Eric W. Mountjoy

Eric Walter Mountjoy PhD, FRSC is an award-winning Canadian emeritus professor at McGill University. He is a foremost expert on sedimentology, Devonian reefs, carbonate diagenesis, porosity development and the structure of the Rocky Mountains. His research has provided useful applications to the petroleum industry.

Early life

Mountjoy was raised near Calgary, Alberta in the 1930s and 1940s. Regular visits to the nearby mountains led him into a career of geological research.

He obtained a B.A.Sc. from the University of British Columbia in 1955 and a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto in 1960.

Career

From 1957 to 1963, Mountjoy worked for the Geological Survey of Canada, first as a Technical Officer, then as a Geologist.

He left the survey to be an Assistant Professor at McGill University. In 1969, he was promoted to Associate Professor. In 1974, he was made a Full Professor. Between 1993 and 1998, Mountjoy was a Logan Professor. He retired and has been an Emeritus Professor ever since.

Most of Mountjay’s research has concentrated on Jasper Park's Miette area, and in particular on its exposed coral reefs from the Devonian period (395 million to 345 million years ago).

Mountjoy with Queen's University professor, Raymond A. Price have mapped most of the Canadian Rockies between Banff and Jasper. This work produced cross-sections, which have become classic representations of the structure of a thrust-fold mountain belt and have been published in many textbooks.

He has also studied ancient and modern reef geology, carbonate petrology and diagenesis, carbonate reservoirs and stratigraphy. He has visited and applied his knowledge to the geology of Australia, China and Germany.

He has directed the research of over 50 master's and doctoral students, many of whom have gone on to become professors.

In retirement he continues to lead field studies in the Rockies.

Honours

*1960, presented the Best Ph.D. thesis award by the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists
*1985, awarded the R. J. W. Douglas Medal by the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists
*1994, 1997, 2001, awarded the Medal of Merit by the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists
*1997, awarded the Logan Medal by the Geological Association of Canada
*1998, awarded the David Thompson Award for graduate teaching at McGill University
*1998, awarded the F. J. Pettijohn Medal by the Society for Sedimentary Geology
*1998, 1999, presented the Service Award by the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists
*1999, made a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada
*2001, bestowed Honorary Membership in the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geology

Cited publications

*Qing, H. and Mountjoy, E.W. (2004): "Petrography and geochemistry of Presqu'ile Dolomite, Western Canada Sedimentary Basin, In Dolomites the Spectrum", Can. Soc. Petrol. Geol. Seminar and Core Conf., January 13-15, 2004, Calgary, (available on compact disk).
*Mountjoy, E.W., Windth, J., Price, R.A., and Douglas, R.J.W., (2001): "George Creek, 83 C10, Geology and structure cross-section, Alberta", Geological Survey of Canada. Map no.1990A, scale 1:50,000.
*Stevenson, R.K., Whittaker, S. and Mountjoy, E.W. (2000): "Geochemical and Nd isotopic evidence for sedimentary-source changes in the Devonian miogeocline of the southern Canadian Cordillera", Geological Society of America Bulletin, 112, 531-539.
*Qing, H. and Mountjoy, E.W. (1995): "Paleohydrology of the Canadian Rockies and origins of brines, Pb-Zn deposits and dolomitization in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin: Comment and reply", Geology, 23, 189-190.
*Qing H. and Mountjoy, E.W. (1994): "Formation of coarse-crystalline, hydrothermal dolomite reservoirs in the Presqu'ile Barrier, Western Canada Sedimentary Basin", Am. Assoc. Petroleum Geologists Bull., 78, 55-77.

References

* [http://www.eps.mcgill.ca/index.php?id=0&url=./People/faculty/index.php&faculty=ericm McGill Faculty Bio]
* [http://reporter-archive.mcgill.ca/Rep/r3005/mountjoy.html McGill Reporter- November 6, 1997]
* [http://www.eps.mcgill.ca/~hofmann/Hofmann-Mountjoy2000-614.pdf Ediacaran reefs and shelly fossils in Miette Group]
* [http://reporter-archive.mcgill.ca/Rep/r3104/convocation.html McGill- October 1998 Convocation]

External links

* [http://www.cspg.org/about/awards/medal-of-merit.cfm CSPG- Medal of Merit]
* [http://reporter-archive.mcgill.ca/Rep/r3106/teach08.html Mountjoy’s thoughts on teaching]