Robert B. Hargraves (August 11, 1928 – March 21, 2003) was an American geologist who worked as a professor at Princeton University.

Career

Hargraves was born in Durban, South Africa. He started in his career as

mining geologist Mining geology is an applied science which combines the principles of economic geology Economic geology is concerned with earth materials that can be used for economic and/or industrial purposes. These materials include precious and base metal ...

in 1948, after receiving his BS from Natal University. In 1952, he

emigrated Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

to the United States, and after service in the United States Army he went to graduate school at Princeton. After completion of his Ph.D. in 1959, he first worked at University of the Witwatersrand and then at Princeton.

Achievements

Hargraves was a specialists in rock

magnetism Magnetism is the class of physical attributes that are mediated by a magnetic field, which refers to the capacity to induce attractive and repulsive phenomena in other entities. Electric currents and the magnetic moments of elementary particles ...

and

petrology Petrology () is the branch of geology that studies rocks and the conditions under which they form. Petrology has three subdivisions: igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary petrology. Igneous and metamorphic petrology are commonly taught together ...

. In his career he discovered many impact features on Earth by studying the effects of the impact event on the local rock strata. He was actively involved in the study of rocks from the Moon, returned to Earth by the Apollo missions. He also worked on the Viking program and Pathfinder mission to the planet Mars.

Honors

crater Crater may refer to: Landforms *Impact crater, a depression caused by two celestial bodies impacting each other, such as a meteorite hitting a planet *Explosion crater, a hole formed in the ground produced by an explosion near or below the surfac ...

on Mars is named in his honor.

References

1928 births 2003 deaths 20th-century American geologists Princeton University faculty University of Natal alumni Princeton University alumni South African emigrants to the United States {{US-geologist-stub