Israel Charles White

Israel Charles White

Israel Charles White (born November 1, 1848 in Monongalia County , West Virginia , † November 24, 1927 in Baltimore ) was an American geologist . He was a state geologist from West Virginia.

White grew up on a farm and in Morgantown (West Virginia) and studied from 1867 at the newly opened West Virginia University with a bachelor's degree in 1872 and at the Columbia School of Mines (part of today's Columbia University ) with a master's degree in 1875 He was an assistant geologist on the Second Pennsylvania Geological Survey (1875-1884). In 1876 he became professor of geology at West Virginia University and in 1880 he received his doctorate from the University of Arkansas . From 1884 to 1888 he was also Assistant Geologist at the US Geological Survey . In 1892 he gave up his chair to work as a petroleum geologist for an oil company. In 1897 he became West Virginia's first state geologist in creating the West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey, which he remained until 1927. He also worked as a geological consultant for the Hope Natural Gas Company and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.

In West Virginia, he successfully tested the theory of anticline oil enrichment and, in particular, the discovery of the Mannington Oil Field in 1889 helped the theory to prevail in the oil industry.

From 1904 to 1906 he undertook a survey of the oil and coal reserves for the Brazilian state. The report, published in 1908, also contained important advances in understanding the geology of the Paraná Basin and led to the discovery of fossils of Permian mesosaurs (Irati Formation) and Glossopteris fauna in Permian coal deposits, showing similarities between Permian and Permian formations South Africa (Karoo Basin), which became a pillar of the continental drift theory.

In 1920 he was President of the Geological Society of America .

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