Edward A. Irving

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Edward A. "Ted" Irving , CM , FRSC , FRS (born May 27, 1927 in Colne , Lancashire , England ; † February 25, 2014 in Victoria , British Columbia , Canada ) was a British geologist and employee of the Geological Survey of Canada . His studies of paleomagnetism provided the first physical evidence for the theory of continental drift , and his research made advances in our understanding of the evolution of mountains, climate, and life over millions of years of geological history .

education

Irving grew up in the Pennine Hills of northeast Lancashire. In 1945 he was drafted into the British Army and served as an infantryman in the Middle East .

He began studying geology at Cambridge University in 1948 , and received his BA in 1951. He spent the next year as a research assistant in geology and geophysics at Cambridge before joining the graduate program .

He studied the history of the earth's magnetic field and brought order to the previous attempts to investigate the past beyond a few centuries. Irving used a magnetometer recently designed by Patrick Blackett to analyze the magnetic directions imprinted on rocks by their iron minerals. He found great differences between the magnetic directions of the Precambrian rocks of the Scottish Highlands and today's magnetic field. He assumed that the only explanation must be a movement of Scotland relative to the Poles. In the course of his graduate program, Irving determined how far both Scotland and India must have moved since the Precambrian to agree with his measurements. These results confirmed Alfred Wegener's predictions in his theory of continental drift from 1912. Keith Runcorn , who also emerged from Blackett's group, came to similar results in 1956 .

In 1954, Irving asked for a PhD based on the work he had done to date . The examination committee did not recognize the results of the new research method and denied him the degree. However, that didn't stop him from getting a position as a researcher at the Australian National University in Canberra .

Scientific career

During the next ten years he investigated the earlier latitudes of Australia documented by paleomagnetic measurements and published about 30 papers. He was able to show that Australia has moved south since the Permian . In 1965 he submitted some of his writings at the University of Cambridge and was awarded the doctorate -degree ( Doctor of Science , ScD ), then the highest achievable through their own efforts academic degrees.

Irving met his future wife Sheila in Australia. She was Canadian and in 1964 the family moved to Ottawa , Canada. Irving began working as a researcher at the Dominion Observatory under the Department of Mines and Technical Surveys. In 1966 he returned to England to teach geophysics at the University of Leeds . In 1967 he moved back to Ottawa to work as a researcher in the Department of Geophysics (Earth Physics) of the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources. In 1981 he moved to Sidney, British Columbia to set up a paleomagnetism laboratory for the geophysical branch of the Pacific Geoscience Center , which later became part of the Geological Survey of Canada. He mapped the movements of Vancouver Island and other parts of the North American Cordilleras that have moved sideways and rotated with respect to the Precambrian Canadian Shield .

Irving and his wife had four children.

Awards and honors

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Edward (Ted Irving) Obituary. Short biography on legacy.com (accessed May 27, 2014).
  2. ^ Geological Society of America - Awards and Medals
personal data
SURNAME Irving, Edward A.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Irving, Ted (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British geologist and contributor to the Geological Survey of Canada
DATE OF BIRTH May 27, 1927
PLACE OF BIRTH Colne , Lancashire , England
DATE OF DEATH February 25, 2014
Place of death Victoria , British Columbia , Canada