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Otto Wilhelm Hermann von Abich (11 December 18061 July 1886) was a German
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 proc ...
and
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, alth ...
. Full member of
St Petersburg Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; russian: Росси́йская акаде́мия нау́к (РАН) ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across ...
(hon. member since 1866).


Biography

He was born in Berlin and educated at the
local university Local colleges and universities (LCUs) are higher educational institutions that are being run by local government units in the Philippines. A local government unit (LGU) maybe a barangay, a municipality, city, or a province that puts up a post-sec ...
. His earliest scientific work is related to
spinel Spinel () is the magnesium/aluminium member of the larger spinel group of minerals. It has the formula in the cubic crystal system. Its name comes from the Latin word , which means ''spine'' in reference to its pointed crystals. Properties S ...
s and other
minerals In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. ...
. Later he made special studies of
fumarole A fumarole (or fumerole) is a vent in the surface of the Earth or other rocky planet from which hot volcanic gases and vapors are emitted, without any accompanying liquids or solids. Fumaroles are characteristic of the late stages of volcani ...
s, of the mineral deposits around volcanic vents, and of the structure of
volcano A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are ...
es. In 1842 he was appointed professor of mineralogy in the university of Dorpat (Tartu), and henceforth gave attention to the geology and mineralogy of the
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. The ...
. Residing for some time at
Tiflis Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million pe ...
, he investigated the geology of the Armenian Highland (this term was introduced by Abich) and Caucasus.Four Centuries of Geological Travel: edited by Patrick N. Wyse Jackson, p. 178 In 1844 and 1845 he ascended Ararat volcano several times, studied the geological event of 1840 that was centered on Ararat ( Akori village). In 1877 he retired to
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
, where he later died. The mineral Abichite was named after him.


Publications

The following are listed in Chisholm (1911), p. 62: * ''Vues illustratives de quelques phenomenes geologiques, prises sur le Vesuve et l'Etna, pendant les annees 1833 et 1834'' (Berlin, 1836); * ''Ueber die Natur und den Zusammenhang der vulcanischen Bildungen'' (Brunswick, 1841); * ''Geologische Forschungen in den Kaukasischen Ländern'' (3 vols., Vienna, 1878, 1882, and 1887).


References


Further reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Abich, Otto Wilhelm Hermann Von 1806 births 1886 deaths Scientists from Berlin People from the Margraviate of Brandenburg 19th-century German geologists German mineralogists Members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences Full members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences Honorary members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences Humboldt University of Berlin alumni University of Tartu faculty Explorers of the Caucasus