To commemorate the life of Professor Harry Verney Warren, pioneer of biogeochemistry, rocks have been donated to Waterloo's Peter Russell Rock Garden from British Columbia, his home province.
Harry Warren received a Univeristy of Waterloo honorary degree in 1975 at the time when Waterloo's Earth Sciences Department was beginning to focus on environmental geology. Dr. Paul Karrow and Dr. Peter Morris worked on the proposal to award the honorary degree at that time.
The rocks have been donated to provide a unique tribute to this dynamic individual. Harry was not only a noted scientist but he was also an athlete and took part in the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam as a member of Canada's track team. Harry passed away on March 14th 1998, aged 93.
Harry Warren took the exceptional path early by being awarded four degrees in four years, B.A. and B.A.Sc. from the University of British Columbia in 1926 and 1927, and B.Sc. as a Rhodes Scholar, and Ph.D. in 1928 and 1929 at Oxford. After working on research projects for a few years he joined the faculty at U.B.C. as an $800 a year lecturer (1932-1972). His early research interests were mainly mineralogy and economic geology. His major interest became biogeochemical prospecting.
Harry Warren had a theory: Soil and what grew upon it reflected the mineral content of the rocks below. It had occurred to him when a rancher asked him why some, but not all of his herd had taken ill, although Dr. Warren liked to say he became inspired because he simply got "tired of digging holes." This theory became a science, biogeochemistry. He was able to show how plants could give clues to mineral deposits below. Over the years, he discovered three gold-bearing areas of British Columbia by studying Phacelia sericea, a small purple flower with an orange stamen. "The wretched flower can grow without any gold. But if there is any gold, the cyanide in its roots collects the gold and gives you a clue what's there." Later he studied the impact on human health of various metal ions in rocks, soils and water. Later he failed to find a link between lead and multiple sclerosis in Trail, B.C. After the cancer death of his wife in 1985, he dedicated himself to seeking medically useful applications of his theory. This work won him an honorary medical degree from the British Medical Association.
Rocks donated in Harry's memory include a one and a half tonne "mountain-shaped" piece of Cascade Coral Granite from Beaverdell, donated courtesy of Dr. Don Gunning and the quarry owners, Margranite Industry Ltd., of Surrey B.C. 1500 pounds of Nephrite Jade with a large dark green polished surface, this boulder is from Wheaton Creek B.C., 60 kilometres east of Dease Lake, B.C. The jade is donated through courtesy of Jedway Enterprises Ltd., Vancouver, BC (Surrey) and Watson Lake, YT (J. Schussler, E. Hatzl, and partner). A large piece of pink rhodonite from a quarry on Evelyn Creek, Yukon along Canal "pipeline" Road, north of Jeslin, B.C. was also donated by courtesy of Jedway Enterprises Ltd. Assistance with these donations was also provided by Jim McDougall of Richmond B.C. and Peter Morris of Waterloo.
The Cascade Coral granite is a particularly appropriate rock to remember Harry as Olympic champion sprinter Percy Williams also of B.C. is remembered by a bronze statue of him mounted on a large piece of the same granite.
Nephrite Jade, calcium magnesium iron hydroxyl silicate.
Nephrite was derived from serpentines which are common throughout central and northern B.C. The age is probably Mississippian or Pennsylvanian. Nephrite often shows a white alteration due to weathering and a contact rim related to intrusion making it difficult to identify in place. Serpentine is formed by hydrothermal alteration, called serpentinization, of minerals such as olivine, pyroxene and amphibole in ultrabasic igneous rocks such as peridotites.
The nephrite jade, was found at Wheaton Creek, a small tributary of the Turnagain River in North Central B.C.. The area is only accessible by all terraine vehicle or float plane. The creek escaped serious scouring by glaciers. The creek was one of the first in B.C. to be seriously worked for placer gold despite the large number of boulders which had to be moved. Many of these were composed of nephrite jade which had no value at the time. One of these weighed 80 or 90 tons and was recently cut in Thailand to produce two Buddah statues weighing about 20 tons each. The statues were cut for a temple in Niagara Falls, Ontario.
Rhodonite, magnesium calcium silicate
Rhodonite is formed during metamorphism of sedimentary manganese ores; in contact with metasomatic deposits or by hydrothermal processes in ore veins. Metasomatic deposits are formed by chemically active pore liquids or gases contained within the rock or introduced from outside sources. They are essential for this replacement process. This usually occurs without change in volume or disturbance of textural or structural features of the rock.
A large gem quality rhodonite deposit was investigated by Anooraq Resources in 1992. The property was originally acquired in 1983 as a gold/silver prospect. A 22.3 kilometre access road, comfortable camp and excavations on the deposit, represent a considerable asset to the company. Mined material from the deposit was sold to Jedway Enterprises.
The rhodonite market, which has similarities to the jade or other semi precious stone commodity market, depends on the quality of the stone, rarity, dependable supply and familiarity of the buyer with the finished product. A considerable amount of preparatory work is required to contact potential buyers, supply sample specimens and follow-up enquiries before substantial sales are realised. Once a "name" is established, the marketing becomes relatively straight forward.
Porphyritic biotite granite.
The quarry is immediately north of highway 33, 12 kilometres south of Beaverdell, site of one of Canada's longest running silver mines. The trade name for the granite is "Cascade Coral Granite," it is from the Okanagan Batholith which covers much of south central B.C. The granite magma intruded forming a batholith during the Jurassic and Cretaceous. A batholith is a large plutonic mass of more than 100 square kilometres surface area and no known floor. Margranite Industry Limited has the only granite tile manufacturing line on the west coast of North America. It processes stone from nine different quarries in B.C. and from other quarries in eastern Canada, the U.S., Norway and Brazil.