Albert Peter Low

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Albert Peter Low (born May 24, 1861 in Montreal , † October 9, 1942 in Ottawa ) was a Canadian geologist and explorer.

Lowe with expedition members on the Churchill River , Labrador , 1894

Low graduated from McGill University with a degree in geology in 1882 and then moved to Ottawa to work for the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC). In 1893/94 alone he traveled over 8000 km through the Canadian wilderness, 5000 km of which in canoe and 1500 on foot. In 1894/95 he explored Labrador and discovered large iron ore deposits. The results of the expedition also served to define the border between Quebec and Labrador. In 1897 he explored the Hudson Street . In 1901 he temporarily left the GSC to explore iron ore on Hudson Bay . He is known for voyages of discovery in the Canadian Arctic, especially with the steamship Neptune1903/4. They were essential to gaining Canadian sovereignty over these arctic areas. 1906/07 he was head of the GSC and 1907 Deputy Minister in the Department of Mines. In 1913 he retired for health reasons.

He is also known as a hockey player. With the hockey club of McGill University he won the championship in the Montreal Winter Carnival as a goalkeeper in 1883 and a year later, now as a member of the Ottawa Hockey Club, which he co-founded and of which he was a member until 1889, again.

He was known for his determined character. When there was a dispute over the direction of the expedition at Lake Mistassini in the north of the province of Quebec in 1884 , he walked 500 km back to Quebec on snowshoes through the wilderness and returned five weeks later with the written confirmation of his position as expedition leader.

The mineral aplowite ( cobalt (II) sulfate ) is named after him in 1965 by John L. Jambor and Robert W. Boyle.

literature

  • Camille Laverdière Albert Peter Low: le découvreur du Nouveau-Québec , Montreal, Québec 2003
  • Max Finkelstein, James Stone Paddling the boreal forest: rediscovering AP Low , Toronto, Natural Heritage Books 2004
  • Lowe Report on the dominion government expedition to Hudson Bay and the Arctic Islands on board the DGS Neptune 1903-1904 , Ottawa: Government Printing Bureau 1906

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Low, Albert Peter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian geologist
DATE OF BIRTH May 24, 1861
PLACE OF BIRTH Montreal
DATE OF DEATH October 9, 1942
Place of death Ottawa