Editorial Type:
Article Category: Research Article
| Online Publication Date: 05 Nov 2007
Bruce Wade: Tennessee's Forgotten Geologist
Bruce Wade: Tennessee's Forgotten Geologist
Page Range: 47 – 51
A burst of intense geological exploration and interpretation of the eastern Mississippi Embayment marked the first three decades of the 20th century. Bruce Wade, a Vanderbilt and Johns Hopkins-trained geologist, played a central role in the interpretation of the stratigraphy and paleontology of the Cretaceous deposits of West Tennessee. He discovered and described the perfectly preserved and extensive fauna of the Coon Creek fossil site, made detailed county stratigraphic studies, and is credited with discovering the first fossil insect preserved in amber reported from North America. Wade served in World War I and later worked in the oil industry in Mexico as an exploration geologist in the early 1920's. His promising career was cut short by a severe illness which left him confined in hospitals for the rest of his life. He died at the age of 84 in relative obscurity.
American Association Of Petroleum Geologists, 1923. Membership application, January 8, 1923, filled out by Bruce Wade with renewal through 1924. Tulsa, Oklahoma: American Association of Petroleum Geologists.
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Berry, Edward W., 1919. "Upper Cretaceous Floras of the Eastern Gulf Region in Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia." United States Geological Survey Professional Paper 112. 177 pages and 33 plates.
Berry, Edward W., 1925. "The Flora of the Ripley Formation." United States Geological Survey Professional Paper 136. 94 pages and 23 plates.
Berry, Edward W., 1930. "Revision of the Lower Eocene Wilcox Flora of the Southeastern States." United States Geological Survey Professional Paper 156. 196 pages and 50 plates.
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Dunbar, Carl O., 1919. "Stratigraphy and Correlation of the Devonian of West Tennessee." Tennessee Geological Survey Bulletin 21. 127 pages.
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Herald-Democrat. 1917b. "Major-General Duvall." Trenton, Tennessee: Herald-Democrat, November 29, 1917.
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Johns Hopkins University, 1914. Application for Admission to Graduate Courses, October 5, 1914. Wade, Bruce, Application File, The Ferdinand Hamburger, Jr. Archives of the Johns Hopkins University, Records of the Office of the Registrar, Record Group Number 13.010.
Johns Hopkins University, 1916. Application for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, February 2, 1916. Wade, Bruce, Application File, The Ferdinand Hamburger, Jr. Archives of the Johns Hopkins University, Records of the Office of the Registrar, Record Group Number 13.010.
Lawrence, Lucile, 1991. Oral communication to Ronald C. Brister. Trenton, Tennessee. June 6, 1991.
Miser, Hugh D., 1921. "Mineral Resources of the Waynesboro Quadrangle Tennessee." Tennessee Geological Survey Bulletin 26. 171 pages.
Nelson, Wilbur A., 1919. "Administrative Report of the State Geologist, 1919," Tennessee Geological Survey Bulletin 23: 16-17.
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Sims, C. C. (ed.). 1914. The Commodore: 1914. Nashville: Published by the Fraternities of Vanderbilt University. 397 pages.
Sohl, Norman F., 1990. Personal communication, letter to Ronald C. Brister, August 23, 1990. Bruce Wade archives, Memphis Pink Palace Museum.
Stevenson, Lloyd W., 1933. "The Zone of Exogyra cancellata traced twenty-five hundred miles." American Association of Petroleum Geologists 17: 1351-1361.
Wade, Bruce, 1914. "The Geology of Perry County and Vicinity." Resources of Tennessee 4: 150-181.
Wade, Bruce, 1917a. "A remarkable Upper Cretaceous fauna from Tennessee." Johns Hopkins University Circular (n.s.) 36: 73-101.
Wade, Bruce, 1917b. "The occurrance [sic] of the Tuscaloosa formation as far north as Kentucky." Johns Hopkins University Circular (n.s.) 36: 102-106.
Wade, Bruce, 1917c. "The Gravels of West Tennessee Valley," Resources of Tennessee 7: 55-89.
Wade, Bruce, 1917d. "An Upper Cretaceous Fulgar." American Journal of Science (4)42: 293-297.
Wade, Bruce, 1917e. "New genera and species of Gastropoda from the Upper Cretaceous." Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 68: 455-471.
Wade, Bruce, 1917f. The Gastropoda of the Ripley Formation in Tennessee. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Geology, Johns Hopkins University: Baltimore.
Wade, Bruce, 1918a. "New and little known Gastropoda from the Upper Cretaceous of Tennessee." Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 69: 280-304.
Wade, Bruce, 1918b. "New generic names for Upper Cretaceous Gastropoda." American Journal of Science (4)45: 354.
Wade, Bruce, 1920a, "Recent Studies of the Upper Cretaceous of Tennessee." Journal of Geology 28: 377-394.
Wade, Bruce, 1920b. "Recent Studies of the Upper Cretaceous of Tennessee." Tennessee Division of Geology Bulletin 23, part 1: 51-64, map.
Wade, Bruce, 1922. "The fossil annelid genus Hamulus Morton, an operculate Serpula." Proceedings of the United States National Museum 59: 41-46.
Wade, Bruce, 1926. "The Fauna of the Ripley Formation on Coon Creek, Tennessee." United States Geological Survey Professional Paper 137, 272 pages.