Kingsley Charles Dunham

Sir Kingsley Charles Dunham ( born January 2, 1910 in Sturminster Newton, Dorset, † April 5, 2001 in Durham ) was a leading British geologists and mineralogists of the 20th century. He was from 1950 to 1971 professor of geology at the University of Durham, and from 1967 to 1975 Director of the British Geological Survey.

Life and work

Dunham moved as a child with his family to Durham, where he attended the School Brancepeth and Durham Johnston Comprehensive School. He then enrolled at the University of Durham a, initially wanted to study chemistry, but then turned to geology. He was a gifted musician and as a student organist at Hatfield College. In 1930, he graduated in geology in the tray. After this degree, he conducted research on the gangue minerals of the Pennine Orefields in northern England as a pupil of Arthur Holmes and won the degree of PhD in 1932.

After a brief interlude at Harvard University, where he performed for the New Mexico Bureau of Mines field work in the Organ Mountains in New Mexico, he returned in 1934 as a geologist for the British Geological Survey in the United Kingdom back to first in the Old Red Sandstone at Chepstow and finally get back to work on the iron ores of Cumbria. During the Second World War, he took part in the study on the iron ore reserves in the north of England. The results of his work in this region appeared in 1948 under the title The Geology of the North Pennine Orefield. With the mining Dunham was long connected, and later worked again as a consultant for various mining companies.

1950 Durham went as a geology professor at the University of Durham back in a time when the Geological Institute of the University, like many others in the UK went through a rapid growth phase. Dunham was known not only among his students for his passion for geological field work, but also for the busy, but joyous geological excursions. During his tenure, he oversaw the drilling of Rookhope, which according to his own prediction and that of his colleague Martin Bott the presence of a granite intrusion - proved under the Pennines - the Weardale - granite.

1967 his career reached a climax when he took over the post of Director of the British Geological Survey. Just as in his time as director of the geological faculty in Durham, he led the Survey successfully through a period of rapid growth in areas such as geophysics, oceanography and geochemistry. He traveled a lot and visited his subordinates even in the most remote outpost.

After his retirement in 1975 Dunham returned as Emeritus again to Durham back and published further work on the mineral resources of northern England. In old age the vision left him to the point of blindness. Nevertheless, he continued to attend the weekly meetings of the Arthur Holmes Society in Durham, assisted by his friend and colleague Dr. Tony Johnson.

Honors

Kingley Dunham has received many awards and honorary degrees from more than ten universities within and outside the United Kingdom. He was a Fellow of St John's College, Durham, Fellow of the Royal Society (1955) and from 1971 as Secretary for Foreign Affairs and Deputy Chairman of the Council of the Royal Society for five years a member. In 1970 he received the Royal Medal. Dunham was president of the Yorkshire Geological Society (1958 - 1959) and was awarded in 1963 the Sorby Medal of the association. He was knighted in 1972 and received the Murchison Medal in 1966 and 1976, the Wollaston Medal of the Geological Society of London, which he was president from 1966 to 1968. In 1976 he was awarded the Medal of the Haidinger Geological Survey and 1981 with the Leopold- of - book - plaque of the Geological Society.

The headquarters of the British Geological Survey in Keyworth, Nottinghamshire, called in his honor Kingsley Dunham Centre. Dunham played a crucial role in the unification of previously scattered sections of the Survey, one of his last official acts as director. The center was opened in 1976, shortly after Dunham's retirement, with Malcolm Brown as the new director of the Survey.

Works

Dunham has published more than 200 articles and several books. His most famous publications were:

• The Geology of the Northern Pennine Orefield, Volume I. 1948, 2nd edition 1990.
• The Geology of the Northern Pennine Orefield, Volume II, 1985 ( with AA Wilson).
• Rafter Sulphur and oxygen isotope studies in the northern Pennines in relation to ore genesis. In: Transactions of the Institute of Mineralogy and Metallurgy of London. B 80, 1971, p B259 - B276; Discussion B 81, B172 -177; B 82, B46 ( with M. Solomon and T.A. ).
• Ore genetics in the northern Pennines 1948-1990. In: Transactions of the Natural and Historical Society of Northumberland. 56, 1993, pp. 4-12.
• Rich silver -bearing ores in the Northern Pennines? . In: Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society. 53, 2001, pp. 207-212 ( with B. Young, GAL Johnson, TB Colman and R. Fossitt ).