ABSTRACT
John Mercer of the Byrd Polar Research Center, Ohio State University, died on July 3, 1987. His passing represents a great loss to all of Quaternary science but specially to those of us engaged in studies in the southern hemisphere. The original thoughts John was able to express so elegantly in his writing will endure forever. George Denton once said to me: “You think you are the owner of a great thought, and then you discover that John has already written about it”. In 1947, together with H. Gianolini, he attempted to walk across the South Patagonian icefield. The expedition almost succeeded, but bad weather and a sick colleague prevented a successful crossing. Later, in the 1950’s he participated in Eric Shipton’s successful expeditions to the South Patagonian icefield. John’s discovery of Feruglio’s descriptions of the interbedded glacial and lava flows on Cerro Fraile led to one of his most important accomplishments in South America.
