Pre-eminent process-based sedimentologist and later geoarchaeologist
John Allen was born in Birmingham, to George and Alice Allen. John attributed his being drawn to the sciences as a schoolboy to regular visits to his step-grandmother on the coast at Freshfield, between Liverpool and Southport, as well as to a science fiction paper, Modern Wonder. At school in Edgbaston, Birmingham, John developed a flair for chemistry. Later, he began attending geology field trips with the Birmingham Literary and Philosophical Society.
Training and research
John read physics, chemistry and mining geology with geology at Sheffield University, graduating in 1955. He developed an interest in the Old Red Sandstone, with his contemporary, Beverly Halstead. After graduating, John remained at Sheffield to research the Old Red Sandstone of the Clee Hills, Shropshire, but never presented a thesis. He was awarded a DSc for published papers.
Perce Allen recognised John’s talents and offered him a research fellowship in sedimentology at the University of Reading, and so began a remarkable career. Initially, John worked on the Niger Delta where he began to appreciate the need for experimental work on, and later modelling of, sedimentary processes to complement field studies—a hallmark of the earlier part of his career.
John remained at Reading throughout his career, where he contributed enormously to the success of the Sedimentology Research Laboratory—a powerhouse of research. He became the first Director of the Postgraduate Research Institute for Sedimentology in 1988.
Sedimentology and geoarchaeology
Through experiments using flumes, John pioneered deciphering the physics involved in producing sedimentary structures and he took that understanding to the outcrop.
Besides a remarkable number of journal publications, John also produced a book on current ripples (1968); his seminal 1970 book Physical Processes in Sedimentation (a benchmark contribution for every sedimentologist) and his two-volume Sedimentary Structures: their character and physical basis.
John used his understanding of sedimentary structures to elucidate the classic continental successions of the Siluro-Devonian Old Red Sandstone of Wales and the Welsh Borderlands and the Catskills. He was one of the first to recognise the presence and importance of palaeosols in alluvial strata. John also studied a range of ancient marine and modern deltaic deposits. For his contributions to sedimentology, John was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1979.
Through his work on the Severn Estuary later in his career, John became more involved in geoarchaeology, publishing on Mesolithic, Roman and Medieval sites, as well as geological aspects of church architecture and gravestones. In 2018, John’s Geology for Archaeologists was published. As a mark of the esteem in which he was held, John was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London (FSA) in 1991.
Honours, service and impact
John received many honours including the Lyell Medal of the Geological Society of London (1980); the G. K. Warren Prize of the US National Academy of Sciences (1990); the Penrose Medal of the Geological Society of America (1996); SEPM’s Twenhofel Medal (1987), and the Sorby Medal of the International Association of Sedimentologists (1994).
John served on the Council of the Geological Society and on the Council of NERC.
John was a private person, but many speak with great fondness of their time with him. The numerous online tributes are evidence of the impact John had on so many lives and careers. John was a very good cook and he enjoyed live opera.
John died on the 18th October 2020, after a short illness. He is survived by his wife Jean; his children Catherine, Hugh, James and Stephen, and five grandchildren.
By Paul Wright & Joy Carter
The full version of this obituary appears below. Editor.
John R. L. Allen (1932 – 2020)
Pre-eminent process-based sedimentologist and later geoarchaeologist
John Allen was born on 25th October 1932 in Birmingham, to George and Alice Allen. His father worked in the jewellery trade as a rose engine (lathe) turner. John attributed being drawn to the sciences as a schoolboy by regular visits to his step-grandmother on the coast at Freshfield, between Liverpool and Southport, and to a boys’ science and science fiction paper called Modern Wonder. John became an avid collector of fossils and minerals, butterflies, moths and fungi. John attended St. Philips Grammar School in Edgbaston, Birmingham where he excelled at chemistry, and under the influence of a sympathetic and stimulating teacher, Dr. J.N. Jennings, who engaged John as his laboratory assistant giving him effectively the run of the laboratory. John later recalled that while at school he had decided to take up a career in chemistry but his geological interests were already growing. His geography teacher, Mr. J. Davis, regularly took some of his pupils on geology field trips with the Birmingham Literary and Philosophical Society. This is where John began to learn about the geology of the West Midlands and, while reading more geology, still did not consider it as a career.
John left school with a rather mixed Higher School Certificate and did not matriculate in French. At that time, having a foreign language was an essential requirement for university entrance even though John had won a local authority award to attend university. John enrolled for an external degree course at Birmingham Technical College, while working at Midland Tar Distillers at Oldbury, as a trainee chemist. He passed the required standard in French and also began his interest in mathematics. Now with the language qualification, he could apply to universities and was accepted by Sheffield.
John read physics, chemistry and mining geology with geology at Sheffield, graduating in 1955. He had by then developed an interest in the Old Red Sandstone, with his contemporary, Beverly Halstead. After graduating, John remained at Sheffield for postgraduate research on the Old Red Sandstone of the Clee Hills in Shropshire, but never presented a thesis. He was awarded a DSc for published papers. It was while at Sheffield that John met the young woman who was to become his wife.
Perce Allen recognised John’s talents and offered him a research fellowship in sedimentology at the University of Reading, and so began a remarkable career. Initially, John worked on the Niger Delta where he began to appreciate the need for experimental work on, and later modelling of, sedimentary processes to complement field studies, a hallmark of the earlier part of his career. John remained at Reading throughout his career, where he contributed enormously to the success of the Sedimentology Research Laboratory, which was a powerhouse of sedimentological research during the 1960s and later. He became the first Director of the Postgraduate Research Institute for Sedimentology (PRIS) in 1988. John continued his research activities after retiring in 2001, although teaching long after that date.
Through experiments using flumes, John pioneered deciphering the physics involved in producing sedimentary structures. He took that understanding to the outcrop, whether in ancient alluvium, turbidites, sand waves or tidal bundles. Besides a remarkable number of publications in journals John also produced in 1968 a 433-page book on current ripples. His seminal 1970 book Physical Processes in Sedimentation, was a benchmark contribution for every sedimentologist. His two volume Sedimentary Structures: their character and physical basis, runs to 1256 pages. John used his understanding of sedimentary structures to elucidate the classic continental successions of the Siluro-Devonian Old Red Sandstone of Wales and the Welsh Borderlands (with Brian Williams) and also the Catskills (with Peter Friend). He was one of the first to recognise the presence and importance of palaeosols in alluvial strata based on his experience of the Old Red Sandstone. John also studied a range of ancient marine and also modern deltaic deposits. For his contributions to sedimentology, John was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1979.
Later in his career, John would speak of moving on from sand to mud, and he produced a large volume of work on modern estuaries and salt marshes. Despite the mud and rain, John’s meticulous approach to fine-scale sampling helped reveal complex trends in heavy metal distribution. Through his work on the Severn Estuary (with Joy Rae amongst others) later in his career, John became more involved in geoarchaeology, publishing, with Michael Fulford amongst others, on Mesolithic, Roman and Medieval sites, and then more recently on geological aspects of church architecture and gravestones, including eight monographs. In 2018 John’s Geology for Archaeologists was published. As a mark of the esteem in which he was held, John was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London (FSA) in 1991.
John received many honours including the Lyell Medal of the Geological Society of London in 1980; the G. K. Warren Prize of the US National Academy of Sciences in 1990; the Penrose Medal of the Geological Society of America in 1996; SEPM’s Twenhofel Medal in 1987, and the Sorby Medal of the International Association of Sedimentologists (IAS) in 1994.
John served on the Council of the Geological Society and on the Council of NERC.
John was a very private person, but there are many who can speak with great fondness of their time with him. The numerous items posted on a range of websites is evidence of the impact John had on so many lives and careers. John was a very good cook, particularly of fish, and he enjoyed live opera and was a great supporter of the ENO. John’s ability to keep a cool head was particularly appreciated by one of us when he once stopped a stampeding herd of angry cows by holding up his hand and firmly and masterfully uttering the single word ‘Whoa’.
John died on the 18th October 2020, a week before his 88th birthday, after a short illness. He is survived by his wife Jean; his children Catherine, Hugh, James and Stephen, and five grandchildren.
By Paul Wright & Joy Carter