Publications of Richard Dixon Oldham. With few exceptions all his publications are sole authored. This bibliography has 134 articles , and 12 published transcripts of discussions that span 60 years from 1884 to 1934. Earlier biographies report about half his output. The list is probably incomplete in that it is almost certain that he produced at least one report from his work in Burma in 1910, and it is possible that he wrote articles between his schooldays in Rugby and his last days at the School of Mines that I have not been able to find.

Oldham was introduced to Indian fieldwork in December 1879 by William King in the Godavari river cachment north of Madras, but he immediately contracted malaria and was sent to the Himalaya to recover. The Madras region, as it happened, was the most southernmost field area he was destined to map on the Indian mainland. In the next quarter century he traversed thousands of miles of northern India mapping the western Himalaya, Ladakh, Kashmir, Baluchistan, Rajasthan, Assam, and Burma. He was primarily a stratigrapher and structural geologist, but his observations were founded firmly on the principles of Physics. He synthesised his geological ideas into a revision of the Manual of the Geology of India in 1893. His report on the 1897 Assam earthquake (1899), was the third and most detailed of his four epicentral earthquakes studies (Cachar 1869, Car Nicobar 1881, Shillong 1897, & Kachchh 1819). His return to Europe, in brief visits in 1893, 1898 and 1900 & permanently in 1902, permitted him to present his results to European geologists, and eventually to work with John Milne. His interest in the nature and timing of waves from the 1897 earthquake were influenced by John Milne and assisted by the free availability of seismograms from Italian observatories. He first correctly identified the two body waves p- and s- and distinguished them from Raleigh's surface waves on seismograms, and then showed that the body waves must travel ever faster as they traversed deep into the earth. Finally, by excluding all with poor timing he identified the crucial jump in the transmission time at large distances that indicated the presence of waves that touched the core. From this in 1905/6 he was able to quantify the diameter of the Earth's core in 1905/6. In 1907 he speculated on oceanic path propagation. In 1913 he turned his attention to gravity in the Himalaya, to explain which the geodesists of the Survey of India were proposing geologically unacceptable interpretations. In his explanations he hints at lithospheric flexure and mantle flow, ideas that would not be unacceptable now. In the past ten years of his life focussed on the evolution of the Rhone Delta. His recognition of the importance of timing of seismic observations were central to his suggestion in his last days in India that Indian local time should be unified and 5.5 hours ahead of GMT, a proposal that was adopted in 1906.

1874

Geological Expedition to the Wyken Colliery near Coventry, Rep. Natural History Society of Rugby School for 1874, 26-27 (1874)

Subwealdon Explorations, Rep. Natural History Society of Rugby School for 1874, 17-22 (1874)

1879

Geological Glossary for the use of students, by the late Thomas Oldham, edited by R. D. Oldham, Stanford, London. (1879) pp.62. (prefaced "Rugby May 27 1879"). pdf.... htm.....

On the modulus of Cohesion of Ice, and its Bearing on the Theory of Glacial erosion of Lake Basins, Phil. Mag, 5th series, 7( 43) , 240-247.1879. [this work was undertaken in Rugby in the winter of 1878/9 and communicated in London on 24 January 1879. summary.]

1880

Note on the Naini Tal landslip (18 September 1880). Rec. Geol. Surv. India13, 277-282 (1880). 

1882

The Cachar earthquake of 10th January, 1869, by the late Thomas Oldham edited by R. D. Oldham, Mem. Geol. Soc India, XIX, 1-98, (1882)

The thermal springs of India, by the late Thomas Oldham edited by R. D. Oldham, Mem. Geol. Surv. of India, 19, 99-161 Calcutta, (1882)

A catalogue of Indian earthquakes from the earliest time to the end of A.D. 1869, by the late Thomas Oldham edited by R. D. Oldham, Mem. Geol. Surv. India, 19, 163-215 (1882)

Report on the geology of parts of Manipur and the Naga Hills (published 1883) Mem. Geol. Surv. India, 19, 217-242 (1882)

1883

Note on the Geology of Jaonsar, Rec. Geol. Surv. India 16(4), 193-198, (1883). (1/4"=1 mile Map centered on Chakrata with Haripur on southern edge).

Notes on a traverse between Almora and Mussoorie, Rec. Geol. Surv. India 16, 1162-164, (1883). 

Presentation of a photograph of an Edict of Asoka at Kalsi in Jaonsar. Proc. Asiatic Soc Bengal July-August 120-121 1883

1884

Note on a Graphic Table of Dips, Geological Magazine, 21, 412-415, (1884)

Note on the earthquake of 31 December 1881, Rec.Geol. Surv. India,17(2) 47-53 (1884).

On the rediscovery of certain localities for fossils in the Siwalik beds Rec. Geol. Surv. India, 17, 78-79 (1884) [google book, figure only, the article describes how forest clearing exposed a fossiliferous bed whose location had been lost].

Note on the Geology of Gangasulan Pargana of British Garhwal, Rec. Geol. Surv. India, 17, 161-167, (1884) [first page and map missing in google book, map 1/4"= 1mile centered on Hardwar 78°15'E]

Note on the smooth water anchorages of the Travancore coast. Rec. Geol. Surv. India,17, 190-192, (1884). [a proposed questionaire: Philip Lake writes an article on this a few years later suggesting that the offshore calm is a mix of increased water density caused by suspended mud, and a thin layer of oil].

Rough notes for the construction of a chapter on the History of the Earth, J. Asiatic. Soc. Bengal 53(2), 3, 187-198 (1884); summary Proc. Asiatic Soc. Bengal 145-147, (1884).

On fossil bones from the Jumna Alluvium, Proc. Asiatic Soc. Bengal, 159-161, (1884) 5 Nov 1884 at 9 pm in Calcutta Oldham opens "I have to bring before your notice this evening what I may safely describe as one of the most important discoveries communicated to the society in recent years".

Double storied houses and concave roofs, Nature, 30-31, 8 May 1884. Mailed 9 April from Camp Matil while mapping the Garwhal Himalaya. (Nature misprints his name B. D. Oldham)

1885

Note on the probable age of the Mandhali series in the Lower Himalaya, Rec. Geol. Surv. India,18, 77-78, (1885)  

Memorandum on the probability of obtaining water by means of Artesian wells in the plains of Upper India. Rec. Geol. Surv. India,18, 110-112, (1885). [google first page only, the article is followed by an 8 page response by Medlicott defending points of the article which Oldham queries in his 2 page examination of the probably processes]

Notes on the Geology of the Andaman Islands Rec. Geol. Surv. India,18, 135-145, (1885).

1886

Memorandum on the correlation of Indian and Australian coal-bearing beds, Rec. Geol. Surv. India,19, 39-47, (1886). Also ice scratched boulders in the marine conglomerate above the Greta Seam of the lower coal measures (mentioned in letter from C S Wilkinson, Sydney 29 Sept 1886)

Memorandum on the prospects of finding coal in Western Rajputna. Rec. Geol. Surv. India,19, 122-127, (1886).

A note on the Olive Group of the Salt Range. Rec. Geol. Surv. India,19, 127-131, (1886). See html version: Oldham was dispatched to the Salt Range to examine Waagen's erroneous age to the Olive Series . He finds that Wynne is correct to the relief of Medlicott.

Preliminary note on the Geology of Northern Jessalmer. Rec. Geol. Surv. India,19, 157-160, (1886) (with hand tinted 1/8"=1 mile map). pdf......

On probable changes in the geography of the Punjab and its rivers: an Historico-geographical study. J. Asiatic Soc. Bengal 55(2), 322-343, (1887) ; Proc. Asiatic Soc. Bengal 171-175, (1886)

Essays on speculative Geology: 1. On homotaxis and contemporaneity. Geol. Mag., 23(7), 293-300 (1886)

Essays on speculative Geology: 2 On probable changes of latitude Geol. Mag., 23(7), 300-308 (1886) In this article Oldham outlines the widespread evidence for glaciation near sea level in India and argues for a shift in latitude of the continents, citing Fisher's suggestion that the crust can move relative to the core over a fluid substratum, and pointing to repeated folding of rocks as evidence fro these horizontal motions. He does not consider relative motion of the continents- ie continental drift. Remarkably, he cites numerical evidence for changes in latitude between 1810 and 1871, and cautions that this is too short a period to make definitive conclusions. He then cites changes of azimuth of the great pyramids that differe less than 30" of arc but are both 5' from due north.

1887

A note on the facetted pebbles from the Olive Group of the Salt Range, Punjab. Geol. Mag, 3rd decade, 3, 32-35 (1887)

The gneissose rocks of the Himalaya, Geol. Mag. 3rd decade 3, 461-465 (1887)

Preliminary sketch of the geology of Simla and Jutogh: Rec. Geol. Surv. India, 20,143-153, (1887)

Note on some points in Himalayan Geology, Rec. Geol. Surv. India, 20, 155-161 (1887)

Supposed suicide of the cobra, Nature, 35, 560-560 (14 April, 1887)

1888

On the law that governs the Action of Flowing Streams. Q. J. Geol. Soc, 44, 733-739. (1888) [se also summary article "On the law that governs the Action of flowing streams," Geol. Mag. 94-95, (1888); see also Action of flowing streams, Geol. Mag. 1891 page 43]

A bibliography of Indian Geology being a list of books and papers relating to the Geology of British India and adjoining countries, published to the end of A. D. 1887, printed by the Superintendent, Government Printing Press Calcutta, 1888. pp.145. [The pdf linked to this page was digitized by Google. On my copy Oldham uses the early spelling of compliments in his dedication "With the complements of the author" . ]

Memorandum on the results of an Exploration of Jessalmer with a view to the discovery of Coal, Rec. Geol.Surv. India, 21(1), 30-32, 1888.

Some notes on the geology of the North West Himalayas, Rec. Geol. Surv. of India, 21(4), 149-159, (1888)

The Sequence and correlation of pre-Tertiary Sedimentary formations of the Simla Region of the lower Himalayas, Rec. Geol.Surv. India, 21(3), 130-143 (1888) Google Access

Note on Blown-Sand Rock sculpture. Rec. Geol.Surv. India, 21(4), 159-160, (1888) With one plate.

1889

On flexible sandstone or Itacolumite with special reference to its nature and occurrence in India and the cause for its flexibility, Rec. Geol.Soc India, 22(1), 51-55, 1889 (two plates)

1890

Special report on the most favorable sites for petroleum explorations in the Harnai district, Baluchistan, Rec. Geol. Surv. of India, 23(2), 57-58, (1890).

Report on the Geology and economic resources of the country adjoining the Sind Pishin Railway line between Sharigh and Spintangi, and of the country between it and Khattan. Rec. Geol. Surv. of India, 23(3), 93-109, (1890).

A deep boring at Lucknow, Rec. Geol. Surv. of India, 24(4), 261-266, 1890. [Artesian pressures with slow flow rates obtained from a 1200' borehole]

1891

The Age and Origin of the Himalayas, with especial reference to the Rev. O. Fisher's theory of Mountain Formation. Geol. Mag. New Series, Decade 3 8(2) 8-70, Essays in theoretical Geology, 8-18. (1891)

Preliminary report on the oil locality near Moghal Kot, in the Sherani country, Suleiman hills. Rec. Geol. Surv. of India, 24(2), 83-84, (1891) [Oldham pursues rumours of a high quality, low productivity seep in Baluchistan, which Holland analyzes in the following 8 pages].

1892

Report on the geology of Thal Chotiali and part of the Mari country, Rec. Geol. Surv. India, 25(1), 18-29, (1892). [with Kishen Sing and Hera Lal he includes a 1/4" to the mile map of a one degree area 68-69°E and 29°30 to 30° 15'N with three cross-sections and 5 plates.]

Subrecent and recent deposits of the valley plains of Quetta and the Dasht-i-Bedaoliat; with appendices on the Chamans of Quetta ; and the artesian water supply of Quetta and Pishin. Rec. Geol. Surv. India, 25(1), 36-53, (1892). [Oldham discusses artesian wells in Quetta and the construction, operation and theory of the karezes ( in Iran known as qanats), subsurface aqueducts in the Quetta valley that tap the water table horizontally].

1893

A Manual of the Geology of India Chiefly compiled from the observations of the Geological Survey 2nd edition revised and largely rewritten by R. D. Oldham, 543 pp. Government of India, Calcutta (1893). [!this is the 56Mb 600 page searchable GoogleBook version ]

The river valleys of the Himalayas, J. Manchester Geographical Soc., 9 112-125 (1893) [In this article illustrated by graphics from Griesbach and a photograph by Bourne, Oldham rejects untenable theories that pretend to explain the drainages of the Himalaya and shows that the probable reason for the drainage divide being north of the axis of the Himalaya is that the rivers have eroded backward into the plateau, in some cases capturing northward flowing drainages.]

Note on the alluvial deposits and subterranean water supply of Rangoon. Rec. Geol. Surv. India, 26(2), 64-70, (1893).

On a deep boring at Chandernagore, Rec. Geol. Surv. India, 26(3), 100-102, (1893).

The Bacchus Marsh Boulder Beds, Nature 48, 416-416 (31 August 1893) doi:10.1038/048416b0 "Your issue of August 10 contains an interesting communication by Messrs. Officer and Balfour on the glacial boulder beds of Bacchus Marsh in Victoria, in which they are referred to as Triassic. May I be permitted to point out that this is erroneous? It is true that the late Dr. O. Feistmantel in his earlier descriptions of, and references to, the flora of these beds, regarded them as Triassic, but this was the natural consequence of their correlation with the Talchir group of India, which he then ascribed to the Trias. In 1886 it was shown by Dr. Wagner and myself sumultaneously that the true correlation of the Talchir group was with the marine beds below the Newcastle coal measures of New South Wales; the Bacchus Marsh boulder beds are consequently Upper Carboniferous, and form part of the traces of the Upper Carboniferous glacial period which have been recognised in Australia, Africa and Asia. The matter will be found fully dealt with in pages 120 &123 and 191-214 of the second edition of the Manual of the Geology of India, just published by the Indian Geological Survey."

Rock Basins in the Himalayas, Nature 49, 77-77 (23 November 1893) doi:10.1038/049077a0 "There is one statement in the interesting communication of my colleague, Mr. T. D. LaTouche, which seems to require qualification. After a tolerably extensive experience of the Himalayas, I should be inclined to say that rock basins are of fairly frequent occurrence, of all sizes from the largest to the smallest, but they are almost without exception filled with stream deposits, and only occasionally can their formation have been due to glaciers; for they are usually found where there are no traces of glacial action to be seen, and at levels to which we have no reason to suppose that glaciers ever reached. In the hills of eastern Baluchistan, where the rainfall is much less than in the Himalayas, rock basins more or less filled by recent surface deposits are even more common, and here their origin by deformation of the surface can generally be established. The same cause probably accounts for the Himalayan rock basins, as there are abundant proofs that the elevatory movement has been far from uniform, and that the variations in its intensity have been both extensive and often extremely local. There are frequent occurrences of surface deposits which appear to have originally been formed in rock basins, but have since been cut into by the streams, owing to the corrasion of the barrier, and we may attribute the absence of lakes in the Himalayas to the rapid current and large burden carried by the streams, in consequence of which they have been able to fill up the basin, and often to corrade the barrier, as fast as it was formed.

The Origin of Lake Basins , Nature 49, 197-197 (28 December 1893) doi:10.1038/049197b0 "The fallacy is not a new one; it may be found in the writings of more than one of the advocates of the glacial theory, and is contained in the argument that because lakes are found in regions that have been extensively glaciated, and are not found in regions precisely similar in every respect, except that there has been no great extension of glaciers, therefore the rock basins in which the lakes lie were excavated by glaciers. I trust I have not misrepresented the argument in this succinct statement of it; but such condensation is useful if we would detect a fallacy, and in this condensed form the fallacy of the undistributed middle term becomes conspicuous."

1894

The Petroleum Fields of India: Their Present Condition and Their Probable Future.” Journal of the Society of Arts 42 (1894): 114-156. [He gave the subject of this article in a talk to the British Association in January 1894 in which he outlines the genesis and retention of sub-surface oil and why oil discovery was considered important for the railways of India which drove initial exploration. He then the recounts from east to west the oil fields of Baluchistan, Potwar, Jawalmaki, Assam , Garo and Burma. He points out that several fieldshave been unproductive or rapidly depleted and drained, but that many await discovery especially in strata and structures similar to thos that presently exist.]

A comparison of the Permian breccias of the Midlands with the Upper Carboniferous glacial deposits of India and Australia, Q. J. Geol. Soc., 51, 463-471, 1894 [see also summary Origin of Permian breccias, Geol Mag. 94, 334)

The Evolution of Indian Geography, The Geographical Journal 3(3), 169-192, (1894) doi:10.2307/1773463 Given as a talk and an article. Oldham summarizes his findings following the re-writing of the Manual of the Geology of India. Interestingly, he recognizes the importance of the unique statigraphic, faunal and floral replication of rocks in South Africa, Madagascar and India and, in keeping with thinking at the time recognizes that the land areas must have been connected before the Cretaceous, and separated by sea subsequently. He falls short of suggesting continental drift, but he also remarks that the rivers of India all originate in the west and drain to the east suggesting a large land mass to the west now missing. The talk was illustrated with numerous pictures of scenery in India taken by military personnel. [RGS discussion following the talk]

Article: The Making of Indian Geography Geog J. 111, 1894. Blanford was asked by the RGS to review the article with a name "The Evolution of the Geography of India". Blanford writes (31 Oct 1893) "Mr. Oldham's paper is, of course, to a considerable extent a compilation, and the greater part of the facts and theories were published in the first edition of the Manual of Geology of India in 1879.  There are, however, a few additions and I do not think the principal known facts have been published in a condensed form before.  I therefore recommend the publication of this paper by the Society. At the same time the statements about the manner in which the information has been collected will need some modification as it might be inferred from them that the author claims a larger part in bringing the data together than is really his". The handwritten manuscript of Oldham's draft in Geog J. has much flowery language , especially at the end, with deletions and insertions.  The article is a summary of Oldham's 2nd edition Manual of Geology of India.  Blanford worked in the GSI 1855-1882 and was one of the three authors who prepared the first edition of the Manual of Geology that came out in 1880, that was to have been authored by Oldham's father.

Notes on Ground Ice, Natural Science 4, 450-452. html or pdf

The Origin of Rock Basins Nature 49, 292-293 (25 January 1894) doi:10.1038/049292b0 "In my previous letter I confined myself to one aspect of the controversy relative to the origin of rock basins now occupied by lakes, as all the other arguments adduced by Dr. Wallace with one exception, of which more hereafter I have already been answered, and the case on either side so fully presented that each one may draw his own conclusions as to which is right. The particular confusion of argument I referred to has not been so fully dealt with, and Dr. Wallace's letter shows that it was one which required to be met, for the heading of his letter itself shows that he has not fully appreciated the particular point at issue, which is the cause of origin of rock basins irrespective of whether they are or have ever been occupied by lakes. Leaving out of question the opinions of other opponents of the glacial erosion theory of the origin of lakes, as this would introduce too large a subject for the correspondence columns of Nature, and confining myself to the defence of the views put forth in my former letter, I may point out that the preglacial origin of rock basins by deformation is by no means the strongest form of the alternative explanation; on the contrary, it appears to me to be subject to nearly as many objections as the hypothesis of glacial erosion of rock basins. If a rock basin is produced by deformation in a region where the valleys are not filled by glaciers, the ordinary action of the streams will usually be able to prevent a lake from being produced by the erosion of the barrier, the filling up of the hollow, or both combined. When, however, a rock basin is formed by differential movements in a glacier filled valley, it would be filled with ice, and so protected from sedimentation, and on the retreat of the glacier would at first be filled with water, and only gradually filled with solid matter, while the stream, having deposited its solid burden in the lake, would be unable to exert any erosive action on the barrier. From this it appears that there is a probability that rock basins formed beneath the glaciers during their extension in the glacial period should remain to the present day as lakes only partially filled up by solid debris".

1895

On some outliers of the Vindhyan system south of the Son and their relation to the so-called lower Vindhyans. Rec Geol. Soc India, 28(4), 139-144, 1895 [Plate 5 illustrated in black and white with three cross-sections.]

The alleged Miocene man in Burma. Natural Science, 7, 201, 1895 [Oldham cautions at assigning a solitary stone-age flint to Miocene or to Lower Pleistocene age on the basis that it may have been transported to its discovered location by natural or other processes, having not been exhumed by a professional geologist].

1897

On a plant of Glossopteris with part of the rhizome attached and on the structure of the Vertebraria. Rec Geol. Soc India 30(4), 139-144, 1897

Introduction, i-viii, to Holland T. H., Report on the Geological Structure and stability of the Hill Slopes around Naini Tal, pp.132. Government Printing Office, Calcutta 1897.

Note on the 12 June earthquake Rec Geol. Soc India, 30(3), 130-132, 1897.

Earthquake of 12th June, 1897, J. Manchester Geographical Society, 13, 142-145 (a detailed summary of the Shillong Plateau earthqaueke)

The Facetted pebbles of India, Natural Science :a monthly review of progress, Sept 1897, 11, 197-199. html pdf

1898

A note on the Allah Bund in the northwest of the Runn of Kuchh, Mem. Geol. Surv. India, 28(1), 27-30, Calcutta 1898 with 1 plate [He retrieved this plate from the Bombay office during a clean-up, and although he mentions it he does not reproduce it in his 1926 account of the 1819 earthquake, and he reduces part of it in his 1922 account on the cause of of earthquakes].

1899

Report on the Great Earthquake of 12th June 1897  (incl. the reports by  P. Bose, G. Grimes, H.Hayden, T. LaTouche and E. Vredenburg) , Mem. Geol. Surv. India, 29, pp.379, 1899 Calcutta [This was the most thorough account of any earthquake up to that time, and was to form a template that few were able to match for all subsequent earthquake reports in India].

Barisal Guns Nature 61, 127-128 (7 December 1899) doi:10.1038/061127d0 "These Guns are heard most frequently from February to October, and seldom in November, December or January. One very noticeable feature is their absence during fine weather, and they are only heard just before, during, or immediately after heavy rain".

1900

On time in India: a suggestion for its improvement, Proc. R. Asiatic Soc Bengal 1899, 49-55. (Calcutta 1900). [Oldham may have been responsible for initiating a unified time for India. He points out that the railways and telegraph have been forced to do this (as have all seismologists!) and that 5.5 hours ahead of GMT would be appropriate. It was turned down by the Government as premature but the meridian of Allahabad at 82.5°E (GMT+5.5 hours) was adopted in 1906 everywhere except Calcutta and Bombay which followed many years later]

List of aftershocks of the great earthquake of 12th June 1897, Mem. Geol. Surv. India, 30(1), 1-102, Calcutta (1900).

On the Propagation of Earthquake Motion to Great Distances, Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. Lond, 194, 135-174, (1900). [This 38 page article was submitted 16 June, and communicated to the Royal Society 16 Nov 1899 by Sir R.S.Ball but not published until 29 March 1900. In it Oldham identifies the arrival of compressional, shear and surface waves for seven earthquakes (termed respectively condensational, distortional and gravitational waves), and shows that the velocities of these first two increase with depth and angular distance traveled, whereas for surface waves the velocities are approximately linear with distance from the origin, with a suggestion that the longer period surface waves probe deeper depths and travel faster. Oldham had established their presence for the 12 June 1897 Assam event, but in this article he demonstrates its generality using six additional large earthquakes. He mentions earlier estimates for the diameter of a metallic core (Laplace and Waltershausen but not Wiechert,1895), and although in this article he speculates that an abrupt velocity change at the core boundary might be anticipated, he has yet to obtain data from sufficient paths and distances to demonstrate its existence. The abstract appears in the same year in ProcR.Soc.Lond.

1901

The origin of the Dunmail Raise (Lake District) Q. J. Geol. Soc. 57(2), 189-197. (May 1901) [see also in Geol. Mag. 1901, The origin of the Dunmail Raise, page 141]

1902

Geology of the Son valley in the Rewah state and of parts of the adjoining districts of Jabalpur and Mirzapur: By R.D. Oldham, P.N. Datta and E. Vredenburg (Mem. Geol. Surv. India, 31 (1) (1902).

On tidal periodicity in the earthquakes of Assam, J Asiatic Soc Bengal 71,139-153, Calcutta (1902). reprinted in Mem. Geol. Surv. India, 30, 1-15, (1902) google link

The Turkestan earthquake of August 22, Nature (1723),67, 8-9, 1902. [Oldham uses teleseismic and macroseismic data to identify the location of the disturbance that cuased 667 deaths in Kashgar - four paragraph letter to Nature]

1903

The diurnal variation in frequency of the aftershocks of the great earthquake of 12th June 1897, Mem. Geol. Surv. India, 35(2), 117-155, Calcutta (1903). [with five plates ]

A note on the sandhills of Clifton near Karachi, Mem. Geol. Surv. India, 34(3),133-157 (1903) [photo, figures and three maps. The photo is reproduced by Nature with a short commentary Nature 69, p138, 1903]

1904

Aftershocks of the great earthquake of 12th June 1897, Mem. Geol. Surv. India, 35(3), 1-23, Calcutta (1904).

Note on the Zewan Beds in the Vihi District, Kashmir, Rec. Geol. Surv. India, 31(1), 5-8, (1904).

Note on the glaciation and history of the Sind Valley, Rec. Geol. Surv. India, 31(3), 142-161, Calcutta (1904) [ Oldham's striking glossy photos of mountain scenes: Zogi Gorge, Baltal, Sonamarg Moraines, Mechoi Glacier and Shokdar Valley, plates 11-16 respectively, have been destoyed by water in the GSI photo archive in Calcutta].

1905

The Rate of Transmission of the Guatemala Earthquake, April 19, 1902 Proc. R. Soc. London. Series A, Containing Papers of a Mathematical and Physical Character, Vol. 76(508), 102-111. (May 24, 1905) [also commentary from Nature 19 April 1902 on his talk which he gave in 1902]

The new Seismology:Two new textbooks. Geog. J. 25(3), 320 (Reviews of Dutton and Siebergd texts on seismology)

1906

Earthquake Origins, Nature 73, 620-621 (26 April 1906) doi:10.1038/073620b0 " Among the most interesting and important of the new ideas, which have been introduced into seismology in late years, must be classed Major E. G. Harboe's notion of the nature of earthquake origins. Originally treated as a point, the focus of an earthquake has long been recognised an area, but we are still in the habit of regarding it as restricted in size and small in comparison with the dimensions of the area over which the earthquake is felt."

The Constitution of the Interior of the Earth as revealed by Earthquakes, Quart. J. Geological Soc. Lond., 62(3), 456-475, 1906. [This article is arguably Oldham's most influential. Now ageg 48 he points out that his 1900 Phil. Trans. article demonstrates conclusively that the three types of wave emanating from an earthquake travel at different velocities. In this article he follows these waves from 14 earthquakes to the far side of the Earth and shows there to be an abrupt decrease in the velocity of shear waves at angular distances of about 130 degrees. His diagrams of travel-times for the 12 earthquakes for which he knows origin times are used to determine the origin time and location for those for which these data are lacking. He poses but rejects the supposition that the s-wave is extinguished at the core and instead thinks it more likely that it be slowed considerably. He calculates a diameter for the core as 0.4 of the diameter of the earth but decideds not to offer a guess as to its nature. We was thus close to deducing a liquid core but was swayed by previous thinking that it was inappropriapte that he should do so.

On explosion craters in the lower Chindwin district of Burma. Rec. Geol Soc India (34(3), 137-147, 1906. [also mentioned in Nature commentary section (Nature, 76, 137, 1907)]. Oldham argues that a series of lake-filled craters in Burma near Chindwin must owe their origin to shallow explosive volcanism due to the fact that they are not surrounded by volcanic cones]

The Valparaiso earthquake August 17 1906, Nature, 75, 439, 1906 [A two paragraph article commenting on Milne's 21 Feb note -"I wrote to a number of seismological stations, the addresses of which were known to me, and met with a most generous response to my requests"]

1907

The winding of rivers in plains, Nature, (1986)77, 55, 1907 [a one column letter in which he admits to having lost some of his collected papers]

The Constitution of the Interior of the Earth as revealed by Earthquakes: (Second Communication). Some new light on the Origin of Oceans, Quart. J. Geological Soc. Lond., 63(3), 344-350, 1907 [The delay of the s- seismic waves from two earthquakes-San Francisco and Colombia, almost equally distant from Europe arrives much retarded where they travel a predominantly oceanic path, suggesting a fundamental difference between the oceans and continents. The paper was read to the Geological Society June 19th but Oldham was unable to be present. He responds on 20 July to a printed comment by Sollas who opines that this confirms an increase of density below the ocean basins, by indicating that although this would explain the difference in arrival times, it would not also explain the slowness of both p and s. He suggests a possible increased temperature beneath the oceans, but agrees that more data are needed]

The Valleys of the Himalayas, Geographical J. 1907, 30, 512-516 (a disscussion of the development of southward drainage in the Himalaya based on examples from Kashmir)

1908

Note on the duration of the first preliminary tremor in the San Franciscan and Columbian earthquakes, Report of the 77th meeting if the British Association for the Advancement of Science, Leicester, 30 July-7 August, 1907, John Murray 1908. Section VII, of the twelfth report of the committee, Page 93. [Oldham notes that the p-s travel time of these two earthquakes differ by 2 minutes suggesting a difference in the moduli of the two paths traversed, the subject of his 1907 article on the origin of oceans]

An Unconventional Map of the World, and a Plea for Its Use in Schools. Geog.  J.,Vol. 32, No. 4. (Oct., 1908), pp. 377-38 jstor The handwritten draft is in the RGS.

Seismographs and seismograms, Nature , (1994)77, 246-247, 1908 [a two column "user's guide" letter to Nature on the relative quality of recording instruments from different parts of the world in response to an earlier note by Milne.]

Earthquakes and earthshakes. Nature (2012) 78, 55, 1908, in which he makes a rather odd statement about the mechanism of earthquakes, followed by a response by Fisher [Nature, (2016)78, 157, 1908.] which catches his error, to which Oldham partially agrees. However, Oldham's view of the earthquake mechanism from this time leans steadily from currently accepted views, as can be seen from his article on the 1906 San Francisco earthquake in 1908.

The 1907 Jamaica earthquake: Discussion by Strahan, Nicholson, Longstaff, Cornish, Oldham and Close. Geog. J., 31(3), 271-276, Mar1908.

1909

The Geological interpretation of the earth movements associated with the Californian Earthquake of April 18 1906 Q. J. Geol Soc London, 65, 1-20 (1909) . [In this article Oldham makes some quite reasonable deductions about the 1906 earthquake but comes to an erroneous conclusion, othogonal to current thinking about elastic rebound theory. Prof. John Evans in the audience rejects his explanation, and gives his own (almost plate-tectonic) explanation the following year. Oldham decides Evans is wrong each time (we now know that Evans was right each time), but from this time onward Oldham chooses not to believe that elastic rebound is the cause for generating the vibrations at the hypocenter. He believes that waves are generated at the source by a phase change or chemical transition, and that faulting is a secondary manifestation of the earthquake process.]

Recent Earthquakes. Geog.  J.,Vol. 33, No. 3 (Mar., 1909), pp. 294-297 doi:10.2307/1776903

A new Geography, Geog.  J.,Vol. 34, No. 2 (Aug., 1909), pp. 156-166. doi:10.2307/1777819 JSTOR

The Italian earthquake of Dec 28 1908.  Geog.  J.,Vol. 33, No. 2. (Feb., 1909), pp. 185-188 JSTOR

1913

The recent discussion on the Origin of the Himalayas, Geol. Magazine, 532-536, 1913. [ The linked copy of this article is annotated by Oldham and was sent to Lenox-Conyngham. His annotations reduces the range of estimated sediment depths in the Gangetic plains, and corrects his Vice-President status to Fellow, see also article by HGLamplugh on Oldham and others: The relations of Geodesy to Geology; a summary of the Structure of the Himalayas and Gangetic Plain Nature, 101(2535) , 246-7, (1918) ]

Radium and evolution of the Earth's crust. Nature, 2286(91) 635, 1913 (August 21 ) [In this two-column letter prompted by an earlier one by Arthur Holmes. Oldham aged 55 and writing from Horsham, apologizes for the lateness of his response caused by his being away from home and asserts what is known from seismic velocities of the layering in the Earth. He points out that below a crustal layer, velocities increase slowly to a depth of around 2400 miles at which point an abrupt decrease in velocity of shear waves occurs caused "by a great reduction, if not the entire dissappearance, of rigidity" . He airs two physical transitions that could be the reason for this change (solid to metal, or solid to gaseous), but avoids stating the simplest - that the transition is caused by a transition from solid mantle to liquid core.]

1914

Constitution of the Earth's Interior as revealed by Earthquakes, Nature, 2312(92), 684-685, 1914.

On the Effect of the Gangetic Alluvium on the Plumb-Line in Northern India Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Containing Papers of a Mathematical and Physical Character, Vol. 90, No. 615, pp. 32-41 [received 7Jan, Read 12 Feb and published Apr. 1, 1914) see also the commentary in Nature, 2312(92), 703, 1914] .

1916

Gravity Deflections in the Andes (in Correspondence) Geog.  J.,Vol. 48, No. 2. (Aug., 1916), pp. 181-182.jstor

On the Accuracy of Basevi's Determinations of the Value of Gravity in India. Geog.  J.,Vol. 48, No. 3. (Sep., 1916), pp. 257-260.

The support of the Himalaya, Q. J. Geological Society, 72(1), viii-ix, (1916) [ abstracted in Nature, 97(2419), 48 (1916).

1917

The structure of the Himalayas, and of the Gangetic Plain, elucidated by Geodetic Observations in India, Mem. Geol. Surv. India, 42(2), pp.150-300, Calcutta (1917).

Discussion on Mr. Harding King's Paper "Study of a Dune Belt"Vaughan Cornish; R. D. Oldham; Godfrey Sykes; J. W. Evans; J. S. Owens; Mr. Hinks; Mr. Reeves; W. J. Harding King; Dr. Cornish, Geog.  J.,Vol. 51, No. 4. (Apr., 1918), pp. 250-258.

1918

A seasonal variation in the frequency of earthquakes. Quart. J. Geological Soc. Lond. 74(1), 99-104 (1918-1919)

Some considerations arising from the frequency of earthquakes. Nature, 101(2530), 159 (1918).

1919

The Interior of the Earth: Being the introduction to a geophysical discussion organized by a committee of the British Association ..., and held at the rooms of the Royal Astronomical Society on November 19, 1918". Geol Magazine, New Series Decade VI, Volume VI, 18-27, Jan 1919.

The Support of the Mountains of Central Asia (Being an appendix to the Memoir on the structure of the Himalayas, and of the Gangetic Plain, as elucidated by Geodetic Observations, Rec. Geol. Surv. of India, 49, 117-137 (1919).

1920

The constitution of the Earth's Interior, Nature 102(2650), 236-236. Synopsis of opening discussion of the British Association meeting of the Geophysical Committee on 19 November 1920]

Comments on a June 9 lecture by Knott on Earthquake Waves and the Elasticity of the Earth. Proc. Geol Soc lxxxviiii-lxxxix, 1920. [Knott indicates that at a depth of about 2500 miles the rigidity of the Earth suddenly vanishes and the materials behave vis cously. Oldham points out that "It might be a mere coincidencce that this was also the depth of the separation, according to one well-known hypothesis, between the metallic nucleous and the stony shell of the Earth".]

A Brief Review of the Evidence upon Which the Theory of Isostasy Has Been Based: Discussion H. G. Lyons, Morley Davies, R. D. Oldham, E. H. Hills, G. T. McCaw, Major Wolff, Mr. Hinks, Sidney Burrard Geog.  J.,Vol. 56, No. 1 (Jul., 1920), pp. 52-59 doi:10.2307/1781295 [A very readable account of the developing controversy was published a few years earlier by MorleyDavies, (1918).

Demonstration of a model to illustrate the hypothesis of a somewhat Rigid Crust resting on a somewhat yielding substratum, as applied to the origin of Mountain ranges. Proc. Geol Soc.56, viii-ix, 21 jan 1920

1921

A seasonal variation in the frequency of earthquakes (Second Communication). Q. J. Geological Soc. Lond. 77(1), 1-3 (1921) . [Read 17 Nov 1920 and abstracted in Nature 105(2682), 186(1920)]

Know your faults (Presidential Address with the title in Greek) Q.J. Geol. Soc London 77, 77-92 (1921) The anniversary Address of the President Proc. Geol. Soc.London 77, lxxvii-lxiii, (1921) [abstracted in Nature, in Nature 107(2681), 92(1921)]

1922

The African Rift Valleys, Geog.  J.,Vol. 59, No. 2. (Feb., 1922), p. 151.

Gravity Observation in India, Nature, 110(2768), 665. [In this article he explores the possible existence and implications of a 0.1 dyne change in the g reported in repeated measurements of gravity at Dehra Dun].

The cause and character of earthquakes, . Q. J. Geol. Soc.78(1) lv-lxvii,(1922) Nature, 109(2742), 650-3, (1922), cont. 109(2743), 685-7, (1922) [a summary of his Feb 17 address as President of the Geol. Soc. London].

The Cause and Character of Earthquakes. Nature 109, 650-653 (20 May 1922) doi:10.1038/109650b0 (The study of earthquakes, using that word in the restricted, and original, sense of the disturbance of the ground which is sensible to human feelings, which causes alarm and destruction, and is properly that seism of the ancient Greeks, from which our modern term seismology is derived, has always been recognised as one of the departments of geology. This limitation is necessary, for, of late years, seismology has been extended to the study of a phenomenon of different character, the long-distance records of disturbances, only to be detected by very sensitive instruments of special construction; in some cases these are clearly connected with great earthquakes-as the word is here used-and by inference have been presumed to be so in all cases, even when there is no independent evidence of the earthquake proper. The

Cause and Character of Earthquakes. Nature 109, 685-687 (27 May 1922) doi:10.1038/109685a0 (The stress-difference required to produce fracture in average hard rocks, as they are met with at the surface, is round about 1,000,000 grammes per centimetre squared, and, allowing for the greater strength at depth, which is indicated by the experiments of Prof. Adams and the computations of Prof. Barrell, we may put the breaking strength of the earth's crust at about double this quantity, so that to reach this point in one year from starting, the strain would have to increase at the rate of about 1400 grammes per centimetre square in each quarter of a day. According to the late Sir George Darwin the stress-differences set up by the moon in the latitude of Italy would amount to about 20 grammes per centimetre square in an incompressible Earth, and in a compressible Earth with an incompressible crust, a condition much more akin to what we have reason to suppose is the reality, the stress-differences would be many times this figure; but even the lower amount is nearly ij per cent, of the growth required to reach breaking point in one year; it would be close on 15 per cent, if the period is increased to ten years, and, with anything approach ing this proportion, a periodicity would result which could not have escaped detection before now.)

1923

The earthquake of Aug 7 1895 in northern Italy, Quart. J. Geological Soc. Lond. 79, 231-236, 1923 [ [abstract of Nov 8 meeting of the Geol. Soc."The earthquake of Aug 7 1895 in northern Italy, Nature, 110(2770), 757.]

The character and cause of earthquakes, Nature,111(2787), 432-434,1923. This article is a "Condensation of a course of two lectures delivered at the Royal Institution Jan 30 and Feb 6 1923". In it Oldham reproduces the Allah Bund cross section of Baker's 1844 leveling line and argues that earthquakes are caused by slip on faults. Oldham argues incorrectly that the strain released by earthquakes developed in the few decades before the earthquake].

The Pamir Earthquake, 1911. Q. J. Geol. Soc.79, 237-249 (1923) [ also abstracted in Nature 79, 237-245 (1923) ]

Wegener's Hypothesis of Continental Drift: Discussion G. W. Lamplugh, R. D. Oldham, F. Debenham, Harold Jeffreys, Dr. Evans, C. S. Wright, Geog.  J.,Vol. 61, No. 3 (Mar., 1923), pp. 188-194 doi:10.2307/1781671

1924

Doubts and Suggestions on Terrestrial Isostasy: Discussion, by The Earl of Ronaldshay; Mr. Hinks; Sidney Burrard; Frank Dyson; Morley Davies; G. W. Lamplugh; R. D. Oldham; Charles Close; Colonel Crosthwait; J. W. Evans; Harold Jeffreys. Geog.  J.,64, 35-45, (1924) Oldham's contribution 40-41,.1925

1925

The Portolan Maps of the Rhone Delta: A Contribution to the History of the Sea Charts of the Middle Ages, Geog.  J.,65(5), 403-424, 1925 (Read 16 March 1925) jstor. Discussion)The Portolan Maps of the Rhone Delta: Geoffrey Callender, E. Heawood, R. D. Oldham, Geog.  J.,Vol. 65, No. 5 (May, 1925), pp. 424-428 doi:10.2307/1782549 JSTOR

Problems of the Rhone Delta. Nature, 116(2905),p 16-19, continued 116(2906), p 52-54, concluded 116(2907), p 100-116.

Observations on the Rocks and Glaciers of Mount Everest: Discussion R. D. Oldham; A. F. R. Wollaston; F. G. Binney; N. E. Odell. Geog.  J.,Vol. 66, No. 4. (Oct., 1925), pp. 313-315. Oldham expresses interest in Heron's Everest report but indicates he has never been higher than 20,000 ft. jstor

1926

The post Roman history of the Rhone Delta, Science Progress, 20, 487-496, London 1926

The Cutch (Kach) earthquake of 16th June 1819 with a revision of the Great earthquake of the 12th June 1897,   Mem. Geol. Surv. India, 46, pp.80-147, Calcutta.

The Depth of Origin of Earthquakes, Quart. J. Geological Soc. Lond., 82(1), 67-93, (1926). [Oldham shows that the Mercalli or Rossi-Forel Intensity are a measure of acceleration and wave amplitude at the point of perception. Following a summary of previous attempts to quantify these in terms of SI accelerations he favors the following numerical ranges, and procedes to estimate depth dependent attenuation laws for data obtained in the 1906 San Francisco and 1908 Calabian earthquakes. He choses to accept Pilgrim's 140 km depth for the 1906 hypocenter to explain his observations (we now believe it to be less than 30 km).

The Loculus of Archimedes, Nature 117(2940), 337-338 (1926).

The depth and twofold nature of Earthquake Origins. The Journal of Geology July- August 1926 RD Oldham, Kew, Surrey, England

Depth of Origin of the Earthquake of August 15 Nature 118, 302-303 (28 August 1926) doi:10.1038/118302c0

1927

The founders of seismology, Nature 120, 74-75 (16 July 1927) | doi:10.1038/120074a0;

1928

The Antonine Itinerary of the Aurelian Road between Aix and Arles Geog.  J.,72(1), 58-60, 1928(Jul., 1928), pp. 58-60 doi:10.2307/1782141jstor

1930

Historic changes of level in the delta of the Rhone, Quart. J. Geological Soc. Lond 86, 64-93, (1930) .

Diurnal period in Italian earthquakes International Seismological Summary for 1930. By International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics, British Association Seismological Committee, University of Oxford, University of Oxford Observatory

Earth movements in the Delta of the Rhone, Nature,125, 601-604, 1930.

1934

The Age and Origin of the lower Rhone. Quart. J. Geological Soc. Lond., 90(3), 445-461 (1934). Reviewed by M. Cary The Age and Origin of the Lower Rhone by R. D. Oldham Classical Review, Vol. 49, No. 4 (Sep., 1935), pp. 143-144