Paul Fourmarier

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Paul Frédéric Joseph Fourmarier (born December 25, 1877 in La Hulpe , Brabant ; † January 20, 1970 in Liège ) was a Belgian geologist who was known for his contributions to structural geology and the deformation of rocks in the upper crust of the earth . He was instrumental in researching the geological structure of the Ardennes .

Life

In 1899 Fourmarier earned the degree of mining engineer. From 1901 to 1907 he held a position as an assistant at the chair of engineering geology in Liège. In 1908 he was elected chairman of the Société géologique de Bélgique. Between 1900 and 1920 he was an engineer in the Corps des Mines / Mijnwezen. In 1920 he became a lecturer and in 1927 professor of geology at the University of Liège , a position he held until his retirement in 1948. Since 1938 he was a corresponding member of the Académie des sciences in Paris.

Act

Due to his practical knowledge as an engineer, Fourmarier was very versatile and supported an approach that was as limitless as possible, dealt with planetary geology and found new areas of application for mineralogy . Stratigraphy , tectonics and dynamic geology were his preferred areas in teaching as well as in research .

1901 to 1913 Fourmarier dealt mainly with the carbonic sedimentary basins of Belgium. In 1901 he caused a sensation in specialist circles with his theory that the Theux Basin , an outcrop of Devonian and Carboniferous rocks in the middle of the Cambrian of the northern Ardennes , was not a sedimentary basin limited by faults , but a tectonic window created by the kilometer-wide thrust of the older Cambrian Rocks of the younger Devonian and Carboniferous. Unlike its predecessors, it was not based solely on the distribution of rocks on the earth's surface, but primarily on systematic measurements of the incidence and strike of the layers. Your confirmation found the theory by two deep wells , which in 1913 Pepinster were carried out, and under the surface at the upcoming encountered younger Cambrian rocks layers.

Fourmarier traveled a lot. For example, in 1913 he undertook studies in Perm to Triassic ( Karoo system ) in Central Africa ( Tanganyika and Belgian Congo ), published a geological map of the Belgian Congo (1924) or worked in Tunisia .

In the field of general geology, Fourmarier made significant contributions to the exploration of foliage , the first of which appeared in 1921 and marked a series of studies in which the tectonic structure of the Brabant massif was the focus of research. He extended his investigations to all paleozoic rocks in Belgium and concluded from the results that the amount of static load during the folding process is significantly involved in the formation of a foliation. Through further studies in Bohemia , Great Britain , the Alps , the Apennines and the Appalachian Mountains , he significantly expanded his concept and was able to prove that the development of the tectonic structure is similar in all fold mountain ranges. He postulated that the development of nappe thrusts occurs much later than that of folds; at a time when erosion and erosion have already more or less attacked the fold structures that have formed.

Fourmarier looked at the origin and structure of the entire territory of Belgium in its entirety. His work Vue d'ensemble de la geologie de la Belgique appeared in 1934, the first comprehensive geological description of Belgium. With this work he was also the first to publish a complete description of the country's physical geography .

Honors

Fourmarier received numerous awards in both world wars, including the British War Medal in the First and the Médaille de la Résistance in the Second World War.

Fourmarier was a member of numerous geological societies and received numerous scientific awards, including

The Prix ​​Paul Fourmarier has been awarded since 1937 , a gold medal from the Royal Academy of Sciences and Fine Arts of Belgium .

The mineral fourmarierite is named after him.

Works

Almost 600 publications came from Fourmarier's pen. Examples are

  • 1901: Le bassin dévonien et carboniférien de Theux.
  • 1907: La tectonique de l'Ardenne.
  • 1916: La tectonique du bassin houiller du Hainaut.
  • 1933: Principes de géologie
  • 1934: Vue d'ensemble de la geologie de la Belgique
  • 1939: Hydrogéology: introduction to the étude des eaux, destinées à l'alimentation humaine et à l'industrie . Masson, Paris
  • 1954: Prodrome d'une description géologique de la Belgique. Soc. Géol. de Belgique, Liège, 826 S. (Chapter Tectonics)

literature

  • André Delmer: Notice on Paul Fourmarier . In: Annuaires de l'Académie royale des sciences, des lettres et des beaux-arts de Belgique . 2003 ( online version (PDF; 195 kB) [accessed on November 6, 2011]).
  • Paul Michot: In memoriam Paul Fourmarier . In: Annales de la Société Géologique de Belgique . tape 93 , 1970, pp. 425-429 .
  • Léon Calembert: Paul Fourmarier (1877-1970) . In: Bulletin de la Société géologique de France . 13 (3-4), serie 7, 1971, pp. 210-218 .
  • Paul Fourmarier en zijn school . In: Robert Halleux, Geert Vanpaemel, Jan Vandersmissen, Andrée Despy-Meyer (eds.): Geschiedenis van de wetenschappen in België. 1815-2000 . Dexia, Tournai 2001, pp. 226-228 ( online version ).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Halleux et al. 2001
  2. ^ List of members since 1666: Letter F. Académie des sciences, accessed on November 15, 2019 (French).
  3. ↑ a b 13 De aardwetenschappen: Paul Fourmarier en zijn school. Halleux et al. 2001, p. 227f
  4. ^ Henri Nicolaï: De geography. In: Robert Halleux, Geert Vanpaemel, Jan Vandersmissen, Andrée Despy-Meyer (eds.): Geschiedenis van de wetenschappen in België 1815-2000. P. 207.
  5. ^ Prix ​​Gaudry. Internet presence of the Société géologique de France
  6. ^ Prix ​​Paul Fourmarier. ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Website of the Royal Academy @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.academieroyale.be
  7. ↑ Delmer 2011
personal data
SURNAME Fourmarier, Paul
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Fourmarier, Paul Frédéric Joseph (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Belgian geologist
DATE OF BIRTH December 25, 1877
PLACE OF BIRTH La Hulpe , Brabant
DATE OF DEATH 20th January 1970
Place of death Liege