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Victor A. Gostin (born 1940) is an Australian
Bruce Webb Medal
Geological Society of Australia. Retrieved 6 April 2021. for "his major contributions to Earth Sciences education and various aspects of geology, including environmental geology,
Victor A. Gostin (born 1940) is an Australian geologist
A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...
, who discovered in the Flinders Ranges of South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...
, a deposit of volcanic material that was ejected from the 300-kilometre distant Acraman crater when the impact was created by a meteorite
A meteorite is a rock (geology), rock that originated in outer space and has fallen to the surface of a planet or Natural satellite, moon. When the original object enters the atmosphere, various factors such as friction, pressure, and chemical ...
some 580 million years ago. He is an associate professor at the University of Adelaide
The University of Adelaide is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. Its main campus in the Adelaide city centre includes many Sa ...
, Department of Earth Sciences, School of Physical Sciences.
Discovery
His discovery was linked to a previous discovery by George Williams, also of the University of Adelaide, that the Acraman crater in Lake Acraman was due to the impact of a superbolide (exceptionally largemeteor
A meteor, known colloquially as a shooting star, is a glowing streak of a small body (usually meteoroid) going through Earth's atmosphere, after being heated to incandescence by collisions with air molecules in the upper atmosphere,
creating a ...
). After Gostin learned about this, he, Williams, Peter Haines and other colleagues of the University of Adelaide studied the materials in both places and found that they were similar in lithology and fracturing, showing that the ejecta in the Flinders Ranges came from the Lake Acraman site. This collaborative study was announced by them on 9 July 1985 during the Adelaide Geosyncline Informal Research Symposium in the Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Adelaide. Gostin remarked that his discovery "was the first known occurrence of far-flung ejected blocks of impact origin that have been preserved on earth."
Awards and honors
Main-belt asteroid 3640 Gostin, which was named in honor of Gostin, was discovered by Carolyn and Eugene Shoemaker at thePalomar Observatory
The Palomar Observatory is an astronomical research observatory in the Palomar Mountains of San Diego County, California, United States. It is owned and operated by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Research time at the observat ...
. The citation reads as follows:
In 2011, Gostin was also awarded the Bruce Webb Medal of the SA Division of the Geological Society of AustraliaGeological Society of Australia. Retrieved 6 April 2021. for "his major contributions to Earth Sciences education and various aspects of geology, including environmental geology,
marine geology
Marine geology or geological oceanography is the study of the history and structure of the ocean floor. It involves geophysical, Geochemistry, geochemical, Sedimentology, sedimentological and paleontological investigations of the ocean floor and ...
, planetology and sedimentology over the last forty years."
Personal life
Gostin is an active member of the Theosophical Society in Australia and edits the e-newsletter ''Theosophy and Science.''See also
* 3640 Gostin *References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gostin, Victor Australian geologists 1940 births Living people