Yamasaki Naomasa

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Yamasaki (Naokata) Naomasa ( Japanese 山崎 直 方 ; born March 10, 1870 in Kōchi Prefecture ; † July 26, 1929 ) was a Japanese geographer and geologist . He was one of the founders of scientific geography in Japan.

Life

Yamasaki began his academic career in petrology and volcanology . His early research described the historical development of the volcanoes of Japan, their topographical structures and the petrographic composition of the volcanic material. His descriptive studies of the Japanese volcanic landscape were the starting point for numerous geomorphological investigations. After studying geology at the University of Tokyo , Yamasaki studied geography in Vienna and Berlin between 1898 and 1901 under Albrecht Penck and Johannes Justus Rein . Influenced by Penck and his pioneering Ice Age studies, Yamasaki published a significant contribution to Japanese glaciation history immediately after his return to Japan in 1902. In it he referred to the existence of earlier glaciers in the Japanese Alps based on existing glacial morphological relics (e.g. scratches ) . Yamasaki's ideas were initially rejected on the grounds that all of the Quaternary fossils discovered in Japan were warm water creatures. It was not until 1931, after a publication by Takuji Ogawa on glaciation in Japan, that the country's leading geologists agreed on the former existence of glaciers. Yamasaki did not find any glaciers in Japan during his life; the first ice masses in Japan that could be classified as glaciers were only discovered in 2012 in the northern Japanese Alps.

Yamasaki was also active in the field of tectonics . After the great Kanto earthquake in 1923, he examined the characteristics of the land seismic deformation. He noted the great similarity to existing geological structures in the region. Yamasaki studied land deformations that were not caused by earthquakes. He put forward the theory that the earth's crust is subject to acute changes during earthquakes, while chronic crustal deformations occur in aseismic periods and are tectogenetically related.

Significance for scientific geography in Japan

After his significant studies on the history of glaciers in Japan, he became the first professor of the newly established Institute of Geography at the University of Tokyo in 1911 . Yamasaki was also the first president of the Japanese Geographical Society, founded in 1925 . He was the editor of the 10 volumes of Geography of Japan . This is one of the first comprehensive scientific works on the geography of Japan. Many of his students (including Tsujimura Taro , Fumio Tada , Watanabe Akira , Ishida Ryujiro ) had a great influence on the university geography of Japan until late in the 20th century. Through his achievements, Yamasaki is considered one of the founders of the scientific geography of Japan. In 1925 he was accepted into the Japanese Academy of Sciences .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ T. Yoshikawa: Prof. N. Yamasaki's Contribution to Tectonic Geomorphology. In: Geographical Review of Japan. Vol. 44, 8, 1971, pp. 552-564. doi: 10.4157 / grj.44.552
  2. ^ N. Yamasaki: A trace of glacier in Japan. In: Journal Geological Society Japan. Vol. 9, 1902, pp. 361-369.
  3. ^ The glaciers of Japan by Project Hyakumeizan, May 16, 2012. Accessed June 8, 2015.
  4. ^ M. Yajima: The Palaeo-Tokyo Bay concept. In: RH Grapes, DR Oldroyd, A. Grigelis (Eds.): History of Geomorphology and Quaternary Geology. Geological Society of London Special Publication 301, 2008, p. 185.
  5. ↑ K. Fukui, H. Iida: Identifying active glaciers in Mt. Tateyama and Mt. Tsurugi in the northern Japanese Alps, central Japan. In: Journal of the Japanese Society of Snow an Ice. Vol. 74, 3, 2012, pp. 213-222.
  6. ^ N. Matsouka: Cold Region Geomorphology in Japan. In: Geographical Review of Japan Series B. Vol. 86, 1, 2013, pp. 22-32.
  7. ↑ T. Yoshikawa: Prof. N. Yamasaki's Contribution to Tectonic Geomorphology. In: Geographical Review of Japan. Vol. 44, 8, 1971, pp. 552-564. doi: 10.4157 / grj.44.552
  8. ↑ Yamasaki, Naomasa in Lexikon der Geographie ( Spektrum.de ). Accessed: June 9, 2015.
  9. ↑ The Japan Academy | Deceased Members: XZ ; accessed on June 14, 2015.
Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Yamasaki is the family name, Naomasa the first name.
personal data
SURNAME Yamasaki, Naomasa
ALTERNATIVE NAMES 山崎 直 方 (Japanese)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Japanese geographer and geologist
DATE OF BIRTH March 10, 1870
PLACE OF BIRTH Kochi Prefecture
DATE OF DEATH July 26, 1929