Otto Martin Torell

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Otto Torell
Memorial stone for Otto Torell in Rüdersdorf

Otto Martin Torell (born June 5, 1828 in Varberg , † September 11, 1900 in Stockholm ) was a Swedish geologist , zoologist , glaciologist and polar explorer .

Life

Torell was the first director of the Swedish State Geological Institute from 1870 to 1897. From 1866 he was professor of zoology and geology at Lund University .

On the basis of grinding marks ( Detersion ), he proved that northern Germany was covered by inland ice during the Pleistocene . He refuted the so-called drift theory, which stated that only individual blocks of ice penetrated a shallow sea in Central Europe. The Rüdersdorfer Kalkberge, on which the ground traces were found, are the classic place of North German Ice Age research. Torell presented his theses on the inland theory at the meeting of the German Geological Society in November 1875.

Torell led expeditions to Spitsbergen in 1858, 1861, 1864 and 1868 . He also went on expeditions to Greenland , Iceland and the Alps , where he also studied glaciers and ice tracks. In 1870 he became a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences . In 1874 he was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh .

According to him, Torell Land and other geographical locations in Spitsbergen and the Torell-Stein in Chemnitz named, also the Torellstraße in Berlin and the Torellplatz in Rüdersdorf.

Initial descriptions

  • Dacrydium TORELL 1859, a genus of the mussel family (Mytilidae)

Fonts

  • Bidrag till Spitsbergens mollusc fauna. Yemte en gradually versigt af arktiska regionens nature-loving och forntida utbredning . Typografiska Feningens Boktryckeri, Stockholm 1859

literature

  • Otto Martin Torell . In: Herman Hofberg, Frithiof Heurlin, Viktor Millqvist, Olof Rubenson (eds.): Svenskt biografiskt handlexikon . 2nd Edition. tape 2 : L – Z, including supplement . Albert Bonniers Verlag, Stockholm 1906, p. 627 (Swedish, runeberg.org ).

Web links

Commons : Otto Martin Torell  - Collection of Images
  • Article in Great Soviet Encyclopedia

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Society for Geschiebekunde
  2. ↑ The Swedish expeditions to Spitzbergen and Bären-Eiland carried out in 1861, 1864 and 1868 under the direction of O. Torell and AE Nordenskiöld  - Internet Archive . Griesbach, Gera 1874
  3. ^ Fellows Directory. Biographical Index: Former RSE Fellows 1783–2002. (PDF file) Royal Society of Edinburgh, accessed April 17, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Torell, Otto Martin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swedish geologist, glaciologist and polar explorer
DATE OF BIRTH June 5, 1828
PLACE OF BIRTH Varberg (municipality)
DATE OF DEATH September 11, 1900
Place of death Stockholm