Walther Schwarzacher (March 2, 1925 – March 7, 2018) was an Austrian geologist best known for his research in quantitative

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 ...

. He was a Corresponding Member of the Division of Mathematics and the Natural Sciences of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the second recipient of the William Christian Krumbein Medal, the highest award of the

International Association for Mathematical Geosciences The International Association for Mathematical Geosciences (IAMG) is a nonprofit organization of geoscientists. It aims to promote international cooperation in the application and use of mathematics in geological research and technology. IAMG's act ...

(IAMG).

Early and personal life

Walther was born in

Graz Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popul ...

, Austria, the second son of the forensic medic Professor Walther Schwarzacher and his wife Hedwig. In 1938, following the Anschluss, Walther's father lost his position at the University of Graz. As a result, Walther spent the war years with his family on the

Wallersee Der Wallersee is a lake in the Austrian state of Salzburg northeast of the city oft Salzburg in Salzburg-Umgebung District. Around the lake there is a hiking path of about length; at its southern part, it confluences with the famous Camino de San ...

, a lake near Salzburg. This was a time when he developed his interest in studying the local geology as he helped his father with scientific investigations. After the war, Walther moved to Innsbruck to study, completing both his undergraduate studies and his doctoral dissertation in a total of four years at the University of Innsbruck, under the supervision of

Bruno Sander Bruno may refer to: People and fictional characters *Bruno (name), including lists of people and fictional characters with either the given name or surname * Bruno, Duke of Saxony (died 880) * Bruno the Great (925–965), Archbishop of Cologne, ...

. He was then awarded a British Council Scholarship to the University of Cambridge. From Cambridge, Walther moved to

Queen's University Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

, where he was based for the remainder of his career. He married his wife, June, in 1963 and they had two sons, Walther and Martin.

Career

Walther joined Queen's University Belfast as an assistant lecturer in 1949. He was promoted to Lecturer, Reader in 1964 and eventually Professor when he was appointed to a personal Chair in Mathematical Geosciences in 1977. In 1967/68 Walther was Distinguished Visiting Lecturer in the newly formed mathematical geology section at the

Kansas Geological Survey The Kansas Geological Survey (KGS), a research and service division of the University of Kansas, is charged by statute with studying and providing information on the geologic resources of Kansas. The KGS has no regulatory authority and does not t ...

. Walther also spent sabbaticals at the University of Kiel. Two of Walther's influential

sedimentology Sedimentology encompasses the study of modern sediments such as sand, silt, and clay, and the processes that result in their formation (erosion and weathering), transport, deposition and diagenesis. Sedimentologists apply their understanding of mo ...

books are ''Sedimentation Models and Quantitative Stratigraphy'' (1975) and ''Cyclostratigraphy and the Milankovitch theory'' (1993). In the first book, he describes

stochastic model In probability theory and related fields, a stochastic () or random process is a mathematical object usually defined as a family of random variables. Stochastic processes are widely used as mathematical models of systems and phenomena that appea ...

s for sedimentary processes, which involve

Markov chain A Markov chain or Markov process is a stochastic model describing a sequence of possible events in which the probability of each event depends only on the state attained in the previous event. Informally, this may be thought of as, "What happe ...

s and semi-Markov processes. The second discusses Milankovitch cycles for coupled limestone and marl beds, drawing from his own research. Walther also wrote many international publications and chapters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schwarzacher, Walther 1925 births 2018 deaths