Jean de Charpentier or Johann von Charpentier (8 December 1786 – 12 December 1855) was a German-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 ...
who studied Swiss
glacier
A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as ...
s. He was born in
Freiberg
Freiberg is a university and former mining town in Saxony, Germany. It is a so-called ''Große Kreisstadt'' (large county town) and the administrative centre of Mittelsachsen district.
Its historic town centre has been placed under heritage c ...
,
Saxony
Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
and died in
Bex,
Switzerland.
Life
After following in his father's footsteps as a mining engineer he excelled in his field while working in the copper mines in the Pyrénées and salt mines in western Switzerland.
In 1818 a catastrophic event changed his life focus when an ice-dammed lake in the
Val de Bagnes
Val de Bagnes, also called the Vallée de Bagnes (German: Bangital or Baniental) is a valley located in the Entremont District in the Canton of Valais of Switzerland.
Geography
Val de Bagnes is traversed by the Drance de Bagnes. In the upper p ...
above
Martigny
Martigny (; german: Martinach, ; la, Octodurum) is the capital city of the district of Martigny, canton of Valais, Switzerland. It lies at an elevation of , and its population is approximately 15000 inhabitants (''Martignerains'' or "Octoduriens ...
broke through its barrier, causing many deaths. Afterwards, he made extensive field studies in the Alps. Using evidence of erratic boulders and moraines and drawing on the works of
Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as tr ...
,
he hypothesized that Swiss glaciers had once been much more extensive. These boulders, characteristic of glaciers, were strewn as if they were
brought there by glaciers that no longer existed. Even so, he wasn't sure how glaciers first formed, moved, or how they disappeared. His ideas were later taken up and developed by
Louis Agassiz.
upright 1.5, center, Carte Géologique des Pyrénées
Legacy
The glacier of
Charpentierbreen Charpentierbreen is a glacier in Nathorst Land at Spitsbergen, Svalbard. It is named after Swiss geologist Jean de Charpentier
Jean de Charpentier or Johann von Charpentier (8 December 1786 – 12 December 1855) was a German-Swiss geologist w ...
in
Nathorst Land
Nathorst Land is the land area between Van Keulenfjorden and Van Mijenfjorden on Spitsbergen, Svalbard.
The area is named after Alfred Gabriel Nathorst
Alfred Gabriel Nathorst (7 November 1850 – 20 January 1921) was a Swedish Arctic ...
at
Spitsbergen,
Svalbard is named after him.
See also
*
Ice age
An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...
Bibliography
* Tobias Krüger, "Auf dem Weg zu einem neuen Verständnis der Klimageschichte: der Alpenraum und die Anfänge der Eiszeitforschung" ''Blätter aus der Walliser Geschichte (Geschichtsforschender Verein Oberwallis)'', XLI, Brig 2009, pp. 123–160.
* Tobias Krüger, "Discovering the ice ages : international reception and consequences for a historical understanding of climate", in ''History of science and medicine library''; vol. 37, Leiden 2013, (cloth) ; (electronic bk.) (pp. 148–154, 162–163, 167–168, 177–178, 186–188).
* Tobias Krüger, "À l'aube de l'âge de glace. Jean de Charpentier pionnier tragique d'une révolution scientifique", in Patrick Kupper, C. Bernhard Schär (ed.) ''Les Naturalistes. A la découverte de la Suisse et du monde (1800-2015)'', Baden, Hier und Jetzt 2015, , pp. 17–33.
References
*
Karl Alfred von Zittel
Karl Alfred Ritter von Zittel (25 September 1839 – 5 January 1904) was a German palaeontologist best known for his ''Handbuch der Palaeontologie'' (1876–1880).
Biography
Karl Alfred von Zittel was born in Bahlingen in the Grand Duchy o ...
, (
Maria M. Ogilvie Gordon, tr.), ''History of Geology and Palæontology to the End of the Nineteenth Century'' (1901).
External links
* Pictures and texts o
''Essai sur les glaciers et sur le terrain erratique du bassin du Rhône'' by Jean de Charpentier can be found in the database VIATIMAGES
{{DEFAULTSORT:Charpentier, Jean De
1786 births
1855 deaths
19th-century German geologists
19th-century Swiss geologists
