Walter Andrew Bell (January 4, 1889 – 1969) was a Canadian

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 ...

. He worked for the

Geological Survey of Canada The Geological Survey of Canada (GSC; french: Commission géologique du Canada (CGC)) is a Canadian federal government agency responsible for performing geological surveys of the country, developing Canada's natural resources and protecting the en ...

for over 40 years and authored or co-authored 70 publications. Most of them concerning

Carboniferous The Carboniferous ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic that spans 60 million years from the end of the Devonian Period million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Permian Period, million years ago. The name ''Carbonifero ...

stratigraphy Stratigraphy is a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock (geology), rock layers (Stratum, strata) and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary rock, sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks. Stratigrap ...

paleobotany Paleobotany, which is also spelled as palaeobotany, is the branch of botany dealing with the recovery and identification of plant remains from geological contexts, and their use for the biological reconstruction of past environments (paleogeogr ...

and

paleontology Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

Atlantic Canada Atlantic Canada, also called the Atlantic provinces (french: provinces de l'Atlantique), is the region of Eastern Canada comprising the provinces located on the Atlantic coast, excluding Quebec. The four provinces are New Brunswick, Newfoundlan ...

. He also contributed significantly to central and western Canadian

Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era ( ), also called the Age of Reptiles, the Age of Conifers, and colloquially as the Age of the Dinosaurs is the second-to-last era of Earth's geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceo ...

and

Cenozoic The Cenozoic ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterised by the dominance of mammals, birds and flowering plants, a cooling and drying climate, and the current configura ...

paleobotany. His work provided support for the theory of

continental drift Continental drift is the hypothesis that the Earth's continents have moved over geologic time relative to each other, thus appearing to have "drifted" across the ocean bed. The idea of continental drift has been subsumed into the science of pla ...

Early life

Bell was born to Scottish

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

parents in St. Thomas, Ontario. He attended Queen's University in

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River (south end of the Rideau Canal). The city is midway between Toro ...

, where he specialized in Geological Engineering. In 1911, he obtained a MSc in Geology from

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

Career

In 1911, Bell began his work with the

examining the Carboniferous plants of

Joggins Joggins is a rural community located in western Cumberland County, Nova Scotia, Canada. On July 7, 2008 a 15-km length of the coast constituting the Joggins Fossil Cliffs was officially inscribed on the World Heritage List.p39 Other organisms fo ...

near the

Bay of Fundy The Bay of Fundy (french: Baie de Fundy) is a bay between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine. It is an arm of the Gulf of Maine. Its extremely high tidal range is the hi ...

. His scientific work was interrupted by

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. From 1916 to 1919, he served with the

Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery , colors = The guns of the RCA themselves , colors_label = Colours , march = * Slow march: "Royal Artillery Slow March" * Quick march (dismounted parades): "British Grenadiers/ The ...

and fought at

Ypres Ypres ( , ; nl, Ieper ; vls, Yper; german: Ypern ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality co ...

Vimy Vimy ( or ; ; Dutch: ''Wimi'') is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. Located east of Vimy is the Canadian National Vimy Memorial dedicated to the Battle of Vimy Ridge and the Canadian soldiers ...

and

Arras Arras ( , ; pcd, Aro; historical nl, Atrecht ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France, department, which forms part of the regions of France, region of Hauts-de-France; before the regions of France#Reform and mergers of ...

. After the war, Bell stayed in England for several months independently examining British

fossils 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 in ...

before returning to his studies at Yale. In 1920, he received his

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

with distinction. After school he returned to the Geological Survey of Canada full-time. He concentrated his research on the structure, stratigraphy and palaeontology of the Lower Carboniferous Horton and Windsor groups of

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

. Bell was not a believer in the theory of continental drift, but his findings of the fossil plants proved to be well-known European species, thus becoming the foundation for the modern

plate tectonics Plate tectonics (from the la, label=Late Latin, tectonicus, from the grc, τεκτονικός, lit=pertaining to building) is the generally accepted scientific theory that considers the Earth's lithosphere to comprise a number of large ...

framework of the

Maritimes The Maritimes, also called the Maritime provinces, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The Maritimes had a population of 1,899,324 in 2021, which makes up 5.1% of Ca ...

. Bell's 1949 publication on fossil plants from

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

was expansive as Bell was able to supplement his own collections with those collected 50 years earlier by Dawson, Selwyn, and Tyrrell. In 1950, Bell was promoted from Assistant Palaeobotanist to Director. As Director he encouraged and strengthened paleontological and stratigraphic studies. In 1953, Bell allowed

George Hanson George Hanson (April 12, 1935 – September 22, 2016) was an American basketball coach. Hanson was the head coach of the Minnesota Golden Gophers for the 1970–71 season, where he finished 11–13 and led the squad to a 5th-place finish. Hanso ...

to take over as Director. In the final seven years before his death, his publications included 220 illustrated plates of fossil plants from across Canada. In 1969, Bell died. He was buried at Alma,

Pictou County, Nova Scotia Pictou County is a county in the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. It was established in 1835, and was formerly a part of Halifax County from 1759 to 1835. It had a population of 43,657 people in 2021, a decline of 0.2 percent from 2016. Furthermo ...

Legacy

In 1965, he was awarded the

Geological Association of Canada The Geological Association of Canada (GAC) is a learned society that promotes and develops the Geology, geological sciences in Canada. The organization holds conferences, meetings and exhibitions for the discussion of geological problems and the ...

's highest honour, the

Logan Medal :::''There is also a Logan Medal of the arts, awarded by the Chicago Arts Institute.'' The Logan Medal is the highest award of the Geological Association of Canada. Named after Sir William Edmond Logan, noted 19th-century Canadian geologist. It ...

. In 1968 the Saint Mary's University Geology Society was founded as the W.A Bell Geology Club. Subsequently, the name was changed to the D.Hope-Simpson Geology Club, in honour of the first chairperson of the Geology Department, Dr. David Hope-Simpson. In 1995, the Walter A. Bell Memorial Symposium has held in North Sydney.

Often cited papers

* Bell, W. A., 1957, ''Flora of the Upper Cretaceous Nanaimo Group of Vancouver Island'', British Columbia: Geological Survey of Canada Memoir

Notes

References

*Zodrow, Erwin L. 1997. ''Walter A. Bell (Geological Survey of Canada; 1920-1954): Founding father of the Canadian Carboniferous stratigraphy and pioneering briostratigrapher''. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology. 95:3-5. *von Bitter, Peter H. ''Walter Andrew Bell (1889-1969): Canadian Carboniferous Stratigrapher, Palaeobotanist and Palaeontologist par excellence''. Geoscience Canada. 24(3):135-142. *Zaslow, Morris. 1975. ''Reading the Rocks''. Toronto: Macmillan Company of Canada Ltd.

External links

Nova Scotia Museum- Bell

Paleontology at the GSCThe First 150 years of the Geological Survey of Canada

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Walter A. 1889 births 1969 deaths 20th-century Canadian geologists Canadian paleontologists Geological Survey of Canada personnel Paleobotanists Queen's University at Kingston alumni Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Canadian military personnel of World War I Canadian people of Scottish descent People from St. Thomas, Ontario Logan Medal recipients Paleontology in Ontario Canadian military personnel from Ontario Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery officers