Hollis Dow Hedberg

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hollis Dow Hedberg (* 29. May 1903 in Falun , Kansas ; † 14. August 1988 in Princeton , New Jersey ) was an American oil - geologist and stratigrapher . His merits lay in the application of theoretical knowledge to the practice of oil exploration and in his commitment to the consistent standardization of stratigraphic nomenclature.

Life

Hedberg was born to the immigrant Swede Carl August Hedberg and his Scottish wife Zada ​​Mary Dow during one of the worst floods in Kansas, so that the midwife rowed over by boat did not arrive in time for his birth. He grew up in harsh conditions and helped work on his parents' farm as a child. After high school he was initially interested in journalism, but then enrolled as a geologist at the University of Kansas at Lawrence in 1920 .

His father died in 1921, and Hollis had to take over the management of the farm for a year. In 1922 he resumed studies at the University of Kansas, graduating in 1925, and graduated from Cornell University the following year . His first work, the 1926 essay The Effect of Gravitational Compaction on the Structure of Sedimentary Rocks , dealt with the porosity of claystones and the dependence of the storage potential on the porosity; an idea that only became common knowledge in the field of oil exploration much later . In the same year he became a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) and got his first employment with the Lago Petroleum Company , a subsidiary of the Standard Oil Company , in Maracaibo , Venezuela .

In 1932 he married Frances Murray. Hedberg received his doctorate in 1937 at Stanford University with a thesis on the Stratigraphy of Venezuela ( Stratigraphy of the Rio Querecual Section of Northeastern Venezuela ). In the same year he became director of the stratigraphic laboratory of the Mene Grande Oil Company in Oficina , El Tigre , where he was promoted to deputy director for all of Eastern Venezuela in 1939. He was responsible for monitoring the complicated geological conditions, which are characterized by severely disturbed , elongated sandstone layers , so that the oil-bearing layers were difficult to find. The Venezuelan government awarded him the Medalla de Honor de la Instruction Publica in 1941 for his contributions to the study of the geology of Venezuela. In 1945 he finally became the head of all operations in Venezuela, which required the move to Caracas .

In the next year (1946) the family moved first to New York City , since Hedberg became chief geologist at Gulf Oil , then to Summit , New Jersey and in 1952 - by now there were five children - finally to Oakmont, a suburb of Pittsburgh . From 1959 he taught the course Stratigraphic Systems at Princeton University , where he stayed until his retirement in late 1971.

He ended his official work for Gulf Oil in 1968, but remained associated with the company as an external consultant.

Act

oil

As a petroleum geologist in Venezuela, Hedberg became familiar with the sometimes difficult conditions of petroleum exploration and, in addition to his practical work, also dealt with the theoretical side. In 1937 he published his work on the relationship between the density and the refractive index of crude oil, which is now used as a standard indicator for the productivity of oil deposits . He carried out further basic work in the field of oil formation ( Geologic Aspects of the Origin of Petroleum , 1964), and examined the contribution of methane formation in unconsolidated or only partially solidified sediments to the formation of sediment diapirs and mud volcanoes ( Relation of Methane Generation to Undercompacted Shales, Shale Diapirs, and Mud Volcanoes , 1974).

He later developed an interest in Africa, where no oil has yet been discovered. He laid the foundations for the discovery of deposits in West Africa ( Nigeria and Cabinda ). At the end of the 1970s he made Gulf Oil aware of NW Colombia . He himself worked there from 1982 to 1986, even when Gulf Oil was bought by the Chevron Corporation in 1984 .

stratigraphy

During his work in Venezuela, Hedberg developed the idea that not only fossils can be used to correlate rock layers, but also other criteria such as lithological rock sequences. He advocated a clear stratigraphic terminology and the clear separation of the concepts of time, the temporal structure of rock layers and lithostratigraphic structure. Time units are based on theoretical concepts, while the subdivision of rock layers can be observed according to their formation or their fossil content. However, there is only in the rarest of cases a clear relationship between time and rock strata subdivided in this way, since both lithology and fossil content often run diachronically and, moreover, usually do not represent a continuous sequence. For this reason, he was of the opinion that biostratigraphically determined units should never be understood as time periods. With this view he earned long-lasting and severe criticism from the ranks of the paleontologists . His commitment to stratigraphy culminated in the publication of the International Stratigraphic Guide in 1976.

His interest in theoretical stratigraphy and nomenclature grew out of his practical work, and in 1946 he became a member of the American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature , and remained so until 1960. At the International Geological Congress in Algiers in 1952, he proposed to the International Commission on Stratigraphy the establishment of an international commission for stratigraphic nomenclature. The proposal was accepted and Hedberg was chairman of the International Subcommission on Stratigraphic Classification (ISSC) from 1952 to 1976 . The commission publishes working aids on stratigraphic work, which are intended to serve as international guidelines.

Other directions

Early 1960 intensified his interest in the geology of the oceans, and in 1962 he was elected chairman of AMSOC Mohole Committee of the National Academy of Sciences that dealt with attempting an oceanic deep drilling in compared to continental crust thin oceanic crust through carry out the Mohorovičić discontinuity (Moho) in the earth's mantle ( Mohole project). Hedberg was an advocate of a carefully designed approach, with several shallower holes at various points of approach to test suitable drilling techniques. Political pressure to undertake a single, spectacular operation grew rapidly, and when Hedberg got the impression that there was no interest in gaining solid knowledge in the conduct of deep-water or super-deep drilling, he resigned from his post in 1963, and the The Mohole Committee disbanded. The Mohole was never drilled, but the working group's suggestions later served as a model for the JOIDES Deep Sea Drilling Program , which Hedberg also helped to prepare from 1970 to 1977.

At Gulf Oil he campaigned for the exploration of the continental shelf of North America. In 1966 the research ship Gulf Oil R / V Gulfrex was put into operation, which was used from 1967 to 1975, only to be replaced by Gulf Oil R / V Hollis Hedberg (operating period 1974 to 1985).

In 1979, Hedberg became an advisor to Ronald Reagan's presidential campaign, and was subsequently a strong proponent of oil prospecting in US waters. He dealt with national raw material reserves and international maritime law and influenced the negotiations between Mexico and the United States over the course of the state border in the ocean at the foot of the continental shelf .

From 1969 he wrote several essays on the history of geology and dealt specifically with Swedish geologists. His book about the stratigraphic-geological description of an area in the Siljan region of central Sweden , published in 1780, was Hedberg's last publication in 1988.

Honors

He became a Fellow in 1936, Vice President in 1958 and President of the Geological Society of America in 1960 . After his election to the National Academy of Sciences in 1960, he was involved in numerous committees. In 1962 he was elected President of the American Geological Institute (AGI). Further awards were:

Works

Hedberg wrote 177 scientific articles, numerous expert reports for Gulf Oil and other companies and institutions remained unpublished. His most important works were:

  • 1944: Stratigraphy of northeastern Anzoategui, Venezuela. American Association of Petroleum Geolologists Bulletin 28, pp. 1–28 (with A. Pyre)
  • 1947: Oil fields of greater Oficina area, central Anzoategui, Venezuela. American Association of Petroleum Geolologists Bulletin 31, pp. 2089–2169 (with HJ Funkhouser and LC Sass)
  • 1948: Santa Ana, San Joaquin, Guario, and Santa Rosa oil fields (Anaco fields), central Anzoategui, Venezuela. American Association of Petroleum Geolologists Bulletin 31, p. 2: 1851-1890 (with HJ Funkhouser and LC Sass)
  • 1948: Time-Stratigraphic Classification of Sedimentary Rocks. Geological Society of America Bulletin 59, pp. 447-462
  • 1964: Drilling the Ocean Crust. International Science and Technology Conover-Mast Publication (October), pp. 72–86, 99–10 (with Creighton Burk)
  • 1964: Geologic Aspects of the Origin of Petroleum. American Association of Petroleum Geolologists Bulletin 48, pp. 1755-1803
  • 1976: International Stratigraphic Guide. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 220 S. (Editor)
  • 1988: The 1740 Description by Daniel Tilas of Stratigraphy and Petroleum Occurrence at Osmudsberg in the Siljan Region of Central Sweden . Tulsa, Oklahoma American Association of Petroleum Geolologists Foundation, 96 pp.

literature

  • Georges Pardo: Hollis Dow Hedberg, 1903-1988. A Biographical Memoir . In: Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences . tape 61 , 1992, pp. 215–244 ( online article; PDF file; 2 MB ).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Georges Pardo: Hollis Dow Hedberg, 1903-1988. A Biographical Memoir . In: Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences . tape 61 , 1992, pp. 234 f . ( Online article; PDF file; 2 MB ).
  2. ↑ Pardo 1992, p. 232
  3. ↑ Pardo 1992, pp. 225ff
  4. ↑ a b Pardo 1992, p. 228f


personal data
SURNAME Hedberg, Hollis Dow
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hedberg, Hollis
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American petroleum geologist and stratigraph
DATE OF BIRTH May 29, 1903
PLACE OF BIRTH Falun , Kansas
DATE OF DEATH August 14, 1988
Place of death Princeton , New Jersey