Émile Argand (6 January 1879 – 14 September 1940) was a
Swiss 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, althoug ...
.
He was born in Eaux-Vives near
Geneva
, neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier
, website = https://www.geneve.ch/
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...
. He attended vocational school in Geneva then worked as a draftsman. He studied anatomy in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
, but gave up medicine to pursue his interest in geology.
He was an early proponent of
Alfred Wegener
Alfred Lothar Wegener (; ; 1 November 1880 – November 1930) was a German climatologist, geologist, geophysicist, meteorologist, and polar researcher.
During his lifetime he was primarily known for his achievements in meteorology and ...
's 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 pl ...
, viewing plate tectonics and continental collisions as the best explanation for the formation of the
Alps
The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Swi ...
. He is also noted for his application of the theory of
tectonic
Tectonics (; ) are the processes that control the structure and properties of the Earth's crust and its evolution through time. These include the processes of mountain building, the growth and behavior of the strong, old cores of continents ...
s to the continent of
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...
.
He founded the Geological Institute of
Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
Awards and honors
* 1913 Spendiarov Prize
* 1926 Marcel Benoist Prize
* A region of
wrinkle ridges on the
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...
was named ''
Dorsa Argand
Dorsa Argand is a wrinkle ridge system at on the Moon, in Oceanus Procellarum near the border with Mare Imbrium. It is approximately 92 km long and was named after Swiss geologist Émile Argand
Émile Argand (6 January 1879 – 14 September 1940) ...
'' after him.
* There is a road named "Rue Emile-Argand" at the
University of Neuchâtel
The University of Neuchâtel (UniNE) is a French-speaking university based in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. The university has four faculties (schools) and more than a dozen institutes, including arts and human sciences, natural sciences, law and eco ...
.
*
Argandite, a mineral.
Bibliography
Argand, E. (1924), "La Tectonique de l'Asie", Extrait du Compte-rendu du XIIIe Congrès géologique international 1922 (Liège), 1(5), pp. 171-372
* Argand, E. (1916), "Sur l'arc des Alps Occidentales", Eclogae geologicae Helveticae (Lausanne), 14, pp. 145–192.
* Argand, E. (1911), "Les nappes de recouvrement des Alpes Pennines et leur prolongement structuraux", Mat. carte géol. Suisse, N.S., XXXI livr.
*
References
*
*
*
*
External links
Historical perspective on the Alps including illustrations by Argand.
Necrology (in French) in: Verhandlungen der Schweizerischen Naturforschenden Gesellschaft 120 (1940), 379-403.
1879 births
1940 deaths
20th-century Swiss geologists
Tectonicists
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