Nathaniel Thomas Wetherell MRCS FGS (September 6, 1800 – December 22, 1875) was a British

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, althou ...

and

surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

. His work involved the collection of various

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

s found in England. He was born, lived, and died in

Highgate Highgate ( ) is a suburban area of north London at the northeastern corner of Hampstead Heath, north-northwest of Charing Cross. Highgate is one of the most expensive London suburbs in which to live. It has two active conservation organisati ...

, England. Wetherell discovered a strange mixture of rocks and fossils of northern provenance in

Coldfall Wood Coldfall Wood is an ancient woodland in Muswell Hill, North London. It covers an area of approximately and is surrounded by St Pancras and Islington Cemetery, the East Finchley public allotments, and the residential streets Creighton Avenue and B ...

Muswell Hill Muswell Hill is a suburban district of the London Borough of Haringey, north London. The hill, which reaches over above sea level, is situated north of Charing Cross. Neighbouring areas include Highgate, Hampstead Garden Suburb, East Finchl ...

in 1835. This led subsequently to the recognition that

glaciation A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate betw ...

had affected southern England.Walker, H. (1874),''The Glacial Drifts of Muswell Hill & Finchley'', reprinted 1993, London: Jack Whitehead

References

Selected bibliography

*Wetherell N.T., 1852, Note on a new species of

Clionites ''Clionites'' is a genus of the clydonitoidean family Clionitidae, and its type. The shell is evolute so as to expose all whorls which are covered with generally bifurcating sigmoidal ribs. The suture is ceratitid with two lateral lobes. ''Cli ...

(With a Plate.), ''

Annals and Magazine of Natural History The ''Journal of Natural History'' is a scientific journal published by Taylor & Francis focusing on entomology and zoology. The journal was established in 1841 under the name ''Annals and Magazine of Natural History'' (''Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist.'') an ...

'' 1852. Vol. 10 Jul.-Dec. No. LIX. (No. 59. November 1852.) XXXIII. p. 354. *Wetherell N.T., 1859, On the Structure of some of the Siliceous Nodules of the

Chalk Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Chalk ...

, ''Quarterly Journal of the

Geological Society The Geological Society of London, known commonly as the Geological Society, is a learned society based in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe with more than 12,000 Fellows. Fe ...

'' 1859 vol 15 issue 1-2 p. 193. *Wetherell N.T., 1859, On the occurrence of Graphularia Wetherellii in Nodules from the

London Clay The London Clay Formation is a marine geological formation of Ypresian (early Eocene Epoch, c. 56–49 million years ago) age which crops out in the southeast of England. The London Clay is well known for its fossil content. The fossils from t ...

and the Crag, ''Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society'' 1859 vol 15: p. 30-32.

External links

Darwin Project: Wetherell's correspondence
with

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...

1800 births 1875 deaths 19th-century British geologists People from Highgate Fellows of the Geological Society of London {{Geologist-stub