Joseph Curray, a renowned geologist and professor whose association with Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego spanned more than 40 years, died on September 13 at the age of 98.
Curray conducted foundational research in coastal sediments and the evolution of coastal margins. He worked extensively in the marine geology of northeastern India, and had significant contributions on sediment deposition systems in the Bay of Bengal and on Andaman Sea tectonics. He was the founding co-editor of the research journal, Marine Geology.
Notably, Curray collaborated with Scripps marine geologist David Moore and the two co-authored more than 30 research papers together. On the 1968 Circe Expedition, Moore and Curray surveyed the Bay of Bengal in the northeastern Indian Ocean. They encountered the world's thickest seafloor sediments, deposited by the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers, forming a deep-sea fan up to 14 miles thick and extending 2,000 miles offshore. The two researchers also served as co-chief scientists on the first seafloor drilling project in the Gulf of California, DSDP Leg 64, in 1978.
On the side, the two worked as part of a small team running the private company Geological Diving Consultants, conducting underwater geological and geophysical surveys off the California coast.
Oceanographer Char-Shine Liu, one of Curray’s former students, recalled how Curray contributed to the 50th anniversary issue of the journal, publishing an article summarizing the Bengal deposition system. He admired Curray’s ability to write scientific papers when over 85 years old.
Liu also had fond memories of Curray and his fondness for recreational running. Curray was one of the founding members of the La Jolla Hash House Harriers chapter in 1978. Liu noted that Curray once led a geological field trip to Utah, which Liu attended. Afterward, he stayed at Curray’s condo in Brian Head, Utah. It was in Brian Head one afternoon that Curray led “one of the toughest runs I ever experienced,” Liu said, as the path of the run was above 9,700 feet in elevation.
Curray was born Jan. 19, 1927 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He attended the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) as an undergraduate, but his education was interrupted by a stint in the U.S. Navy at the close of World War II. He would resume school and receive his bachelor’s degree in 1949, then a master’s at Penn State University before coming to Scripps as a Ph.D. student.
Scripps Oceanography geophysicist Robert Fisher met Curray in 1943 when both were Caltech students. He called Curray a brave scientist with a good brain on when to go down in flames and when to sidestep problems.
Curray is survived by his wife Mary Anne Curray of San Diego; sons Steven of Silverthorne, Colo., and Michael of Honolulu, Hawaii; daughter Donna Kubancik of Boulder, Colo.; four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by first wife Joyann, who died in 2009.
