Felix Andries Vening-Meinesz

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Vening-Meinesz with his gravimeter

Felix Andries Vening-Meinesz (born July 30, 1887 in The Hague , † August 10, 1966 in Amersfoort ) was a Dutch geophysicist and geodesist . Among other things, he is known for the development of an accurate method of measuring gravity . This invention made it possible to measure the earth's gravity field at sea, which enabled him to discover gravity anomalies over areas of the oceanic crust . These anomalies later found an explanation in continental drift and plate tectonics .

Life

Vening-Meinesz grew up in a sheltered environment. His father Sjoerd Anne Meinesz (1833–1905) was mayor, first of Rotterdam , then of Amsterdam . In 1910 he graduated in civil engineering from Delft . In the same year he took up a position within the framework of the gravity measurement of the Netherlands and wrote his dissertation in 1915 on the disadvantages of gravimeters at that time.

Vening-Meinesz then designed a pendulum gravimeter that was built at the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI). The apparatus has two pendulums of the same size, fixed in the same frame, but moving in opposite phase. The differences in the swing of the pendulums are transferred to a film via mirrors and rays of light. Vening-Meinesz had discovered that horizontal accelerations, for example caused by waves on a boat, have no influence on the difference in the strength of the swing of the pendulum: the recorded difference between the swing of the pendulum corresponds to the swing of an undisturbed pendulum. With the development of this gravimeter, a more precise measurement of the earth's gravitational field became possible. Vening-Meinesz began measuring gravity throughout the Netherlands, for which a network of 51 measuring stations was set up. Spurred on by the success of this project, he began with measurements on the open sea, including in a submarine, and developed a further improved gravimeter, which was even less sensitive to disturbances due to movement thanks to its free suspension.

Since the measurement of gravity was now also possible on the oceans, Vening-Meinesz undertook several measurement campaigns between 1923 and 1929 in order to carry out an exact geoid determination . One of his expeditions was filmed in 1935, and the over 2 m tall geophysicist became a film hero in the Netherlands. In addition, his work came into the focus of international scientific attention.

In 1927 he became professor of geodesy , cartography and geophysics in a part-time position at the University of Utrecht , and in 1937 he also became professor at the Technical University of Delft . During the Second World War, Vening-Meinesz was a member of the Dutch resistance. After the war he resumed teaching and was director of the KNMI from 1945 to 1951. In 1957 he retired.

Research and discovery

Vening-Meinesz discussed and analyzed the extensive data collected during his expeditions with other leading Dutch geoscientists, above all with Johannes Herman Frederik Umbgrove , Berend George Escher and Philip Henry Kuenen . The results of this collaboration were published in 1948. An important result was the discovery of elongated areas with negative gravity anomaly along deep-sea trenches. The coincidence of active volcanism, large negative gravity anomalies and sudden changes in sea depth could only be explained if the earth's crust had been pushed together at these points. As a geophysicist of his day, Vening-Meinesz was prejudiced in the belief that the crust was too stiff to react in such a way to compression. With the advent of the theory of plate tectonics, however, its discovery was placed in a larger context.

Honors and aftermath

Felix Andries Vening-Meinesz has received numerous honors. He received the Howard N. Potts Medal in 1936 , the Penrose Medal in 1945 , the William Bowie Medal in 1947 and the Wollaston Medal in 1963 . In 1959 he received the Leopold von Buch badge . In 1933 he was elected a member of the Leopoldina and a corresponding member of the Académie des Sciences . In 1939 he was accepted into the National Academy of Sciences , in 1963 into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and in 1938 into the Göttingen Academy of Sciences .

The following are named after him:

  • the Vening-Meinesz pendulum apparatus , a pendulum gravimeter for measuring gravity
  • the Vening-Meinesz inversion formula , a mathematical method in geodesy
  • the Vening Meinesz Medal of the European Geophysical Society / European Geosciences Union
  • the Vening Meinesz Prize (Vening Meineszprijs) of the Dutch research organization NWO for young geoscientists in the Netherlands who have recently received their doctorate.
  • the Vening-Meinesz Research School of Geodynamics , a research institute of the University of Utrecht
  • the Vening Meineszgebouw , a building of the University of Utrecht, which houses part of the geosciences faculty
  • the Vening-Meinesz crater on the moon
  • the Vening Meinesz Fracture Zone , a transform fault in northwest New Zealand
  • the Vening Meineszstraat in the municipality of Ede (Netherlands)
  • the Vening Meineszstraat in the municipality of Amersfoort (Netherlands)
  • the Burgemeester Vening Meineszlaan in Amsterdam
  • the Burgemeester Meineszplein in Rotterdam

Fonts (selection)

  • 1929: Theory and practice of pendulum observations at sea. Delft, ISBN 978-90-6132-009-8 ( pdf, 3.9 MB )
  • 1934: Gravity expeditions ar sea, 1923-1932. Vol. II. Report of the gravity expedition in the Atlantic of 1932 and interpretation of the results. Nederlandse Commissie voor Geodesie 4, Delft, ISBN 978-90-6132-004-3 (with JHF Umbgrove and Ph. H. Kuenen) ( pdf, 9.3 MB )
  • 1954: Indonesian archipelago; a geophysical study. In: Geological Society of America Bulletin . Volume 65; No. 2; Pp. 143-164

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Member entry by Felix Vening Meinesz at the German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina , accessed on February 13, 2016.
  2. ^ List of former members since 1666: Letter V. Académie des sciences, accessed on March 11, 2020 (French).
  3. ↑ Holger Krahnke: The members of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen 1751-2001 (= Treatises of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen, Philological-Historical Class. Volume 3, Vol. 246 = Treatises of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen, Mathematical-Physical Class. Episode 3, vol. 50). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2001, ISBN 3-525-82516-1 , p. 245.
personal data
SURNAME Vening-Meinesz, Felix Andries
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Dutch geophysicist and geodesist
DATE OF BIRTH July 30, 1887
PLACE OF BIRTH The hague
DATE OF DEATH August 10, 1966
Place of death Amersfoort