Kingsley Charles Dunham

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Sir Kingsley Charles Dunham (born January 2, 1910 in Sturminster Newton , Dorset , † April 5, 2001 in Durham ) was one of the leading British geologists and mineralogists of the 20th century. He was Professor of Geology at the University of Durham from 1950 to 1971 , and Director of the British Geological Survey from 1967 to 1975 .

Live and act

Dunham moved with his family to Durham as a child, where he attended Brancepeth School and Durham Johnston Comprehensive School. He then enrolled at the University of Durham, initially wanting to study chemistry, but then turned to geology. He was a gifted musician and student organist at Hatfield College . In 1930 he graduated in geology. After graduating, he did research on the vein minerals of the Pennine Orefield in northern England as a student of Arthur Holmes and earned his PhD in 1932.

After a brief interlude at Harvard University , where he did fieldwork in the Organ Mountains in New Mexico for the New Mexico Bureau of Mines , he returned to the United Kingdom in 1934 as a geologist for the British Geological Survey , initially at the Old Red Sandstone at Chepstow and finally through the back iron ores from Cumbria to work. During the Second World War he took part in the study of iron ore reserves in northern England. The results of his work in this region appeared in 1948 under the title The Geology of the North Pennine Orefield . Dunham remained associated with mining for a long time, and later worked repeatedly as a consultant for various mining companies.

In 1950 Durham returned to the University of Durham as professor of geology, at a time when the university's geological institute, like many others in Britain, was going through a period of rapid growth. Dunham was known not only among his students for his fondness for geological fieldwork, but also for the strenuous but joyful geological excursions . During his tenure, he oversaw the Rookhope well which, according to his own prediction and that of his colleague Martin Bott , demonstrated the presence of a granite - intrusion - the Weardale granite - under the Pennines .

His career peaked in 1967 when he assumed the position of director of the British Geological Survey. As with his tenure as director of the Durham Faculty of Geology, he successfully led the survey through a period of rapid growth in areas such as geophysics , oceanography and geochemistry . He traveled a lot and visited his subordinates even in the most remote outposts.

After his retirement, Dunham returned to Durham in 1975 as an emeritus and published further work on the mineral resources of northern England. In old age he lost his sight to the point of complete blindness. Even so, he continued to attend the Arthur Holmes Society's weekly meetings in Durham, assisted by his friend and colleague Dr. Tony Johnson.

Honors

Kingley Dunham has received multiple awards and honorary degrees from more than ten universities in and outside the UK. He was a Fellow of St John's College, Durham, Fellow of the Royal Society (1955) and from 1971 a member of the Council of the Royal Society as Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Vice-Chairman for five years . In 1970 he received the Royal Medal . In 1971 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh . Dunham was President of the Yorkshire Geological Society (1958-1959) and received the 1963 Sorby Medal of this association. In 1972 he was beaten to a Knight Bachelor and received the Murchison Medal in 1966 and the Wollaston Medal of the Geological Society of London in 1976 , of which he was President from 1966 to 1968. In 1976 he was awarded the Haidinger Medal of the Federal Geological Institute and in 1981 the Leopold von Buch plaque of the German Geological Society .

The headquarters of the British Geological Survey in Keyworth , Nottinghamshire is named Kingsley Dunham Center in his honor . Dunham played a crucial role in uniting the previously dispersed departments of the Survey, one of his final acts as director. The center opened shortly after Dunham's retirement in 1976, with Malcolm Brown as the new director of the survey.

Works

Dunham published more than 200 articles and several books. His most famous publications were:

  • The Geology of the Northern Pennine Orefield . 2nd Edition. tape I , 1990.
  • The Geology of the Northern Pennine Orefield, Volume II . 1985 (with AA Wilson).
  • Rafter Sulfur and oxygen isotope studies in the northern Pennines in relation to ore genesis . In: Transactions of the Institute of Mineralogy and Metallurgy of London . B 80, 1971, p. B259-B276 (Discussion B 81, B172-177; B 82, B46; with M. Solomon and TA).
  • Ore genetics in the northern Pennines 1948-1990 . In: Transactions of the Natural and Historical Society of Northumberland . tape 56 , 1993, pp. 4-12 .
  • Rich silver-bearing ores in the Northern Pennines? In: Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society . tape 53 , 2001, p. 207-212 (with B. Young, GAL Johnson, TB Colman, and R. Fossitt).

literature

  • Tony Johnson: Obituary: Sir Kingsley Charles Dunham (1910-2001) . In: Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society . tape 54 , no. 1 , 2002, p. 63-64 , doi : 10.1144 / pygs.54.1.63 .
  • GAL Johnson: Sir Kingsley Charles Dunham. January 2, 1910 - April 5, 2001 Elected FRS 1955 . In: Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society . tape 49 , 2003, p. 147-162 , doi : 10.1098 / rsbm.2003.0009 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Tony Johnson: Obituary: Sir Kingsley Charles Dunham (1910-2001) . In: Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society . tape 54 , no. 1 , 2002, p. 63 , doi : 10.1144 / pygs.54.1.63 .
  2. ^ Past Perfect: the virtual archeology of Durham and Northumberland. Geology: Granites in the North Pennines. Durham County Council
  3. ^ Fellows Directory. Biographical Index: Former RSE Fellows 1783–2002. Royal Society of Edinburgh, accessed October 22, 2019 .
  4. ^ GAL Johnson: Sir Kingsley Charles Dunham. January 2, 1910 - April 5, 2001 Elected FRS 1955 . In: Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society . tape 49 , 2003, p. 162 , doi : 10.1098 / rsbm.2003.0009 .
personal data
SURNAME Dunham, Kingsley Charles
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Dunham, Kingsley; Dunham, Sir Kingsley; Dunham, Sir Kingsley Charles
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British geologist
DATE OF BIRTH January 2, 1910
PLACE OF BIRTH Sturminster Newton , Dorset
DATE OF DEATH April 5, 2001
Place of death Durham