Justus Ludwig Adolf Roth (September 15, 1818,

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

– April 1, 1892) was a German

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althoug ...

and

mineralogist Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifacts. Specific studies within mineralogy include the proce ...

Biography

In 1844 he obtained his doctorate from the

University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (german: Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The un ...

and spent the next few years working as a pharmacist in Hamburg. In 1848 he relocated to Berlin, where he came under the influence of

Gustav Rose Prof Gustavus ("Gustav") Rose FRSFor HFRSE (18 March 1798 – 15 July 1873) was a German mineralogist who was a native of Berlin. He was President of the German Geological Society from 1863 to 1873. Life He was born in Berlin the son of pharmaco ...

and

Heinrich Ernst Beyrich Heinrich Ernst Beyrich (31 August 1815 – 9 July 1896) was a German palaeontologist. Life Born in Berlin, he was educated at the university in that city, and afterwards at Bonn, where he studied under Georg August Goldfuss and Johann Jakob N ...

. In 1867 he became an associate professor of mineralogy at the

University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative ...

.Roth, Justus
Deutsche Biographie He may be regarded as one of the founders of petrographical science. In his published papers he dealt with

metamorphism Metamorphism is the transformation of existing rock (the protolith) to rock with a different mineral composition or texture. Metamorphism takes place at temperatures in excess of , and often also at elevated pressure or in the presence of ch ...

and crystalline

schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock showing pronounced schistosity. This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a low-power hand lens, oriented in such a way that the rock is easily split into thin flakes ...

s, discussed the origin of serpentine, and wrote on the rocks of

Mount Vesuvius Mount Vesuvius ( ; it, Vesuvio ; nap, 'O Vesuvio , also or ; la, Vesuvius , also , or ) is a somma-stratovolcano located on the Gulf of Naples in Campania, Italy, about east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It is one of ...

and Ponza Island.

Selected works

His separate works included: *''Der Vesuv und die Umgebung von Neapel'' (1857) – On

Vesuvius Mount Vesuvius ( ; it, Vesuvio ; nap, 'O Vesuvio , also or ; la, Vesuvius , also , or ) is a somma- stratovolcano located on the Gulf of Naples in Campania, Italy, about east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It is one of ...

and the environs of

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

. *''Die Gesteinanalysen in tabellarischer Übersicht und mit kritischen Erläuterungen'' (1861) – Rock analyzes in tabular overview with critical explanations. *''Beiträge zur Petrographie der plutonischen Gesteine'', a continuation of the preceding work (1869, 1873, 1879, 1884) – Contributions to the petrography of

plutonic rock Intrusive rock is formed when magma penetrates existing rock, crystallizes, and solidifies underground to form '' intrusions'', such as batholiths, dikes, sills, laccoliths, and volcanic necks.Intrusive RocksIntrusive rocks accessdate: March ...

s. *''Flußwasser, Meerwasser, Steinsalz'' (1878) – River water, sea water and

rock salt Halite (), commonly known as rock salt, is a type of salt, the mineral (natural) form of sodium chloride ( Na Cl). Halite forms isometric crystals. The mineral is typically colorless or white, but may also be light blue, dark blue, purple, pi ...

. *''Allgemeine und chemische Geologie'' (3 volumes, 1879–93) – General and

chemical geology ''Chemical Geology'' is an international peer-reviewed academic journal. The journal is affiliated with the European Association of Geochemistry and it is published by Elsevier., publishing both subscription and open access articles. The jour ...

. *''Die geologische Bildung der norddeutschen Ebene'' (1879) – The geological formation of the

North German plain The North German Plain or Northern Lowland (german: Norddeutsches Tiefland) is one of the major geographical regions of Germany. It is the German part of the North European Plain. The region is bounded by the coasts of the North Sea and the Balt ...

. *''Über die Erdbeben'' (1882) – About the earthquake.

References

* 1818 births 1892 deaths 19th-century German geologists German mineralogists Petrologists University of Tübingen alumni Academic staff of the Humboldt University of Berlin University of Jena alumni Scientists from Hamburg {{geologist-stub