining a molluscan shellbed in the Pleistocene Titirangi Shellbed

#4 Temporarily being a petrophysicist

g.browne@gns.cri.nz, m.crundwell@gns.cri.nz, craig@ig.utexas.edu, kathie.marsaglia@scun.edu

Issue 19A Supplement

#5 - A trilogy (A-C) of Bob Carter remembrances

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Geoscience Society of New Zealand

Issue 19A Supplement

Geoscience Society of New Zealand

#6 - All at sea with Bob Carter

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#7 - Livening up geological discussions

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#8 - A family of young academics

Fig. 10. Bob, interested in all

Geoscience Society of New Zealand

#9 He sure made you think critically

#10 - So influential on my career development

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#11 An influential Australasian ODP/IODP proponent

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#12 - An insightful and inspirational geologist

#13 Go-to person for A Continent on the Move

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#14 Two Bob Carter field stories

Fig. 12. Bob Carter, the CoChief, pitching in and washing

Fig. 13. Nick McCave and Bob

(B) The Whangarei field trip saga, 2002

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Geoscience Society of New Zealand

#15 - An inspirational teacher and research mentor

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#16 Evolution of JCU Marine Geophysics Laboratory

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#17 Tough field experiences

Fig. 16. Follow me, the

#18 What a stimulating colleague