Leland H. Gile papers
Collection
Identifier: Ms-0360
Scope and Content
The Gile Papers consist of manuscripts and photographic material that document soil morphology in the areas studied. Most of the materials owe their source to the Desert Project (see Biographical Note).
The distinction between the Manuscript and Monograph series is respectively distinguished as unfinished material and finished material in published form. Though few editorial marks or comments are on the items arranged in the Manuscript series, their unfinished status designates the style of arrangement. Typescripts within the Manuscript are not documents with only text; the inclusion of attached photographs with the typed document attests to the fact that it is different than other manuscripts in the series. Monographs are exclusively published works, released in book format to libraries or other related institutions.
Related Correspondence Series notes these transactions and other similar written material relating to the sale and distribution of Gile's work. Inquiries about the acquisition of the Gile monographs from national and international scholars, not only from the Southwest U.S. region, attest to the detail exhausted in these works.
The Printed Material series illustrates some of Gile's academic research work in a geological context. The Field Notes and Photographs series detail Gile's work in progress and the extent to his research.
All the series materials coordinate with Leland Gile's research interests and those of the Desert Project. There are different copies of manuscripts and monographs, as well as video tape and audio tapes that document the findings of the Desert Project, as well as its adjunct findings.
The distinction between the Manuscript and Monograph series is respectively distinguished as unfinished material and finished material in published form. Though few editorial marks or comments are on the items arranged in the Manuscript series, their unfinished status designates the style of arrangement. Typescripts within the Manuscript are not documents with only text; the inclusion of attached photographs with the typed document attests to the fact that it is different than other manuscripts in the series. Monographs are exclusively published works, released in book format to libraries or other related institutions.
Related Correspondence Series notes these transactions and other similar written material relating to the sale and distribution of Gile's work. Inquiries about the acquisition of the Gile monographs from national and international scholars, not only from the Southwest U.S. region, attest to the detail exhausted in these works.
The Printed Material series illustrates some of Gile's academic research work in a geological context. The Field Notes and Photographs series detail Gile's work in progress and the extent to his research.
All the series materials coordinate with Leland Gile's research interests and those of the Desert Project. There are different copies of manuscripts and monographs, as well as video tape and audio tapes that document the findings of the Desert Project, as well as its adjunct findings.
Dates
- 1961 - 2003
Access and Use Restrictions
This material may be examined by researchers under supervised conditions in the Search Room.
Copy Restrictions
Limited duplication is allowed for research purposes. User is responsible for compliance with copyright and other applicable statutes.
Copyrights associated with this collection have not been transferred and assigned to New Mexico State University.
Copyrights associated with this collection have not been transferred and assigned to New Mexico State University.
Biography
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- February 23, 1920
- Born in Alfred, Maine.
- June 1938
- Graduated from Alfred High School, Alfred, Maine.
- September 1938-June 1941
- Student, Gorham State Teachers' College, Gorham, Maine. Graduated with Teaching Certificate for 3-year course.
- Summer 1941
- Worked in grain mill at Farm Service Stores, Biddeford, Maine.
- September 1941 to June 1942
- Worked at home on farm in Alfred, Maine.
- July 1942-November 1945
- In United States Army; served overseas in European Theater of Operations from September 1943 to October 1945. Discharged November 1945; rank, Sergeant.
- December 1945-June 1946
- Worked at laboratory at Goodall-Sanford, Inc., Sanford, Maine. The work consisted of testing the physical properties of textiles.
- June 1946-September 1950
- Employed by the Soil Conservation Service (SCS) as a conservation aide. Responsible for the design and construction of ditches, waterways, and ponds.
- September 1950
- Leave without pay from SCS for educational purposes.
- September 1950-June 1953
- Student, University of Maine. Obtained B.S. in Agronomy. Elected to Alpha Zeta.
- June 1953-June 1954
- Graduate Fellow in Soils, University of Wisconsin. Mapped soils in Dodge County, Wisconsin, in the summer of 1953. Field work on thesis problem was done during off-duty hours in the summer. Laboratory analyses were made in the school year. The thesis work was presented before Division V, Soil Science Society of America, St. Paul, Minnesota, on November 11, 1954, and was published in the Soil Science Society of America Proceedings under the title "The Genesis and Properties of Some Colluvial (Local Alluvial) Soils in the Drumlin Landscape of Dodge County, Wisconsin" (see attached publications, 1955. Only New Mexico and Texas publications are in the Archives and Special Collections Department). Obtained M.S. degree in Soils. Elected to Phi Sigma Society.
- September 1954 to September 1955
- Assistant in Agronomy at Cornell University. Mapped soils in Greene County, New York. Constructed soil association map of Greene County. Instructed students in mapping soils and creating soil profile descriptions.
- September 1955 to May 1957
- Soil Scientist, Soil Conservation Service; worked in Strafford and Carroll Counties, New Hampshire. In addition to regular duties, a study concerning water tables and their relationships to soils with fragipans was conducted on off-duty time. This work was presented before Division V, Soil Science Society of America, on November 20, 1957, at Atlanta, Georgia, in a paper entitled "Fragipan and Water Table Relationships of Some Brown Podzolic and Low Humic-Gley Soils" (publications, 1958). In 1967 this manuscript was selected by the Soil Science Society of America for reprinting (See publications).
- May 1957
- Transferred to Washington Field Staff, Soil Survey Investigations, Soil Conservation Service
- August 1957 to June 1972
- Soil morphologist in charge of soil studies at the Desert Soil-Geomorphology Project, Dona Ana County, New Mexico. This project, a study of soil and landscape evolution in a desert region typical of much of the Southwest, was headquartered at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
- Mapped soils of the study area. Made chemical and physical determinations in a study of soil carbonate horizons (See publications, 1961). Made polished sections and thin sections for microscopic study.
- Further work on the morphology and genesis of carbonate horizons led to additional publications (See publications, 1965, 1966). Studies of dating with inorganic carbon led to the first work ever published in which radiocarbon ages of soil carbonate were specifically related to soil morphology (See publications, 1966). A subsequent study centered on the cambic horizon - a diagnostic horizon of the new United States system of soil classification - and its relation to age and morphology of desert soils. Other studies published in 1966 concerned the morphology, age, and classification of the soils of coppice dunes, and periodic sedimentation and soil formation on an alluvial-fan piedmont (See publications, 1966). The 1966 work involved preparation for a field conference, Rocky Mountain Section of the Pleistocene, and a guidebook (See publications, 1966).
- New simplified techniques were devised for impregnation of soil materials and for the preparation of soil thin sections (See publications, 1967). A study of ancient soils near Las Cruces, New Mexico, resulted in a subsequent manuscript (See publications, 1967).
- The relationships of soil development to age, as indicated by soil morphology and by buried charcoal horizons, were presented in a paper entitled "Age and Comparative Development of Desert Soils at the Gardner Spring radiocarbon site, New Mexico", to Division S-5, Soil Science Society of America in Washington D.C., November 7, 1967 (publications, 1968). Studies of the argillic horizon - a major diagnostic horizon of the new United States system of soil classification led to new concepts of genesis of horizons of silicate clay accumulation in desert soils (See publications, 1968).
- Papers in 1969 concerned cementation in soils, and effects of landscape dissection and truncation on desert soils (See publications, 1969). In 1970, activities included preparation for the soil-geomorphology field conferences of the Soil Science Society of America, held at the Desert Project. A guidebook was prepared for these conferences (See publications, 1970) and a paper dealing with soils of the Rio Grande Valley border was timed for publication prior to the conferences (See publications, 1970).
- Work in the study area and observations in other desert regions indicated that it was possible to predict the general kinds of soils to be expected in similar desert regions elsewhere. A paper on this subject was presented to Division S-5 of the Soil Science Society of America on August 26, 1970 (See publications, 1972).
- In 1971, cooperative work with Dr. Carlton Herbel, Agricultural Research Service, resulted in a manuscript dealing with field moisture regimes and morphology of some of the soils in the Jornada Experimental Range, Dona Ana County, New Mexico. The paper was published as Chapter 7 in the book Field Soil Water Regime (See publications, 1973). This is the only known work in which long-term moisture measurements of soils in arid regions have been closely related to soil morphology.
- Also in 1971, extensive preparations were made for comprehensive four-day training sessions for persons working with and interested in desert soils and landscapes. This work included writing a training bulletin for these sessions, which were held in October, 1971 (publications, 1971).
- Other, 1957-1972
- Elected to Sigma Xi. Elected Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science. Member, Soil-Geomorphology Committee, Soil Science Society of America. Member, Working Group on the Origin and Nature of Paleosols, International Union for Quaternary Research. Co-chairman, 11th Field Conference, Rocky Mountain Section, Friends of the Pleistocene. Leader and co-leader of numerous tours of the Desert Project, to illustrate and explain desert soils and landscapes to visitors both from this country and abroad.
- June 1972
- The Desert Project closed June 30, 1972. Transferred to Lubbock, Texas, to work on a soil geomorphology project on the Southern High Plains, with headquarters at Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas.
- October 1972
- Appointed Adjunct Professor, Texas Tech University.
- November 1972
- Appointed co-chairman of the field conference committee, soil-geomorphology tour, for the 1973 meetings of the Soil Science Society of America.
- April 1973
- Elected to associate membership on the Graduate Faculty, Texas Tech University.
- November 1973
- Attended annual meetings of the Soil Science Society of America. On November 12 presented a paper, "The Cause and Character of Soil Boundaries in an Arid Region of Southern New Mexico", to Division S-5 of the Soil Science Society of America. Co-leader of soil-geomorphology tour in the Mormon Mesa area, southern Nevada.
- July 1974
- Invitational speaker at the 1974 biennial meetings of the American Quaternary Association, Madison, Wisconsin. The paper presented was entitled "Holocene Soils and Soil-Geomorphic Relations in an Arid Region of Southern New Mexico."
- Fall 1974
- Initiated a study of soils and geomorphology in the sandhills of Bailey County, Texas. This is a cooperative study with Texas Tech University.
- December 1974
- Transferred to South Technical Service Center in Fort Worth, Texas.
- August 1975
- Attended annual meetings of the Soil Science Society of America. On August 26, presented a paper "Soil Development in Noncalcareous Eolian Sediments of Bailey County, Texas," to Division S-5 of the SSSA (See publications, 1979).
- Fall 1975-Spring 1976
- With co-author Dr. Robert Grossman, completed the Desert Project Soil Monograph (See publications, 1979). Additional field work was done in the Bailey County study area.
- May 1976
- Received Certificate of Merit for outstanding work performance.
- July 1976
- Retired from SCS. Returned to Las Cruces, New Mexico.
- 1976-1993
- Consultant in soil-geomorphic research. Research associate, New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources. Completed study in Bailey County, Texas (see publications, 1979, 1981, 1983, and 1985). Completed studies at Kilbourne Hole, the San Miguel basalt, and a fault zone on the eastern flank of the Organ Mountains (see publications, 1987, 1990). Prepared Supplement to the Desert Project Soil Monograph, and began preparation of slide sets on soils of the Desert Project (see publications). Led study tours through the Desert Project and the study area in Bailey County, Texas. In November 1983, with colleagues John Hawley and Robert Grossman, received the Kirk Bryan Award for distinguished contributions to Geomorphology (from the Geological Society of America). In April 1987, with colleague John Hawley, received the Certificate of Merit for distinguished contributions to Arid Zone Research (from the American Association for the Advancement of Science). Elected Fellow, Geological Society of America.
- Member of the Soil Science Society of America, the International Society of Soil Science, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Geological Society of America, the International Union for Quaternary Research, and the American Quaternary Association.
- 1993-2003
- Continued soil-geomorphic research (See publications); resides in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
Extent
6.75 Linear Feet
Language of Materials
Undetermined
English
Abstract
The collection includes technical publications, manuscripts, black and white photographs, color slides, aerial photographs (dated 1936 and later), and field notes on soils, geomorphology, and landscapes in southern New Mexico and bordering Bailey County, Texas (the same dune landscape and soils in Bailey County extend westward into Roosevelt County, NM).
Acquisition
- RG 81-005 Gift of Leland Gile
- RG 81-151 Gift of Leland Gile
- RG 84-077 Gift of Leland Gile
- RG 85-012 Gift of Leland Gile
- RG 85-030 Gift of Leland Gile
- RG 85-091 Gift of Leland Gile
- RG 85-130 Gift of Leland Gile
- RG 88-003 Gift of Leland Gile
- RG 88-175 Gift of Leland Gile
- RG 90-171 Gift of Leland Gile
- RG 95-086 Gift of Leland Gile
- RG 97-099 Gift of Leland Gile
- RG 2001-074 Gift of Leland Gile
- RG 2001-165 Gift of Leland Gile
- RG 2002-067 Gift of Leland Gile
- RG 2003-016 Gift of Leland Gile
- RG 2003-172 Gift of Leland Gile
- RG 2004-016 Gift of Leland Gile
General
Contact Information
- Archives and Special Collections Department
- New Mexico State University Library
- P.O. Box 30006
- Las Cruces, New Mexico 88003-8006
- Phone: (575) 646-3839
- Fax: (575) 646-7477
- Email: archives@nmsu.edu
- URL: https://lib.nmsu.edu/archives/
General
- Title
- Guide to the Leland H. Gile papers
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Processed by Bill Boehm
- Date
- 2004
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- Finding aid is in English
Revision Statements
- June 28, 2004: PUBLIC "-//New Mexico State University::Archives and Special Collections//TEXT (US::NmLcU::Ms 0360::Leland H. Gile Papers)//EN" "nmlcu1#0360.sgml" converted from EAD 1.0 to 2002 by v1to02.xsl (sy2003-10-15).
- Monday, 20210524: Attribute normal is missing or blank.
Repository Details
Part of the New Mexico State University Library Archives and Special Collections Repository