Clarence Norman Fenner (19 July 1870 – 24 December 1949) was an American geologist who specialized in petrology, particularly the transformations of silica minerals. One of his innovations in geology was the use of modified variation diagrams based on those introduced by

Alfred Harker Alfred Harker FRS (19 February 1859 – 28 July 1939) was an English geologist who specialised in petrology and interpretive petrography. He was Lecturer in Petrology at the University of Cambridge for many years, and carried out field mapping ...

which are sometimes referred to as "Fenner-type variation diagrams". Fenner was born in

Paterson, New Jersey Paterson ( ) is the largest City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, graduating in 1892. He went to work for mining companies in Canada, Mexico and other places before joining Columbia University again for a master's degree (1909) and a doctoral (1910). His PhD was on the paragenesis of zeolites and other minerals in basalt. He then worked as a petrologist at the Carnegie Institution, Washington. His main interest was in petrology, and took a special interest in the silicate minerals using laboratory techniques to examine their transitions under different temperatures. During World War I, the lab was involved in the production of glass for optical instruments and Fenner was put in charge of the Spencer Lens Company. In 1919 he led an expedition to Mt Katmai in Alaska. He also investigated the geology of Yellowstone from 1928 to 1934.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fenner, Clarence Norman 1870 births 1949 deaths American geologists