Samuel Warren Carey AO (1 November 1911, in Campbelltown – 20 March 2002, in

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/ Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

) was an Australian

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 ...

and a professor at the University of Tasmania. He was an early advocate of 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 pl ...

. His work on

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 larg ...

reconstructions led him to develop the

Expanding Earth The expanding Earth or growing Earth hypothesis argues that the position and relative movement of continents is at least partially due to the volume of Earth increasing. Conversely, geophysical global cooling was the hypothesis that various fe ...

hypothesis A hypothesis (plural hypotheses) is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. For a hypothesis to be a scientific hypothesis, the scientific method requires that one can test it. Scientists generally base scientific hypotheses on previous obse ...

Biography

Samuel Warren Carey was born in New South Wales and grew up on a farm three miles from Campbelltown. The family was to move to the town centre, saving the young Carey the walk to school. An interest in physics and chemistry during high school was to lead to selection of both subjects when he attended the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

in 1929. Mathematics was required and he was encouraged to study

geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other Astronomical object, astronomical objects, the features or rock (geology), rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology ...

as his fourth subject, a department still under the influence of retired Professor

Edgeworth David Sir Tannatt William Edgeworth David (28 January 1858 – 28 August 1934) was a Welsh Australian geologist and Antarctic explorer. A household name in his lifetime, David's most significant achievements were discovering the major Hunter V ...

. He started a student Geology club as he became attracted to the subject's mixture of laboratory and field work; David gave the inaugural speech. Along with classmates Alan Voisey and Dorothy York, he was to earn high distinctions at the University. He also joined the Sydney University Regiment. His Masters and Honours degree were based on four papers on the

Werris Creek Werris Creek is a small town in New South Wales, Australia, near Tamworth, in Liverpool Plains Shire. It is north of Quirindi and is at the junction of the Main North railway line to Armidale and Moree. At the 2011 census, Werris Creek had ...

area. He received his MSc in 1934. It was at this time that Carey read the 1924 translation of Wegener's ''The Origin of Continents and Oceans'', the book largely responsible for introducing the concept of

to English-speaking academics. He was to become a key figure in advancing this concept and

plate tectonic 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 te ...

models that followed. Carey was prevented from taking a research scholarship to Cambridge in 1933. Instead, aged 23, he joined Oil Search in the Sepik District of Papua New Guinea where he worked with a team led by G.A.V. Stanley, mapping the surface geology for indications of subsurface oil. The Sepik is where the Australian Tectonic Plate collides with the Pacific Plate and confirmed for Carey, many of his ideas about what is now known as plate tectonics. The work involved long periods in jungle covered hill country, field working from temporary camps, managing carrier lines and dealing with villagers. All supplies were carried in from the bases at Matapau and Aitape on the coast. The mapping involved surveyors drawing base maps at scales of six inches to the mile, using what was then the most up to date geographical techniques (radio time signals and sextants to observe stars) and geologists, including Carey, plotting the geology onto the maps from exposures in the banks of streams. Carey was in the field when a magnitude 6.3 earthquake with an epicentre near Aitape occurred which devastated the inland villages and the tracks over the coastal mountains. He published a paper reporting on the event in ''

The Australian Geographer ''Australian Geographer'' (''The Australian Geographer'' until 1975) is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal published by the Geographical Society of New South Wales since August 1928. Covering all aspects of Australian geography, it is cu ...

''. After four years in Papua New Guinea, Carey returned to Sydney and wrote and submitted a thesis for a Doctor of Science degree, entitled ''Tectonic Evolution of New Guinea and Melanesia''. The degree was awarded in 1939. He returned to Papua New Guinea and worked there on oil exploration until the outbreak of the Pacific War in 1942. In 1940 he married Austral Robson, with whom he had four children.

Carey served in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

as a Captain in the special forces unit Z Force, developing a bold plan using small teams in

folding kayak A folding kayak is a direct descendant of the original Inuit kayak made of animal skins stretched over frames made from wood and bones. A modern folder has a collapsible frame made of some combination of wood, aluminium and plastic, and a skin ...

s to mine ships in an enemy harbour. This operation (

Scorpion Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always en ...

) became obsolete but Carey secretly tested his plan by infiltrating

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

harbour, placing dummy limpet mines on American ships. After the war, Carey was a highly regarded contributor to geology and his many contributions to the emerging theories and proposals were often in advance of the accepted view. Maps and data produced from his field work in New Guinea were sought after by engineers and fellows. He backed the moving of continents proposed by

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 ...

and decided on the

expanding Earth The expanding Earth or growing Earth hypothesis argues that the position and relative movement of continents is at least partially due to the volume of Earth increasing. Conversely, geophysical global cooling was the hypothesis that various fe ...

idea as the mechanism for this and was the main proponent of this hypothesis. Carey's expanding earth bears many resemblances to the current model, including supercontinents dividing and going adrift, zones of new crust being generated in deep oceanic ridges, and other phenomena of a still active crust. His hypothesis gave the mechanism for this as an expanding earth; whereas the new hypothesis of plate tectonics accounted for it with

subduction Subduction is a geological process in which the oceanic lithosphere is recycled into the Earth's mantle at convergent boundaries. Where the oceanic lithosphere of a tectonic plate converges with the less dense lithosphere of a second plate, ...

. However, in principle, there is nothing incompatible between expansion, on a global scale, and subduction, on a local, or, regional scale, as discussed in detail by Andrew Kugler, who described the difference between subduction and overthrusting, which he argued can be discerned based on tectonic mapping, a distinction that is not generally recognized by most geoscientists. Although the expanding Earth hypothesis is nearly universally rejected by geoscientists, it has been defended recently based on detailed small-earth modeling by Klaus Vogel and James Maxlow and by many others worldwide based on other relevant data. Despite the eventual acceptance of the plate movement and subduction paradigm over Carey's hypothesis, he is widely regarded as making substantial contributions to the field of

tectonics 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 k ...

and having considerable influence in the initial acceptance of continental drift over a static model. In 1946, he became the founding professor of geology at the

University of Tasmania The University of Tasmania (UTAS) is a public research university, primarily located in Tasmania, Australia. Founded in 1890, it is Australia's fourth oldest university. Christ College (University of Tasmania), Christ College, one of the unive ...

. He retired from this position 30 years later in 1976. In the

Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove and raising of the Union Flag by Arthur Phillip following days of exploration of Port ...

Honours list of 1977, Carey was awarded the

Officer of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Go ...

for his services to the field of geology. He, and a small number of other researchers, continued to support and investigate expanding earth models. Carey developed his expanding earth model independently of the prior work by

Ott Christoph Hilgenberg Ott, OTT or O.T.T. may refer to: Entertainment * OTT (group), a pop band from the late 1990s * Ott (record producer), British record producer and musician * "O.T.T" (song), a song by Fugative * ''O.T.T.'' (television series), a UK TV programme f ...

, who proposed a similar model in his 1933 publication "Vom wachsenden Erdball" ("The Expanding Earth"). Carey only learned of Hilgenberg's work in 1956.

Legacy

The

Geological Society of Australia The Geological Society of Australia (GSA) was established as a non-profit organisation in 1952 to promote, advance and support earth sciences in Australia. The founding Chairperson was Edwin Sherbon Hills. William Rowan Browne was a founder of th ...

's S. W. Carey Medal, for work in the field of tectonics (sensu lato), has been awarded at the biennial Australian Geological Convention since 1992.S. W. Carey Medal
Geological Society of Australia. Retrieved 2 March 2021.

Publications

;Books:The Expanding Earth, 448 pp., Elsevier, Amsterdam 1976 :Theories of the Earth and Universe, 413 pp., Stanford University Press. 1988 :Earth Universe Cosmos - University of Tasmania. 1996 ;Essays:1958: The tectonic approach to continental drift. In: S. W. Carey (ed.): Continental Drift – A Symposium. University of Tasmania, Hobart, 177-363 (expanding Earth from p. 311 to p. 349) :1961. Palaeomagnetic evidence relevant to a change in the Earth's radius.

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...

190, pp 36. :1963: The asymmetry of the Earth. Australian Journal of Science 25, pp 369-383 and 479-488. :1970: Australia, New Guinea, and Melanesia in the current revolution in concepts of the evolution of the Earth. Search 1 (5), pp 178-189 :1975: The Expanding Earth – an Essay Review. Earth Science Reviews, 11, 105-143. :1986: La Terra in espansione. Laterza, Bari.

References

* *

External links

ABC interview transcript

* ttp://geology.about.com/od/biographies_ac/a/warrencarey.htm Warren Carey, Last of the Giants {{DEFAULTSORT:Carey, Samuel Warren 1911 births 2002 deaths Military personnel from New South Wales Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science 20th-century Australian geologists Officers of the Order of Australia Z Special Unit personnel Australian Army officers Tectonicists