Contact Information
Email :
david_griscom@yahoo.com
Address :
3938 E Grant Rd #131
Tucson
AZ
85712
USA
My "Political" Page                        My Home Page/Bio
Web Publication of a Scholarly Work by David L. Griscom, Ph.D. Physicist

Why don’t I submit it to a print journal?

    Well, I did submit it for publication in the proceedings of the Geological Society of America Penrose
    Conference on the Late Eocene Earth held in Monte Conero, Italy, where I made a presentation on the
    current subject in October 2007. However, my manuscript (essentially what I represent on the following
    pages) was rejected with no encouragement to resubmit after correction of (unspecified) errors.

Is that because I’m incorrigibly incompetent?

    Well, I’m actually the principal author of 109 of 190 published works bearing my name.

All mediocre stuff in junk journals?


So maybe I’m good in physics but incompetent in geology?

    Well, in the 1970’s I published without problem 20 papers in lunar science, wherein competence in lunar
    geology was surely a factor.  More significantly, in 2003 I was principal author of a seminal paper
    published in a geological conference proceedings: “Impact Markers in the Stratigraphic Record”
    (Springer Verlag 2003).  Judging from the fact that only 11 out of some 60 eligible participants survived
    the refereeing process to become principal authors of papers included in this monograph, those of us
    who did can certainly claim to have “earned our wings” in impact geology.

So what happened since 2003?  Did I subsequently suffer brain damage?

    No.  In fact, at issue here is a hypothesis that I have been seeking to prove for over 10 years now.  
    I have presented my evidence at several geological conferences and as a seminar at the Lunar and
    Planetary Laboratory, U. of Arizona.  I’ve also published key parts of my proof in the proceedings of
    conference “Natural Glasses 4” held in Lyon, France, in 2002.

So what did the geologists have to say about my evidence?

    Not much.  But they universally disbelieved my conclusions ...with one exception, albeit momentary.

A momentary exception?

    Yes, I became great friends with noted impact geologist, Kevin Pope.  In fact, Kevin is a coauthor with
    me of the paper mentioned above as published in “Impact Markers in the Stratigraphic Record.”  As it
    turns out, I also submitted a second paper to the proceedings of the same conference (this one was
    eventually rejected).  When I sent an early draft to Kevin for his opinion, he advised me to drop the
    detailed studies of my rocks and just submit my geological reanalysis of the “upland gravels” of
    Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia as a freestanding paper!  At that time, Kevin was living
    in the middle of the “upland deposits” of Southern Maryland and remarked that as he drove through the
    road cuts there, he could see clear evidence of impact deposition of the gravels.

So what happened?

    A few weeks later, Kevin reported back to me that he had dug deeper into the geological literature
    pertinent to the “upland deposits” and had changed his mind. Now he disbelieved his own eyes.

At that point I had zero supporters in the geological community, so I must be wrong.  Right?

    Well, I’d prefer that you, dear reader, be the judge of that.  This is my reason for publishing on this site.  
    I’d greatly appreciate receiving your impressions, advice, and/or (constructive) criticisms at
    dave@chesapeakebaycraterejecta.com or david_griscom@yahoo.com
    In any event, you may wish to look at the referee's actual comments by clicking the button below.
    You can also read the comments of one reader, and my responses to him. Sorry, the glossary is still
    under construction. You may also download this manuscript as a pdf and/or my PowerPoint presentation.
April 2007: Inception of my site:
impactglassresearchinternational.
com
1 March 2008: Deadline for
submission of manuscripts for
the proceedings of the GSA
Penrose Conference on The
Late Eocene Earth.
________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
4 August 2008: Rejection
notification received.  
_______________________
“Science is a belief system in which explanations at odds with reigning paradigms can be rejected even though they are correct.”
                                                                      -- Paul Craig Roberts’ reflections on Michael Polanyi’s philosophy of science
Paris, 2000                                                 Belize, 2001                                                                   Tokyo, 2002                                                  Italy, 2007
 
Footnotes to photos at top.
(2000) Dave Griscom and Pavle Premovic (Director, Laboratory for Geochemistry, Cosmochemistry &
Astrochemistry, University of Nis,  Serbia) with ESR spectrometer at Universite de Paris-6.
(2001) Dave at Planetary Society expedition to Chicxulub crater ejecta outcrops, Albion Island, Belize.
(2002) Dave in practice jersey of Mandai Memorials Ice Hockey Club, Tokyo.
(2007) Dave at GSA Penrose Conference on The Late Eocene Earth, Parc del Conero, Italy
In Plain Sight: the Chesapeake Bay Crater Ejecta Blanket