Jens Esmark
Jens Esmark (born January 31, 1763 in Houlbjerg , Langå Kommune , † January 26, 1839 in Oslo ) was a Danish geologist and mineralogist .
Life
Esmark studied medicine and natural sciences from 1784 (and initially theology , since he was to become a clergyman like his father) in Copenhagen and then worked there for some time in a hospital. On the recommendation of the naturalist Morten Thrane Brünnich , he came to the Kongsberg Mining Academy and, after graduation, also completed a legal and geometrical exam in Copenhagen (necessary for approval as a surveyor). He then traveled to the Freiberg Mining Academy for further training , where he became one of Abraham Gottlob Werner's numerous geologist students in 1791/92 , studied mineral chemistry at the Schemnitz Mining Academy and undertook a study trip through Saxony, Poland, Silesia, Bohemia and Hungary (Transylvania) . After his return he was appointed senior miners' assessor in Kongsberg in 1797 and lecturer in physics, chemistry and mineralogy at the local mining academy in 1802. In 1814 he became a mineralogy professor in Oslo.
He was a pioneer of glacier research and in 1824 assumed that glaciers had previously covered much of Norway and the adjacent marine area. He attributed the Norwegian fjords to erosion by glaciers and he believed moraines and boulders as well as the smoothly planed mountain ridges in Norway to be caused by glaciers. Johann von Charpentier and Ignaz Venetz came to similar conclusions in the Alps in the 1830s . The ice age theory helped Louis Agassiz to break through .
He wrote travelogues with remarks on geology both from his trip to Central Europe (published in Freiberg at Werner's request in 1798) and from trips to southern Norway (where he was also an early mountaineer). Esmark named the rock types Norit and Sparagmit . He also published on topics related to business and technology in Norway.
In 1800 he became a member of the Danish Academy of Sciences and in 1825 he became a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and in 1832 Knight of the Vasa Order .
He married a daughter of Morten Thrane Brünnich . His son, the pastor Morten Thrane Esmark (1801-1882) took place on the island Løvøya first thorite . He was the brother of the surveyor Lauritz Esmarch (1765–1842).
Trivia
The Esmarkbreen on the Norwegian island of Svalbard is named after Jens Esmark. The same applies to the Esmarkbreen on South Georgia .
Fonts
- Brief description of a mineralogical journey through Hungary, Transylvania and the Bannat, Freiberg 1798
- Journey fra Christiania til Trondhjem, 1829
Web links
- Jens Esmark on snl.no in the store norske leksikon (Norwegian)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Esmark, Jens |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Danish geologist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 31, 1763 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Houlbjerg , Langå municipality |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 26, 1839 |
| Place of death | Oslo |