Ralph Uhlherr began his search for australites in the 1970s, mainly in the Port Campbell area of Victoria, Australia. He documented exactly where, on what kind of ground, in what weather/season each piece was found, and its shape: perfect button (rare), dumbell, tiny disc, flange, and he took many photos in situ. Every holiday our family went to Port Campbell, whose stunning seascapes were some compensation for ‘having to’ search along the cliff tops and gullies.
It was the meticulous record of his (and our) finds that attracted Museum Victoria’s interest in acquiring Ralph’s collection, including his maps. MusVic has bags of specimens including buttons, but without much data, so Ralph’s careful documentation is valuable. MusVic directed a number of overseas researchers to us, some of whom we took to Port Campbell.
Some members may remember the Crater Tour into Central Australia which preceded the Meteoritical Society’s first annual meeting held in Australia in Perth,1990. Ralph was thrilled to be able to take part in this tour when someone pulled out. He knew of some of the participants from having read their publications, and we had met Gene and Carolyn Shoemaker by chance in the Mineral and Geological Survey building in Alice Springs in1987 on one of our forays into the Red Centre.
Ralph, a committed ‘citizen scientist’ but not an academic like the other tour participants, was nonetheless able to make a real contribution. When the 4-wheel drive bus arrived at the spectacular Gosses Bluff (Tnorala) in the Northern Territory, no one knew how to get into the crater, let alone how to climb to the rim. Except Ralph - we had been there before. He found the overgrown track in, and then the path to the top. Humbly proud, he was also able to show the relieved and delighted academics some sizeable shatter cones from the long ago impact.
Our friendship with the Shoemakers grew and Gene, working on the age of australites, was struck by one of Ralph’s australites firmly embedded in sand that had become rock. We showed the Shoemakers around Port Campbell, where Gene did geological surveys of certain spots, also taking soil and rock samples to test their age. Ralph’s finds, records and experience helped Gene to resolve conflicting theories about the age of the Port Campbell australites, which are from layers far older than previously assumed.
An article co-authored by Eugene M. Shoemaker and H. Ralph Uhlherr resulted: 'Stratigraphic relations of australites in the Port Campbell Embayment, Victoria, in Meteoritics and Planetary Science vol.3,4 pp369-384, May 1999'.
Submitted by Herta Uhlherr