Brian Bluck

Brian John Bluck (29 August 1935 – 29 June 2015) was a Welsh geologist, academic author and professor of sedimentation and tectonics at the University of Glasgow. He was known for his work in sedimentology.

Early life and education Bluck was born in Pyle, Wales, on 29 August 1935 to a working-class family. He attended Bridgend County Grammar School and while at Cardiff Technical College, he was initially attracted towards politics. However, due to the location of his upbringing amongst Wales' coal mines and limestone landscapes, he decided to study geology at University College in Swansea.

Geological Society of London Lyell Fund (1981) Royal Society of Edinburgh Keith Medal (1981) Saltire Society of Scotland Award (1991) Edinburgh Geological Society Clough Medal (1999/2000) Elected FRSE in 1981

Brian Bluck Medal The University of Glasgow issued a medal in memory of Bluck, the Brian Bluck Medal. The medal and monetary prize is awarded to the best performing student in Earth Science honours.

Personal life and death Bluck was married to Mary, who together had two children. Bluck died on 29 June 2015, at his home in Old Kilpatrick.

Old Red Sandstone basins and alluvial systems of Midland Scotland (January 2000) Caledonian and related events in Scotland (January 2000) Where ignorance is bliss 'tis a folly to be wise' (Thomas Gray 1716-1761) - Controversy in the basement blocks of Scotland (November 2000) Timing of deposition, orogenesis and glaciation within the Dalradian rocks of Scotland: Constraints from U-Pb zircon ages (January 2002) The making of a diamond mega-placer on the margin of the Kalahari craton: Guidelines for future prospecting (August 2003) Zircon growth in slate (March 2004) Diamond mega-placers: Southern Africa and the Kaapvaal craton in a global context (January 2005) Geochronology of a granitoid boulder from the Corsewall Formation (Southern Uplands): Implications for the evolution of southern Scotland (April 2006) Characteristics of diamondiferous Plio-Pleistocene littoral deposits within the palaeo-Orange River mouth, Namibia (May 2006) Some observations on diamondiferous bedrock gully trapsites on Late Cainozoic, marine-cut platforms of the Sperrgebiet, Namibia (May 2006) Structure and directional properties of some valley sandur deposits in southern Iceland (June 2006) The effects of fluctuating base-level on the structure of alluvial-fan associated fan-delta deposits – an example from the Tertiary-of-the-Betic-Cordillera, Spain (June 2006) The sedimentary history of some Triassic conglomerates in the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales (June 2006) The Orange River, southern Africa: An extreme example of a wave-dominated sediment dispersal system in the South Atlantic Ocean (March 2007) Anomalies on the Cambro-Ordovician passive margin of Scotland (December 2007) Evolution of a Strike-Slip Fault-Controlled Basin, Upper Old Red Sandstone, Scotland (April 2009) Structure of gravel beaches and their relationship to tidal range (September 2010)