Edward C. Thiel (May 4, 1928 – November 9, 1961), was a geologist from the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

and chief seismologist at

Ellsworth Station Ellsworth Scientific Station (, or simply ''Estación Ellsworth'' or ''Base Ellsworth'') was a permanent, all year-round originally American, then Argentine Antarctic scientific research station named after American polar explorer Lincoln Ellswo ...

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

, from 1956 to 1958. He was leader of the traverse party that discovered the

Thiel Trough The Thiel Trough () is a submarine trough trending NE-SW with depths reaching to 1,500 metres below sea level. The trough extends southwest from about 7630S, 3500W, in the Weddell Sea; underlies Filchner Ice Shelf and the south part of Ronne Ice Sh ...

submarine valley that was later named in his honor. The

Thiel Mountains The Thiel Mountains () are isolated, mainly snow-capped mountains of the Transantarctic Mountains System, located in the Ellsworth Land region of Antarctica. The mountain range is long, is located roughly between the Horlick Mountains and the Pe ...

were also named after him. Thiel was killed on November 9, 1961 while returning from a geomagnetic survey mission to

Mirny Station The Mirny Station (, ) is a Russian Antarctic science station. It is located in Queen Mary Land, Antarctica, on the Antarctic coast of the Davis Sea. The station is managed by the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute and was named after ...

. The P2V-7 (Bu No.140439) Neptune aircraft from US Navy Squadron

VX-6 Air Development Squadron Six (VX-6 or AIRDEVRON SIX, commonly referred to by its nickname, "puckered penguins") was a United States Navy Air Development Squadron based at McMurdo Station, Antarctica. Established at Naval Air Station Patuxent Rive ...

in which he was a passenger crashed at

Wilkes Station Wilkes Station was an Antarctic research station established 29 January 1957 by the United States as one of seven U.S. stations established for the International Geophysical Year (IGY) program in Antarctica. It was taken over by Australia on ...

in Antarctica, where it had refueled overnight, and was en route back to

McMurdo Station McMurdo Station is an American Antarctic research station on the southern tip of Ross Island. It is operated by the United States through the United States Antarctic Program (USAP), a branch of the National Science Foundation. The station is ...

. In 1973 the Thiel Earth Science Laboratory (TESL) at McMurdo Station was dedicated, which was named after him. The Thiel Laboratory later became office for Field Training Safety in the 1990s, after its work moved to the then new Crary lab (Albert P. Crary Science and Engineering Center).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thiel, Edward C. 1928 births 1961 deaths 20th-century American geologists University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty American seismologists