Palaeontologist & Geologist
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John - geo-palaeontologist in the field 1984
John’s CV below says it all …
 CURRICULUM VITAE
Mr John Pether, M.Sc., Pr. Sci. Nat. (Earth Science)
Geological and Palaeontological Consultant
P. O. Box 48318, Kommetjie, 7976.
Tel./Fax: (021) 7833023. Cellphone: 083 744 6295. Email: jpether@iafrica.com. Faxmail: 0866 890 732
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January 2010
CURRENT STATUS
Independent Consultant/Researcher.
EXPERTISE
ï‚· Shallow marine sedimentology.
ï‚· Coastal plain and shelf stratigraphy (interpretation of open-pit exposures and cores).
ï‚· Marine macrofossil taxonomy (molluscs, barnacles, brachiopods).
ï‚· Marine macrofossil taphonomy.
ï‚· Sedimentological and palaeontological field techniques in open-cast mines (including finding and excavation of vertebrate fossils (bones).
ï‚· Analysis of the shelly macrofauna of modern samples e.g. for environmental surveys.
Is a recognized authority in the field of coastal-plain and continental-shelf palaeoenvironments and is consulted by exploration and mining companies, by the Council for Geoscience, the Geological Survey of Namibia and by colleagues/students in academia pursuing coastal-plain/shelf projects.
Has intimate knowledge of the West Coast geohistorical model w.r.t. exploration for gem diamond resources. Currently a member of the Afri-Can Marine Minerals Corp. exploration team.
Has served as a representative for the interests of palaeontology in early discussions on developing strategies to mitigate loss of data and fossils in coastal mines and developments, in terms of Heritage Resource Management.
At present, an important involvement is in palaeontological impact assessments (PIAs) and mitigation projects in terms of the National Heritage Resources Act 25 (1999).
MEMBERSHIP OF PROFESSIONAL BODIES
ï‚· South African Council of Natural Scientific Professions. Earth Science. Reg. No. 400094/95.
ï‚· Geological Society of South Africa.
ï‚· Palaeontological Society of Southern Africa.
ï‚· Southern African Society for Quaternary Research.
ï‚· Heritage Western Cape. Member, Permit Committee for Archaeology, Palaeontology and Meteorites.
ï‚· Accredited member, Association of Professional Heritage Practitioners, Western Cape.
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HERITAGE IMPACT ASSESSMENT INVOLVEMENTS
1995. Draft procedures for the mitigation of mining impacts on palaeontological resources at the proposed Anglo-Alpha Saldanha Cement Project. For Mark Wood Consultants, Environmental Management. (Jun)
1995. Specialist Palaeontological Study. Assessment of the potential palaeontological impacts of the shale and limestone mining, Anglo-Alpha Saldanha Cement Project. For Mark Wood Consultants, Environmental Management. (Jun).
1995. The Impact of Mining on Fossiliferous Sediments. Submitted to the Mining Environment Forum, Western Cape Regional office of the Department of Mineral and Energy Affairs. (27 Oct).
2003. Palaeontological Mitigation Report, Development on Velddrif Fossil Shell Bar. Noordhoek Phase 2, Velddrif Housing, Berg River Municipality. For Ninham Shand (Pty) Ltd. (Oct).
2004. Initial Palaeontological Mitigation Report, Last Interglacial Deposits Verlorevlei South Bank. Re-alignment of Main Road Mr 535, Elandsbaai, Provincial Administration Western Cape. For Megan Anderson, Landscape Architect. February 2005. (May).
2004. Palaeontological Mitigation Report, Coastal Marine Deposits Dwarskersbos. Dwarskersbos Erf 276 Housing Development. For BKS (Pty) Ltd. (Sept).
2005. Final Palaeontological Mitigation Report, Last Interglacial Deposits Verlorevlei South Bank. Re-alignment of Main Road Mr 535, Elandsbaai, Provincial Administration Western Cape. For Megan Anderson, Landscape Architect. (Feb).
2005. Brief assessment for palaeontological mitigation, sites on Witteklip, Vredenburg. For Heritage Resources Authority, Western Cape. (2 Sept).
2006. Western Macassar Dunes Eco-trails Project. Heritage specialist input for Draft Scoping Report: Palaeontological assessment of the Western Macassar Dunes. For UCT Environmental Evaluation Unit. (Feb)
2006. Western Macassar Dunes Eco-trails Project. Palaeontological assessment of the Western Macassar Dunes: General Information Document. For UCT Environmental Evaluation Unit. (Feb).
2006. Palaeontological and scientific mitigation of shoreline deposits during works at Dwarskersbos, Erf 149, Dwarskersbos North and Farm 109, Dwarskersbos South. For Western Cape Environmental Consultants (Pty) Ltd, t/a ENVIRO DINAMIK. Mar.
2006. Palaeontological and scientific mitigation of shoreline deposits during works at Erf 470, Velddrif. For Western Cape Environmental Consultants (Pty) Ltd, t/a ENVIRO DINAMIK. Mar.
2006. Palaeontological investigation and mitigatory actions for proposed hazardous waste disposal site, Saldanha Bay municipal area. For Resource Management Services. May.
2006. Palaeontological Mitigatory Actions – Development of Erf 578, Velddrif (Laaiplek). For Western Cape Environmental Consultants (Pty) Ltd, t/a ENVIRO DINAMIK. Aug.
2006. Palaeontological investigation and mitigatory actions for proposed residue dam, Namakwa Sands smelter, Saldanha Bay municipal area. For Resource Management Services. Aug.
2006. Palaeontological Mitigatory Actions – Development of Erf 377, Jacobs Bay. For Matflor (Pty) Ltd. Sept.
2006. Palaeontological Mitigatory Actions – Developments of Portion 7 of Jacobs Baay 108 and Portion 3 of Trekossen Kraal 104. Prepared for Mr Tim Hart, Heritage Assessor, UCT Archaeology Contracts Office (ACO). Sept.
2006. Palaeontological Mitigatory Actions – Development of Erf 460, St. Helena Bay. For CK Rumboll & Partners. Sept.
2006. Palaeontological Mitigation Report, Coastal Marine Deposits, Bloubergstrand. For Cape Archaeology, Dr Mary Patrick. Sept.
2006. Palaeontological Mitigatory Actions – Development of Philipskraal, Centrepoint Development, Saldanha Small Holdings. For BKS (Pty) Ltd Engineering and Management. Dec.
2007. Brief palaeontological impact assessment and proposed mitigatory actions. Construction of a pebble-bed modular reactor, Koeberg. For Archaeology Contracts Office, Dept Archaeology, UCT. (Nov). 3
2007. Palaeontological Impact Assessment. Desktop scoping report. Developments of Duinekroon 591/ remainder (Still Bay), district Riversdale. For Perception Environmental Planning. (Oct).
2008. EIA Phase 2 expansion of the Saldanha iron ore handling facility. Heritage: Palaeontological Assessment. Stratigraphic review and recommendations for palaeontological mitigation. For PD Naidoo & Associates (Pty) Ltd, consultants to Transnet. (Feb).
2008. Palaeontological Mitigation and Geoheritage: De Beers Namaqualand Mines. Initial Draft Report. 28pp, with 4 maps and 49 images. Unpub. (May).
2008. Palaeontological potential at Baboon Point. A brief palaeontological assessment of erven 65, 66 and Portion 4 of Verlorenvlei Farm no. 8, Baboon Point/Cape Deseada, Elandsbaai. For Agency for Cultural Resource Management. (June).
2008. Palaeontological Impact Assessment. Development Of Erven 231 and 478, Velddrif (Laaiplek). For Robin Ellis, Heritage Impact Assessor. (July).
2009. Draft Palaeontological Impact Assessment. New Borrow Pits for Roadworks, Port Nolloth – Richtersveld Municipality. For Van Zyl Environmental Consultants, Upington. (Jan).
2009. Palaeontological Impact Assessment. Proposed Phosphate Prospecting, Langebaanweg. Langeberg 185 Portions 7 & 12 and Farm 1043, Vredenburg Magisterial District, Saldanha Bay Municipality. For Site Plan Consulting (Pty) Ltd. (Feb).
2009. Palaeontological Impact Assessment (Desktop Scoping Study). Proposed Construction of an Hotel on Ganse Vallei 444/38, Plettenberg Bay, District Knysna, Western Cape. For Perception Environmental Planning. (May).
2009. Palaeontological Impact Assessment (Desktop Scoping Study). Proposed Housing Development on Besters Kraal 38, Portion 37, Vredenburg, Western Cape. For Agency for Cultural Resource Management. (June).
2009. Palaeontological Impact Assessment (Desktop Scoping Study) and Chance Find Management Plan. Establishment of a Metal Recovery Plant At Arcelor Mittal Saldanha Works, Saldanha Bay, Western Cape. For Environmental Resources Management SA (ERM). (June).
2009. Palaeontological Monitoring Report. Establishment Of A Metal Recovery Plant At Arcelor Mittal Saldanha Works, Saldanha Bay, Western Cape. For Environmental Resources Management SA (ERM). (Aug).
2009. Palaeontological Impact Assessment (Desktop Scoping Study). Proposed Construction of an Hotel on Erf 12529, Beacon Island Estate, Plettenberg Bay, District Knysna, Western Cape. For Perception Environmental Planning. (June).
2009. Palaeontological Impact Assessment (Desktop Scoping Study). Proposed New Waste Water Treatment Works, Paternoster. Remainder Besters Kraal 38, Portion 3 and Erf 1519, Vredenburg District, Saldanha Bay Municipality, Western Cape. For Agency for Cultural Resource Management. (July).
2009. Palaeontological Mitigation Procedures. Initial Phase 2a Phosphate Prospecting. Langeberg 185 Ptns 7 & 12 and Farm 1043, Langebaanweg, Vredenburg Magisterial District, Saldanha Bay Municipality. For Site Plan Consulting (Pty) Ltd. (Sept).
2009. Palaeontological Impact Assessment. (Desktop Scoping Study). Protection Of Saldanha-Sishen Iron Ore Railway Line From Beach Erosion Processes Near Elandsbaai. (Aka S.E.F 502330: Elandsbaai Sand Dune Rehabilitation). For Strategic Environmental Focus (Pty) Ltd (Oct).
2009. Palaeontological Impact Assessment (Desktop Study). Proposed Vredelus 132/22 Kv Substation and Verlore-Vredelus 132 Kv Overhead Powerline. With Fossil Find Procedures. Project Reference 0104439, Task 1, Eskom Verlore/Vredelus. For Environmental Resources Management SA (ERM). (Dec).
2009. Palaeontological Mitigation Report. Initial Phase 2a Phosphate Prospecting. Langeberg 185 Ptns 7 & 12 and Farm 1043, Langebaanweg, Vredenburg Magisterial District, Saldanha Bay Municipality. For Site Plan Consulting (Pty) Ltd. (Dec).
2010. Brief Desktop Palaeontological Impact Assessment. Development of Erf 6268, Atlantis Extension 12. For Cape Archaeology (Jan). 4
RECENT GENERAL CONSULTATION
2005. Note on calcareous tubes etc. from Mossel Bay, sample 46842. For Dr. Curtis W. Marean, Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University. (5 May).
2005. Marine deposits and sea-level history in the Mossel Bay area. With Dave Roberts, CGS. For SACP4 Project led by Dr. Curtis W. Marean, Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University. Ongoing.
2005. Geology of the Velddrif area and desktop assessment of the potential for ****** deposits. For CNdV Africa. (22 Jun).
2005. Notes on a visit to Namakwa Sands, 14 March 2005. For Namakwa Sands (Pty) Ltd. (19 Apr).
2005. Namakwa Sands West Mine: stratigraphy, depositional environments and palaeontology. 1st Report. For Namakwa Sands. (Dec.).
2005. The West Coast – a brief history. For Mr Joss Lean, Exec. Producer, Project Coordination, Our Coast for Life. (Jul).
2005. Initial examination of the macrofaunal fossil content of paraconglomerates from SASA 2C. For De Beers Marine (SA) Pty Ltd. (Aug).
2006. Stratigraphic contexts of palaeoseismicity, Namaqualand coast. Field consultation. For the Council for Geoscience. (Feb).
2006. Namakwa Sands West Mine: stratigraphy, depositional environments and palaeontology. 2nd Phase. For Namakwa Sands. (Oct. – ongoing).
2006. Stratigraphy, depositional environments and palaeontology of Marine EPL 2499, off Namibia. For Afri-Can Marine Minerals Corp. (Nov. – ongoing).
2007. Epl 2499, Namibia. Report On The Vibracores. Features 6, 8, 17 & 18. Voyage Mv Mare Oceano, October-November 2006. Parts I & II. For Afri-Can Marine Minerals Corp. (Aug).
2008. Due Diligence Report. Concession Area EPL 3484, Namibia. For Afri-Can Marine Minerals Corp. Co-authors M. Mittelmeyer, J Pether, L Gardner. (Nov).
PUBLICATIONS
Pether, J. 1983. The lithostratigraphy of Hondeklipbaai – a reconnaissance. Unpub. B.Sc. Honours Project, University of Cape Town , 77 pp.
Kensley, B. & Pether, J. 1986. Late Tertiary and Early Quaternary Mollusca of the Hondeklip area, Cape Province, South Africa. Annals of the South African Museum 97 (6): 141-225.
Pether, J. 1986. Late Tertiary and Early Quaternary marine deposits of the Namaqualand coast, Cape Province: new perspectives. South African Journal of Science 82 (9): 464-470.
Grindley, J.R., Rogers, J., Woodborne, M.W. and Pether, J. 1988. Holocene evolution of Rietvlei, near Cape Town, deduced from the palaeoecology of some mid-Holocene estuarine Mollusca. Palaeoecology of Africa 19: 347-353.
Pether, J. 1990. A new Austromegabalanus (Cirripedia, Balanidae) from the Pliocene of Namaqualand, Cape Province, South Africa. Annals of the South African Museum 99 (1): 1-13.
Rogers, J., Pether, J., Molyneux, R., Hill, R.S., Kilham, J.L.C., Cooper, G. & Corbett, I.B. 1990. Cenozoic geology and mineral deposits along the west coast of South Africa and the Sperrgebiet. Guidebook Geocongress ’90. Geological Society of South Africa, PR 1: 1-111.
Pether, J. 1993. Relict shells of Subantarctic Mollusca from the Orange Shelf, Benguela Region, off southwestern Africa. The Veliger 36 (3): 276-284.
Pether, J. 1994. Molluscan evidence for enhanced deglacial advection of Agulhas water in the Benguela Current, off southwestern Africa. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 111: 99-117.
Pether, J. 1994. The sedimentology, palaeontology and stratigraphy of coastal-plain deposits at Hondeklip Bay, Namaqualand, South Africa. Unpub. M.Sc. thesis, University of Cape Town, 313 pp. 5
Pether, J. 1995. Belichnus new ichnogenus, a ballistic trace on mollusc shells from the Holocene of the Benguela region, South Africa. Journal of Paleontology 69: 171-181.
Pether, J, Roberts, D.L. and Ward, J.D. 2000. Deposits of the West Coast (Chapter 3). In: Partridge, T.C. and Maud, R.R. eds. The Cenozoic of Southern Africa. Oxford Monographs on Geology and Geophysics No. 40. Oxford University Press: 33-55.
Roberts, D.L., Botha, G.A., Maud, R.R. and Pether, J. 2006. Coastal Cenozoic Deposits (Chapter 30). In: Johnson, M. R., Anhaeusser, C. R. and Thomas, R. J. (eds.), The Geology of South Africa. Geological Society of South Africa, Johannesburg/Council for Geoscience, Pretoria: 605-628.
CONFERENCE REPORTS/ABSTRACTS
1986. The Late Tertiary and Early Quaternary marine deposits of the coast of Namaqualand, Cape Province. Institute of Coastal Research, University of Port Elisabeth, Report No. 12: 50-60.
1986. Fossil molluscs from Hondeklipbaai. Fourth Conference of the Palaeontological Society of South Africa, Abstracts.
1987. Shallow marine deposition in the Pliocene of Namaqualand. Sixth National Oceanographic Symposium, Stellenbosch. Handbook: B-27.
1989. Relict to Recent Mollusca: a potential for Benguela history. Conference on Geosphere-Biosphere change in Southern Africa, Cape Town, Programme and Abstracts: 35.
1989. Summary of western shelf malacological evidence. Proceedings of the Workshop on later Quaternary fluctuations of sea-level 13th March, 1989, University of Cape Town.
1989. The malacofauna of late Quaternary transgressions. Proceedings of the Workshop on later Quaternary fluctuations of sea-level 13th March, 1989, University of Cape Town..
1995. Molluscan evidence of climatic change from the western shelf. XII Biennial Conference of the Southern African Society for Quaternary Research, Abstracts, 9-10.
POPULAR
1987. Curious conches from bygone beaches. Sagittarius 2 (1): 7-9.
1988. Provinces past and present. Sagittarius 3: 2- 4.
1990. West Coast Excursion. Geobulletin, The Geological Society of South Africa 33(3): 24-26.
SUMMARY HISTORY
1956. Born in Cape Town on the 19th June.
1973. Matriculated First Grade, Westerford High School, Newlands.
1974. Research technical assistant, Division of Sea Fisheries, Walvis Bay. Involved in monitoring of pelagic fishing and in oceanographic and biological research cruises.
1977. B.Sc. student, Geology major, University of Cape Town.
1980. Geologist, Trans-Hex Group (Buffelsbank Diamante, Terra Marina). Diamond exploration onshore and offshore, including ore-body delineation at Hondeklip Bay, prospecting of modern beaches and shoreface, including side-scan sonar mapping. Mapping of south bank Orange River terraces (Baken).
1981. B.Sc., Geology major, University of Cape Town.
1983. B.Sc. Honours, University of Cape Town.
1984. Joined the South African Museum as Professional Officer in the Department of Cenozoic Palaeontology. Researcher of the palaeontology, sedimentology and palaeoenvironments of coastal-plain deposits and deposits of the continental shelf. Duties also involved field collection of invertebrate and vertebrate fossils, their conservation and curation. Honourary curator of the modern Mollusca collection. Participated in educational programmes by giving lectures, courses and preparing displays.
1994. M.Sc. degree awarded with distinction (UCT).
1996. Senior Project Geologist, De Beers Marine. Data acquisition, management, analysis, synthesis and report compilation involving inter alia: field observations, logging and sampling; development 6
of routine field logging criteria, recording procedures and training for operational personnel; sample analysis and interpretation; geological and geophysical interpretation; seabed geotechnical characterization; consultation to peers within the company; project planning; input to local and regional geological models, including within the wider De Beers Group companies.
2004 – Present. Independent Consultant/Researcher.
Currently an independent consultant to Afri-Can Marine Minerals Corp. as a member of the exploration team.
Consultant to EIA/HIA projects, contributing palaeontological impact assessments (PIAs) and mitigation recommendations in terms of the National Heritage Resources Act 25 (1999).
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