Ruy Herbert Finch (1890 – March 25, 1957) was an American

volcanologist A volcanologist, or volcano scientist, is a geologist who focuses on understanding the formation and eruptive activity of volcanoes. Volcanologists frequently visit volcanoes, sometimes active ones, to observe and monitor volcanic eruptions, col ...

, and second director of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) from 1940 to 1951, succeeding

Thomas A. Jaggar Thomas Augustus Jaggar Jr. (January 24, 1871 – January 17, 1953) was an American volcanologist. He founded the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and directed it from 1912 to 1940. The son of Thomas Augustus Jaggar, Jaggar Jr. graduated with a Ph. ...

. Finch is known largely for his discovery of the

1790 Footprints The 1790 Footprints refer to a set of footprints found near the Kīlauea volcano in present-day Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the island of Hawaii. Resulting from an unusually explosive eruption, they may be associated with a series of battl ...

. Another notable scientific contribution by Finch was the formal addition of block lava to the lava classification types. In 1951, a group of scientists that included Finch were named in the journal ''Science'' as "outstanding authorities in their respective fields".

Career

Finch was an Ohio native. He began his professional career in 1910, working as a

seismologist Seismology (; from Ancient Greek σεισμός (''seismós'') meaning "earthquake" and -λογία (''-logía'') meaning "study of") is the scientific study of earthquakes and the propagation of elastic waves through the Earth or through other ...

for the

U.S. Weather Bureau The National Weather Service (NWS) is an agency of the United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weather-related products to organizations and the public for the p ...

. The HVO was formed during his time there. In 1919, HVO was merged into the Weather Bureau and Finch moved to

Hawaii Island Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii ) is the largest island in the United States, located in the state of Hawaii. It is the southeasternmost of the Hawaiian Islands, a chain of volcanic islands in the North Pacific Ocean. With an area of , it has 63% of t ...

in 1923, where he was present during an eruption of

Kīlauea Kīlauea ( , ) is an active shield volcano in the Hawaiian Islands. Located along the southeastern shore of the Big Island of Hawaii, the volcano is between 210,000 and 280,000 years old and emerged above sea level about 100,000 years ago. Hi ...

in 1924. From some point in the 1920s until 1935, he directed a seismograph station near Lassen Peak, after which he was transferred to Hawaii National Park. During his time at Hawaii, he worked as an park guide, among other jobs. He became director of HVO in 1940, and served until 1951. During his time at the Observatory, he worked with multiple other geologists of the time most notably, T. A. Jaggar and Gordon Macdonald. After his tenure with the Observatory, he retired and moved to an apple orchard in Watsonville, California with his family, where he died in 1957. While Thomas A. Jaggar was starting up the Observatory, he began a newsletter called ''The Volcano Letter'', a publication on volcanology. When Jaggar retired in 1940 and Finch took over as director, he also became the editor of ''The Volcano Letter''. ''The Volcano Letter'' later went on to be reprinted by Richard S. Fiske, Tom Simkin, and Elizabeth A. Nielsen as editors, of which Simkin was also an author of the book '' Volcanoes of the World''.

References

External links

U.S. Geological Survey

Geological Survey images associated with Finch:
Railroad tracks buckled at fault boundary at Kapoho, Hawai‘i

Eight ton block ejected from Halema‘uma‘u during explosion at Kīlau...

Spectators flee explosion from Halemaumau at Kīlauea, May 18, 1925

T.A. Jaggar's dog, Teddy, stands where an injured spectator was fou...

Area Affected by Earthquakes at Kapoho, Hawai‘i, in Apr., 1925
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finch, Ruy 1890 births 1957 deaths American volcanologists

Career

References

Further reading

External links

U.S. Geological Survey