George Marshall Kay
George Marshall Kay , called Marshall Kay, (born November 10, 1904 in Paisley , Ontario , † September 3, 1975 in Englewood , New Jersey ) was an American geologist and professor at Columbia University .
He became known for his investigations in the Ordovician of New York , Newfoundland and Labrador and Nevada . In addition, he published works that dealt with the stratigraphy of the Middle and Upper Ordovician on a worldwide basis . This work earned him the nickname “Mr. Ordovician ”. His thorough fieldwork provided much evidence of continental drift and plate tectonics . Both the classification scheme of lithostratigraphic units that is still valid today and the concept of Palinspastic reconstruction , the attempt to reconstruct the initial configuration of a folded and disturbed layer sequence through mental reshaping, go back to him.
As early as the 1920s and 1930s, Kay carefully documented the large, repeatedly active subsidence areas, which he tried to interpret against the background of the geosyncline theory valid at the time and to correlate with other, similar areas around the world . When the theory of plate tectonics arose in the 1960s, the solution to the problem of the driving forces for the formation of the pair of miogeosynclines and eugeosynclines that he has so often documented was presented to him . Kay worked until his death to interpret the connections in the light of the new theory.
In 1971 Kay was awarded the Penrose Medal .
Works (selection)
- The Origin of Continents , Scientific American, September 1955
- North American geosynclines. Geological Society of America , Memoir 48, 1971.
- with Edwin Harris Colbert : Stratigraphy and Life History . Wiley, New York, 1965
Individual evidence
- ^ New General Catalog of Old Books and Authors - Author names starting with Ka
- ^ Middle Academic Period. ( Memento of the original from March 6, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b c George Marshall Kay (1904–1974). ( Memento of the original from March 6, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Short biography Harvard College
- ↑ Linda B. Mccollum, Michael B. Mccollum: Palinspastic Reconstruction of the Cambrian System in the Great Basin 1980-1983. Geology Department, Eastern Washington University ( Memento of the original from August 28, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
Web links
- Middle Academic Period. Kay and his role in the study of the Trenton Group of the Ordovician, West Canada Creek , New York
- University of Iowa distinguished alumni award: Dr. G. Marshall Kay Short biography, 1971 (engl.)
- Obituary in Time Magazine, September 15, 1975 (Engl.)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Kay, George Marshall |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Kay, Marshall |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American geologist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 10, 1904 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Paisley , Ontario |
| DATE OF DEATH | 3rd September 1975 |
| Place of death | Englewood , New Jersey |