About us

Known internationally for his work in Southeast Asia, and particularly his contributions to the geology of the Banda Arc

Image credit: Henry Audley-Charles

Professional life

After graduation, Mike worked from 1957 as a geologist in Canada, when he acquired his distinctive beard as protection against the cold. He then moved to Australia, where he was employed by various oil companies, before moving on to Timor in Southeast Asia, to work for Timor Oil. Mike lived there for more than two years and mapped what was then Portuguese Timor, now Timor Leste, an area almost half the size of Switzerland, where he is remembered with respect and affection.

Mike returned to the UK in 1962. His work on Timor was the basis of his 1965 PhD thesis at Imperial College London and a 1968 Memoir of the Geological Society of London, which remains a seminal work on the geology of the island. After post-doctoral work on the British Triassic, Mike was appointed Lecturer, and later Reader, at Imperial College London. He continued work with colleagues from London University in Timor and Seram, and later on Crete.

Mike was a secretary of the Geological Society and recipient of the Wollaston Fund in 1969. He was appointed Professor and Head of the Department of Geology at Queen Mary College, London in 1977. Then, after major reorganisations of university geology departments in London and the UK, Mike became Yates-Goldsmid Professor of Geology, and Head of the Department of Geological Sciences (1982–93), at University College London. After retirement, he was appointed Emeritus Professor and Honorary Fellow.

Research

Mike’s research in the 1960s and 1970s was carried out during years of major changes, as plate tectonic concepts took hold, and he offered new interpretations of the Banda Arc and Gondwana evolution. Mike’s work was at the centre of numerous controversies about the region, for example, the significance of melanges, the nature of the arc islands, and the origin of the Timor Trough. His experiences in the Banda Arc were not only the basis for new geological interpretations and speculations, but were also the source of many stories about his life.

A generous host

Mike was a great friend, raconteur and excellent company. He was a convivial and generous host and, with his wife Brenda, welcomed students and visitors to their home in Sussex and later France, where he shared his scientific knowledge, love of poetry and Shakespeare, and delight in Italian opera and the music of Mozart and Schubert. Mike and Brenda celebrated Shakespeare’s birthday annually at their home in France and Mike’s final published work was a review of the 37 plays. Mike died on 12 January 2021 in Kent and is survived by his wife Brenda, his children Henry and Helen, and grandchildren.

By Robert Hall

The full version of this obituary appears below. Editor

Michael Geoffrey Audley-Charles (1935 – 2021)

Mike Audley-Charles, known internationally for his work in Southeast Asia, particularly his contributions to the geology of the Banda Arc, died on 12 January 2021 in Kent.

Mike Audley-Charles was born in 1935 in Worthing and spent many of his early years in an orphanage after his merchant seaman father was killed in the Second World War. An inspirational English master in the orphanage, Mr Florence, introduced Mike and many other boys to literature and the theatre, especially Shakespeare, which remained a lifelong enthusiasm for Mike.

Mike wanted to study chemistry, botany, biology and geology, which were not taught at the orphanage, but later he took A levels in those subjects and then obtained an external London University degree in geology at Chelsea Polytechnic. After graduation he worked from 1957 as a geologist for a year in Canada, when he acquired his distinctive beard as protection against the cold, and then moved to Australia where he was employed by various oil companies and travelled extensively in the outback. He then went on to Timor, working for Timor Oil, and lived there for more than two years during which time he mapped what was then the colony of Portuguese Timor, now Timor Leste, an area almost half the size of Switzerland. Mike learned to speak the local language, Tetum, and he is still remembered in Timor with respect and affection.

Mike returned to the UK in 1962 and his work on Timor was the basis of his 1965 PhD thesis at Imperial College London and a 1968 Memoir of the Geological Society of London, which remains a seminal work on the geology of the island. His work on Cretaceous manganese nodules from Timor supported earlier suggestions that they were deep marine deposits, and were similar to those of modern Pacific.

After post-doctoral work on the British Triassic, Mike was appointed Lecturer, and later Reader, at Imperial College London, and he continued working with colleagues from London University (for many years with Tony Barber and David Carter) on Timor and other islands in the Banda Arc, including Seram. At about the same time, Mike worked in Libya. He later proposed that the Hellenic Arc had many similarities to the Banda Arc and initiated a research programme in Crete and other Aegean islands. During this period, Mike was a secretary of the Geological Society and a recipient of the Wollaston Fund in 1969.

Mike was appointed Professor and Head of the Department of Geology at Queen Mary College London in 1977, although his appointment was almost terminated early when he became very ill with a tropical disease brought back from Southeast Asia that kept him in hospital and away from Queen Mary College for almost six months. The late 1970s and early 1980s were a period of academic upheaval. After two major reorganisations of university geology departments, first in London and then the UK, Mike became Yates-Goldsmid Professor of Geology, and Head of the Department of Geological Sciences (1982–93) at University College London. After retirement, Mike was appointed Emeritus Professor and made an Honorary Fellow of University College London. During his tenure at University College London, Mike also served for several years as a UK representative on the Western Pacific panel for the JOIDES Ocean Drilling Program.

Mike’s research in the 1960s and 1970s was carried out during years of major changes in geological thinking, as plate tectonic concepts took hold, and he offered timely new interpretations of the Banda Arc and Gondwana evolution. Mike’s research was at the centre of numerous controversies about the region, for example, the relative importance of melanges or nappes on Timor, the significance of the enigmatic inner and outer arc islands, and the nature of the Timor Trough—flexural depression or subduction trench? Mike was always keen to emphasise the rates of tectonic processes in eastern Indonesia, the importance of lithospheric-scale phenomena such as the role of slab breakoff postulated with Neville Price, as well as the possible disappearance of former emergent areas due to tectonic activity, such as the proposed “Stegoland” suggested in 1973 with D.A. Hooijer, based on the distribution of Pleistocene pygmy stegodonts; at the time the swimming abilities of elephants were little known. Mike’s observations and experiences in the Banda Arc were not only the basis for prolific new geological interpretations and speculations, but were also the source of his many stories about life in the field.

Mike was a great friend, raconteur and excellent company. He was a convivial and generous host and, with his wife Brenda, welcomed students and visitors to their home in Sussex and later France, where he shared his scientific knowledge, his love of poetry (he had been chided when young for his preoccupation with “Sheats and Kelly”) and Shakespeare, and his delight in Italian opera and the music of Mozart and Schubert. In his retirement in France, near Cahors, Mike founded an Anglo-French association that successfully protected the local district and environment from development in an area of outstanding natural beauty.

Mike and Brenda celebrated Shakespeare’s birthday annually at their home in France and Mike’s final published work was a review of the 37 plays accompanied by new hypotheses about Shakespeare’s early life. Mike is survived by his wife Brenda, his children Henry and Helen, and grandchildren.

By Robert Hall