Howel Williams (October 12, 1898 – January 12, 1980) was an American

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, ...

and

volcanologist A volcanologist, or volcano scientist, is a geologist who focuses on understanding the formation and eruptive activity of volcanoes. Volcanologists frequently visit volcanoes, sometimes active ones, to observe and monitor volcanic eruptions, col ...

Early life

He was born of Welsh parents in

Liverpool, England Liverpool is a port city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population of (in ), Liverpool is the administrative, c ...

, on October 12, 1898. He received a BA in

geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

in 1923 and an MA in

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

in 1924 from Liverpool University. He studied geology at the Imperial College of Science and Technology in London. Howel Williams moved to the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

at Berkeley in 1926. In 1928 he was awarded the degree of D.Sc. from the University of Liverpool and published his first papers on the geology of various California

volcanic A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often fo ...

regions. Williams was 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 ...

Career

He published many studies on the volcanoes of California, but is most noted for his "The Geology of

Crater Lake National Park Crater Lake National Park is a national park of the United States located in southern Oregon. Established in 1902, Crater Lake is the fifth-oldest national park in the United States and the only national park in Oregon. The park encompasses t ...

" in which he recognized the nature of the collapse of the crater and extended the work to develop the principles of volcanic

caldera A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcanic eruption. An eruption that ejects large volumes of magma over a short period of time can cause significant detriment to the str ...

formation. He did extensive early work on the geology of

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

(often sketch-mapping from the windows of second-class buses), and of the Galapagos Islands. In

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

, Williams put to good use his early background in archeology. For instance, he used petrographic techniques to trace the origin of stone used in the giant

Olmec The Olmecs () or Olmec were an early known major Mesoamerican civilization, flourishing in the modern-day Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco from roughly 1200 to 400 Before the Common Era, BCE during Mesoamerica's Mesoamerican chronolog ...

sculptures of

La Venta La Venta is a pre-Columbian archaeological site of the Olmec civilization located in the present-day Mexican state of Tabasco. Some of the artifacts have been moved to the museum "Parque - Museo de La Venta", which is in nearby Villaherm ...

Tabasco Tabasco, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tabasco, is one of the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Tabasco, 17 municipalities and its capital city is Villahermosa. It i ...

Mexico. Williams was a master of the art of field sketching, formerly practiced by many naturalists. Many of his papers were illustrated with his meticulously done pen and ink drawings. His drawings of the microscopic features of rocks of all types were used exclusively in the very successful textbook, ''Petrography'', by Williams, Turner, and Gilbert.

Selected works

*''GEOLOGY OF THE MARYSVILLE BUTTES CALIFORNIA'', California (1929) *''Geology of Tahiti, Moorea, and Maiao, (Bernice P. Bishop museum. Bulletin 105)'' (1933) 83pp *''Calderas and their origin'', University of California Press (1941), 346pp. *''Volcanoes of the Paricutín region, México'': U.S. Geological Survey Bulletín 965-B, p. 165-269. *''LANDSCAPES OF ALASKA: THEIR GEOLOGIC EVOLUTION'', University of California Press Berkeley (1958) *''Petrography: An introduction to the study of rocks in thin sections'', W.H. Freeman (1958), 406pp *''GEOLOGIC RECONNAISSANCE OF SOUTHEASTERN GUATEMALA'', University Of California Press (1964) *''Crater Lake: The story of its origin'', University of California Press (1963) *''The history and character of volcanic domes'', Johnson Reprint (1966) *''The Sutter Buttes of California: A Study of Plio-Pleistocene Volcanism'', University of California Press; New Ed edition (March 7, 1979), 80pp

Family

His twin brother David Williams also became a geologist.

References and sources

;References ;Sources
Alexander R. McBirney, ''Rock Stars: The Father of Modern Volcanology: Howel Williams (1898–1980)'', GSA TODAY, August 2000

''Howel Williams (1898-1980)'', In Memoriam written by A. Pabst, I. S. E. Carmichael, L. Constance, and G. H. Curtis, Earth & Planetary Science, University of California, Berkeley
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Howel 1898 births 1980 deaths 20th-century American geologists 20th-century British geologists Alumni of Imperial College London Alumni of the University of Liverpool American volcanologists British volcanologists English people of Welsh descent Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Scientists from Liverpool