Clarence Edward Dutton (May 15, 1841 – January 4, 1912) was an American geologist and US Army officer. Dutton was born in

Wallingford, Connecticut Wallingford is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, centrally located between New Haven, Connecticut, New Haven and Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford, and Boston and New York City. The town is part ...

on May 15, 1841. He graduated from

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

in 1860 and took postgraduate courses there until 1862, when he enlisted in the 21st Connecticut Volunteer Infantry; he fought at Fredericksburg,

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

and Petersburg. He was elected as a member to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

in 1871. In 1875, he began work as a geologist for

John Wesley Powell John Wesley Powell (March 24, 1834 – September 23, 1902) was an American geologist, U.S. Army soldier, explorer of the American West, professor at Illinois Wesleyan University, and director of major scientific and cultural institutions. He ...

and, after 1879, for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Working chiefly in the

Colorado Plateau The Colorado Plateau is a physiographic and desert region of the Intermontane Plateaus, roughly centered on the Four Corners region of the Southwestern United States. This plateau covers an area of 336,700 km2 (130,000 mi2) within w ...

region, he wrote several classic papers, including geological studies of the high plateaus of Utah (1879–80), the Cenozoic history of the

Grand Canyon The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a mile (). The canyon and adjacent rim are contained within Grand Canyon Nati ...

district (1882), and the

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

, earthquake of 1886. As head of the division of volcanic geology at the USGS, he studied volcanism in Hawaii, California, and Oregon. He helped coordinate the scientific response to a large earthquake in the Mexican state of

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into Municipalities of Sonora, 72 ...

in 1887. In 1878, he was one of the ten founders of the

Cosmos Club The Cosmos Club is a 501(c)(7) private social club in Washington, D.C., that was founded by John Wesley Powell in 1878 as a gentlemen's club for those interested in science. Among its stated goals is, "The advancement of its members in science, ...

. He was elected a member of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

in 1884. In 1886, Dutton led a USGS party to

Crater Lake Crater Lake ( Klamath: ) is a volcanic crater lake in south-central Oregon in the Western United States. It is the main feature of Crater Lake National Park and is a tourist attraction for its deep blue color and water clarity. T ...

, Oregon. His team carried a half-ton survey boat, the ''Cleetwood'', up the steep mountain slope and lowered it into the lake. From the ''Cleetwood'', Dutton used piano wire with lead weights to measure the depth of the lake at 168 different points. The survey team determined the lake was deep. The currently-accepted maximum depth figure, measured by sonar, is 1,943 feet (592 m). In a footnote to an 1882 review in the ''American Journal of Science'', Dutton coined the term "

isostasy Isostasy (Greek wikt:ἴσος, ''ísos'' 'equal', wikt:στάσις, ''stásis'' 'standstill') or isostatic equilibrium is the state of gravity, gravitational mechanical equilibrium, equilibrium between Earth's crust (geology), crust (or lithosph ...

". He later stated: "In an unpublished paper I have used the terms isostatic and isostacy (sic) to express that condition of the terrestrial surface which would follow from the flotation of the crust upon a liquid or highly plastic substratum – different portions of the crust being of unequal density." Thus, he realised that there is a general balance within the Earth's crust, with lighter weight blocks coming to stand higher than adjacent blocks with higher density, an idea first expressed by Pratt and Airy in the 1850s. Dutton elaborated these ideas in his address to the

Philosophical Society of Washington Founded in 1871, the Philosophical Society of Washington is the oldest scientific society in Washington, D.C. It continues today as PSW Science. Since 1887, the Society has met regularly in the assembly hall of the Cosmos Club. In the Club's pre ...

in 1889. When this was printed in 1892, the term isostasy was formally proposed, Dutton having, on the advice of Greek scholars, changed the ‘c’ to an ‘s’. Dutton was a close associate of

, G.K. Gilbert, and

William Henry Holmes William Henry Holmes (December 1, 1846 – April 20, 1933), known as W. H. Holmes, was an American explorer, anthropologist, archaeologist, artist, scientific illustrator, cartographer, mountain climber, geologist and museum curator and dire ...

at the USGS. He was an energetic and effective field geologist: in 1875–1877 Dutton's field party mapped of the high plateaus of southern Utah, an area of rugged topography and poor access. Dutton had a distinctive flair for literary description, and is best remembered today for his colorful (and sometimes flamboyant) descriptions of the geology and scenery of the

region of

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

. "Dutton first taught the world to look at that country and see it as it was... Dutton is almost as much the ''

genius loci In classical Roman religion, a ''genius loci'' (: ''genii locorum'') was the protective spirit of a place. It was often depicted in religious iconography as a figure holding attributes such as a cornucopia, patera (libation bowl), or snake. Man ...

'' of the Grand Canyon as Muir is of

Yosemite Yosemite National Park ( ) is a national park of the United States in California. It is bordered on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service ...

" –

Wallace Stegner Wallace Earle Stegner (February 18, 1909 – April 13, 1993) was an American novelist, writer, environmentalist, and historian. He was often called "The Dean of Western Writers". He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1972 and the U.S. National Book Award ...

, ''Beyond the Hundredth Meridian''. In 1891 he retired from the USGS to serve as commander of the arsenal of

San Antonio, Texas San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...

; then as ordnance officer of the department of Texas. After retiring from the Army in 1901, he returned to the study of geology. Dutton spent his last years at the home of his son in

Englewood, New Jersey Englewood is a city in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Englewood was incorporated as a city by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1899, from portions of Ridgefield Township and the remaining portions of Engle ...

Notable publications

* 1880,
Report on the Geology of the High Plateaus of Utah
'. U.S. Geog. and Geol. Survey of the Rocky Mountain Region, vol. 32, 307 pp. and atlas. * 1882, ''Tertiary History of the Grand Canyon District''. U.S. Geol. Survey Monograph 2, 264 pp. and atlas. * 1884, ''Hawaiian Volcanoes''. U. S. Geol. Survey, 4th Ann. Rpt., pp. 75–219. * 1889,
The Charleston Earthquake of August 31, 1886
'. U.S. Geol. Survey, Ann. Rpt. 9, pp. 203–528. * 1889, ''On Some of the Greater Problems of Physical Geology.'' Bull. Phil. Soc. Wash., 11:51–64. Proposed the new term

. * 1904,
Earthquakes, in the light of the new seismology
'

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dutton, Clarence 1841 births 1912 deaths People from Wallingford, Connecticut Crater Lake (Oregon) American geologists Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences American male writers Grand Canyon history Yale College alumni United States Geological Survey personnel United States Army officers National Geographic Society founders Members of the American Philosophical Society

Notable publications

References

Further reading

External links