Edward A. Irving

Edward A. "Ted" Irving, CM, FRSC, FRS (* 1927 in Lancashire, England ) is a British geologist and professor emeritus of the Geological Survey of Canada. His studies of paleomagnetism resulted in the first physical evidence for the theory of continental drift, and his research provided progress in understanding the development of mountains, the climate and life over millions of years of earth history.

Training

Irving spent his childhood in the Pennine Hills of North East Lancashire. In 1945 he was drafted into the British Army and served as an infantryman in the Middle East.

In 1948 he began studying geology at Cambridge University, and received his BA in 1951. The next year he spent as a research assistant in geology and geophysics at Cambridge, before he joined the graduate program.

He studied the history of the geomagnetic field and brought order to the previously existing attempts to investigate the past, beyond a few centuries. Irving using a magnetometer, which was recently developed by Patrick Blackett to analyze the magnetic directions of the rock were impressed by their iron minerals. He found large differences between the magnetic directions of the Precambrian rocks of the Scottish Highlands and the present magnetic field. He assumed that the only explanation must be a movement of Scotland relative to the poles. During his graduate program Irving certain how far both Scotland and India must have moved since the Precambrian to agree with his measurements. These results confirmed the predictions by Alfred Wegener in his theory of continental drift in 1912. Similar results were found in 1956 Keith Runcorn, who also emerged from Blackett's group.

1954 Irving asked to get on the basis of his work previously performed the degree of PhD. The evaluation committee recognized the results of the new research method does not, and denied him the degree. However, this did not prevent him to get a job as a researcher at the Australian National University in Canberra.

Scientific career

During the next ten years, he examined the documented by paleomagnetic measurements earlier latitudes of Australia and published about 30 articles. He was able to show that Australia has moved since the Permian to the south. In 1965 he submitted some of his writings on both University of Cambridge and received his doctorate degree (Doctor of Science, ScD ), then the highest attainable through their own efforts academic degrees.

Irving met his future wife Sheila in Australia know. She was Canadian, and in 1964 the family moved to Ottawa, Canada. Irving began working as a researcher at the Dominion Observatory under the Department of Mines and Technical Surveys. In 1966 he returned to England to teach geophysics at the University of Leeds. In 1967 he moved back to Ottawa as a researcher in the Department of Geophysics ( Earth Physics ) of the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources to work. In 1981 he moved to Sidney (British Columbia) to set up a Paläomagnetismuslabor for the geophysical branch of the Pacific Geoscience Centre, which later became part of the Geological Survey of Canada. He charted the movements of Vancouver Iceland and other parts of the North American Cordillera, which have moved in relation to the Precambrian Canadian Shield sideways and rotating.

Irving and his wife have four children.

Awards and Honors

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