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David Leslie Linton (12 July 1906 – 11 April 1971) was a British geographer and geomorphologist, was professor of geography at
Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...
and
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
, best remembered for his work on the landscape development of south-east England with S. W. Wooldridge, and on the development of tors.


Early life and education

David Linton was born in 1906 in
New Cross New Cross is an area in south-east London, England, south-east of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Lewisham and the London_postal_district#List_of_London_postal_districts, SE14 postcode district. New Cross is near St Johns, London, St Jo ...
, London, the second of three children of parents from northern Ireland. He was educated at the nearby Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham School and
King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...
. He received a first class general honours degree in chemistry, physics, and geology in 1926 and a first class special honours degree in geography in 1927.


Academic career

On graduation Linton initially worked at King's as demonstrator in geology, taking over from S.W.Wooldridge (later the first professor of geography at King's), who had recently completed his doctorate. In 1929 Linton moved to
Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the town council under the authority of a royal charter from King James VI in 1582 and offi ...
. He nevertheless continued to collaborate with Wooldridge on a number of publications on the geology and geomorphology of south-east England during the 1930s, culminating in ''Structure, Surface and Drainage in South-east England'' (1939, republished 1955). During
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
Linton carried out
photo reconnaissance Aerial reconnaissance is reconnaissance for a military or strategic purpose that is conducted using reconnaissance aircraft. The role of reconnaissance can fulfil a variety of requirements including artillery spotting, the collection of image ...
with the
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve The Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) was established in 1936 to support the preparedness of the U.K. Royal Air Force (RAF) in the event of another war. The Air Ministry intended it to form a supplement to the Royal Auxiliary Air Force ( ...
, later publishing ''The Interpretation of Air Photographs'' (1947). Following the war he was appointed professor of geography at
Sheffield University The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Firth College in 1879 ...
in 1945. In 1958 he became professor at
Birmingham University The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...
, where he remained until his death in 1971. Much of his published post-war work was on the geomorphology of Scotland, including a series of papers on
river capture Stream capture, river capture, river piracy or stream piracy is a geomorphological phenomenon occurring when a stream or river drainage system or watershed is diverted from its own bed, and flows down to the bed of a neighbouring stream. This ...
. He identified the importance of glacial breaching of main watersheds (divides), and recognised that this process had been more intense in the west, with glacial dissection of the mountains declining eastwards (although his synthesis of this was published posthumously by Keith Clayton, see Publications). Concerned with denudation chronology (the reconstruction of long-term landform history), he became involved with study of the origin of tors in Scotland, on
Dartmoor Dartmoor is an upland area in southern Devon, South West England. The moorland and surrounding land has been protected by National Park status since 1951. Dartmoor National Park covers . The granite that forms the uplands dates from the Carb ...
, the
Pennines The Pennines (), also known as the Pennine Chain or Pennine Hills, are a range of highland, uplands mainly located in Northern England. Commonly described as the "Vertebral column, backbone of England" because of its length and position, the ra ...
and
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
. His view was that the British tors were a product of deep chemical weathering under a tropical climate in the
Tertiary Tertiary (from Latin, meaning 'third' or 'of the third degree/order..') may refer to: * Tertiary period, an obsolete geologic period spanning from 66 to 2.6 million years ago * Tertiary (chemistry), a term describing bonding patterns in organic ch ...
, exposed by erosion in the
Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...
. This contrasted sharply with the views of others that tors are essentially arctic features produced by
periglacial Periglaciation (adjective: "periglacial", referring to places at the edges of glacial areas) describes geomorphic processes that result from seasonal thawing and freezing, very often in areas of permafrost. The meltwater may refreeze in ice wedg ...
processes. This was part of his wider view of the importance of pre-glacial events and forms. However his attribution of the prevailing eastward flow of the major rivers of Scotland to emergence and tilted uplift of a fresh chalk seabed in the early Tertiary was dismissed in the PhD studies of French geomorphologist Alain Godard (later Professor at Paris). At a meeting in Sheffield (with Wooldridge and others) in 1958, he was a founder member of what became the
British Geomorphological Research Group The ''British Society for Geomorphology'' (BSG), incorporating the British Geomorphological Research Group (BGRG), is the professional organisation for British geomorphologists and provides a community and services for those involved in teachi ...
, which he chaired in 1961. Linton was honorary editor of ''Geography'' (1947–1965) and president of section E of the
British Association for the Advancement of Science The British Science Association (BSA) is a Charitable organization, charity and learned society founded in 1831 to aid in the promotion and development of science. Until 2009 it was known as the British Association for the Advancement of Scienc ...
(1957), the
Institute of British Geographers The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...
(1962) and the
Geographical Association The Geographical Association (GA) is an association in the United Kingdom. The organisation has a stated aim of improving geographical knowledge of the public through promoting geographical education. Origins The Geographical Association was fo ...
(1964).


Personal life

Linton married Vera Tebbs in 1929. They had three sons and a daughter. He was a devoted family man, an able artist and musician. Though shy he was highly regarded as a lecturer and writer. He could be arrogant and disinclined to accept opposition, but was also capable of kindness. He died of cancer at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital,
Edgbaston Edgbaston () is a suburb of Birmingham, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It lies immediately south-west of Birmingham city centre, and was historically in Warwickshire. The Ward (electoral subdivision), wards of Edgbaston and Nort ...
,
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
in 1971.


Legacy

Like Wooldridge, Linton was a fieldworker whose approach has been superseded by the study of processes and quantitative analysis. Their major work on the development of south-east England has been shown to be based on too simplistic a view of tectonic history. It nonetheless remains as an enduring monument to one of the most distinctive phases of British geomorphology. The David Linton Award of the British Society for Geomorphology (which incorporates the British Geomorphological Research Group) is given to a geomorphologist who has made a leading contribution to the discipline over a sustained period. Among many notable recipients have been Ralph A. Bagnold, Stanley A. Schumm,
Richard Chorley Richard John Chorley (4 September 1927 – 12 May 2002) was an English geographer, and Professor of Geography at Cambridge University, known as leading figure in quantitative geography in the late 20th century, who played an instrumental role in ...
,
Luna Leopold Luna Bergere Leopold (October 8, 1915 – February 23, 2006) was a leading U.S. geomorphologist and hydrologist, and son of Aldo Leopold. He received a B.S. in civil engineering from the University of Wisconsin in 1936; an M.S. in physics-meteor ...
, Eric H. Brown, Michael J. Kirkby, G.H. Dury, Cuchlaine A.M. King, Denys Brunsden, M. Gordon Wolman, J.B. Thornes, Ken Gregory, David Sugden and Desmond Walling. Linton's notebooks are held by King's College archives.


Selected publications

* Wooldridge, S.W. & Linton, D.L. (1933), The Loam-Terrains of Southeast England and their relation to its Early History. ''Antiquity'' Vol. 7 No. 27, 297–310. * Wooldridge, S.W. & Linton, D.L. (1935), Some aspects of the Saxon settlement in southeast England considered in relation to the geographical background, ''Geography'' 20, 161–175. * Wooldridge, S.W. & Linton, D.L. (1938a), Influence of the Pliocene transgression on the geomorphology of south-east England. ''Journal of Geomorphology'' 1, 40–54. * Wooldridge, S.W. & Linton, D.L. (1938b), Some episodes in the structural evolution of south-east England. ''Proceedings of the Geologists' Association'' 49, 264–291. * Wooldridge, S.W. & Linton, D.L. (1939), ''Structure, Surface and Drainage in South-east England''. Institute of British Geographers, Publication, 10. (Reissued 1955 London: George Philip.) * Linton, D.L. & Snodgrass C.P. (1946), ''Peeblesshire and Selkirkshire'' * Linton, D.L. (1947), ''The Interpretation of Air Photographs'', London. * Linton, D.L. (1948), The ideal geological map. ''Advancement of science'' 5:141–148. * Linton, D.L. (1948), ''Discovery, Education and Research'' * Linton, D.L. (1949a), Unglaciated areas in Scandinavia and Great Britain. ''Irish Geography'' 2: 25–33. * Linton, D.L. (1949b), Some Scottish river captives re-examined: I The diversion of the Feshie. ''Scottish Geographical Magazine'' 65, 123–132. * Linton, D.L. (1950a), The scenery of the Cairngorm Mountains. ''Journal of the Manchester Geographical Society'' 55: 1–14. * Linton, D.L. (1950b), Some Scottish River captures re-examined: II The diversion of the Tarf. ''Scottish Geographical Magazine'' 66. * Linton, D.L. (1950c), Unglaciated enclaves in glaciated regions. ''Journal of Glaciology'' 1, 451–453. * Linton, D.L.
949 Year 949 ( CMXLIX) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Arab-Byzantine War: Hamdanid forces under Sayf al-Dawla raid into the theme of Lykandos, but are defeated. The Byzant ...
1951a), Watershed breaching by ice in Scotland. ''
Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers The ''Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the Royal Geographical Society. According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', the journal has a 2019 impa ...
'' 15, 1–15. lthough cited by leading works as 1951, GoogleScholar and JStor confirm 1949* Linton, D.L. (1951b), Problems of Scottish scenery. ''Geography'' 41, 233–247. * Linton, D.L. (1951c), Midland Drainage, ''Adv. sci.'' 7, 449. * Linton, D.L. (1952), ''The significance of tors in glaciated lands'', 17th International Congress. International Geographical Union, Washington, pp. 354–357. * Linton, D. L. (1954), Some Scottish river captures re-examined: III. The beheading of the Don. ''Scottish Geographical Magazine'' 70: 64–78. * Linton, D.L. (1955), The problem of tors, ''Geographical Journal'' 121(4), 470–487 * Linton, D.L. (ed.) (1956), ''Sheffield and its Region: a Scientific and Historical Survey'', British Association for the Advancement of Science, London. * Linton, D.L. ''Geomorphology''. In: Linton, D.L, (ed.) ibid, 24–43. * Linton, D.L. (1959a), River Flow in Great Britain, 1955–56, ''Nature'' 183, 714. * Linton, D.L. (1959b), Morphological contrasts between eastern and western Scotland. In: R. Miller and J.W. Watson (Editors), ''Geographical essays in memory of Alan G. Ogilvie''. Nelson, Edinburgh, pp. 16–45. * Linton, D.L. & Moisley, H.A. (1960) The origin of Loch Lomond. ''Scottish Geographical Magazine'' 76, 26–37. * Linton, D.L. (1962). Glacial erosion on soft-rock outcrops in central Scotland. ''Builetyn Peryglacjalny'' 11, 247–257. * Linton, D.L. (1963), The forms of glacial erosion. ''Trans. IBG'' 33, 1–28. * Linton, D.L. (1964), The origin of the Pennine tors – an essay in analysis. ''Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie'' 8: 5–24. * Linton, D.L. (1967), Divide elimination by glacial erosion. In: Arctic and Alpine environments (Wright and Osburn Eds), 241–248. * Linton, D.L. & Moseley, F. (1968), ''The Geological Ages'',
Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...
* Linton, D.L. (1968) The Assessment of Scenery As A Natural Resource. ''Scottish Geographical Magazine'' 84. * Linton, D.L. (1969). Evidences of Pleistocene cryonival phenomena in South Africa. ''Palaeoecol. Afr. Surround. Isl.'' 5, 71–89. * Clayton K.M. (1974). Zones of glacial erosion. Institute of British Geographers Special Publication, 7: 163–176 (includes unpublished material by D.L. Linton)


Awards

In 1943, Linton received the
Murchison Award The Murchison Award, also referred to as the Murchison Grant, was first given by the Royal Geographical Society in 1882 for publications judged to have contributed most to geographical science in preceding recent years. Recipients Source (1882– ...
from the
Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...
. He was elected as a member of the Leopoldina in 1961.Member profile
In 1971 he was appointed an honorary fellow of King's College London.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Linton, David Leslie 1906 births 1971 deaths Alumni of King's College London Fellows of King's College London Academics of the University of Edinburgh Academics of the University of Sheffield Academics of the University of Birmingham English geographers British geomorphologists 20th-century British geographers Deaths from cancer in England Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II