Amund Helland (11 October 1846 – 15 November 1918) was a Norwegian

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

, politician and non-fiction writer. He is particularly known for his works on

glacial erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as Surface runoff, water flow or wind) that removes soil, Rock (geology), rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust#Crust, Earth's crust and then sediment transport, tran ...

and the role of

glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

s in the formation of

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...

fjord In physical geography, a fjord (also spelled fiord in New Zealand English; ) is a long, narrow sea inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Antarctica, the Arctic, and surrounding landmasses of the n ...

s and

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

s. He is also known for starting the series '' Norges Land og Folk'', published in 20 volumes from 1885 to 1921.

Personal life

Helland was born in

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

as the son of merchant Hans Helland (1817–1859) and Karen Marie Folkedal. He had six siblings. When his father died in 1859, his mother earned the family's living by running a

pension A pension (; ) is a fund into which amounts are paid regularly during an individual's working career, and from which periodic payments are made to support the person's retirement from work. A pension may be either a " defined benefit plan", wh ...

. He died in

Kristiania Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022, an ...

in 1918.

Career

Helland was a student from 1864, and graduated as cand.min. in 1868. In his early career he made excursions to

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

and other European countries. In his first work, the monography ''Ertsforekomster i Søndhordland og Forekomster af Kise i visse Skifere i Norge'' from 1871, he claimed unconventional views which were not appreciated by elder colleagues. His pioneering works on

and the role of

s in the formation of

s and

s, from the mid-1870s, have later become classics. His views on glacial erosion opposed the mainstream theories of the time, but have later been adopted in the

geological sciences Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth s ...

. He also suggested that the deposits on the

North European Plain The North European Plain ( – North German Plain; ; – Central European Plain; and ; French: ''Plaine d'Europe du Nord'') is a geomorphological region in Europe that covers all or parts of Belgium, the Netherlands (i.e. the Low Countries), ...

and the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

shelf originated from erosion of

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

n fjords. In 1878 he published a popular book on the structure of Earth, '. From 1879 he lectured in mining operations, and he was appointed extraordinary professor in 1885. He published a book on the Kongsberg Silver Mines, ', in 1885, three volumes of a handbook of mining, ', in 1887. and ' from 1892. His works on soils include ' from 1893, ' from 1894, and ' from 1895. Other geological works include ' from 1886 and ' from 1897. He initiated the monumental work ', a book series published from 1885 until after his death. He was a member of Nordlendingenes Forening and in 1912 he was awarded the Petter Dass Metal (''Petter Dass-medaljen''). The mountain of Hellandfjellet at Prins Karls Forland,

Svalbard Svalbard ( , ), previously known as Spitsbergen or Spitzbergen, is a Norway, Norwegian archipelago that lies at the convergence of the Arctic Ocean with the Atlantic Ocean. North of continental Europe, mainland Europe, it lies about midway be ...

, is named after him, as is the Helland Glacier of

South Georgia South Georgia is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic Ocean that is part of the British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. It lies around east of the Falkland Islands. ...

Selected works

* (1885-1921; 20 volumes)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Helland, Amund 1846 births 1918 deaths Scientists from Bergen Quaternary geologists Norwegian glaciologists 19th-century Norwegian geologists 20th-century Norwegian geologists