József Tóth (Békés, June 22, 1933) is a hydrogeologist and Professor Emeritus of the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexander Cameron Ruth ...

in Canada and Honorary Professor at the

Eötvös Loránd University Eötvös Loránd University ( hu, Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem, ELTE) is a Hungarian public research university based in Budapest. Founded in 1635, ELTE is one of the largest and most prestigious public higher education institutions in Hung ...

in Budapest, Hungary.

Biography

József Tóth was born in Békés, Hungary in 1933. In 1952 he was admitted to the University of Sopron as a student of geophysics. He took part in the

Hungarian Revolution of 1956 The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 10 November 1956; hu, 1956-os forradalom), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was a countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the Hung ...

, after the fall of which he fled to Austria and then the Netherlands. He resumed his studies at

Utrecht University Utrecht University (UU; nl, Universiteit Utrecht, formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2018, it had an enrollm ...

, and in 1960 emigrated to the Canadian province of Alberta with his wife and two children. In 1965 he received his doctorate in Utrecht. "József Tóth: An autobiographical sketch"
Ground Water, 2002, v.40 no. 3, pp. 320-324

Career

Although he was employed as a geophysicist at the Research Council of Alberta, he soon had to work as a groundwater consultant in

Hydrogeology Hydrogeology (''hydro-'' meaning water, and ''-geology'' meaning the study of the Earth) is the area of geology that deals with the distribution and movement of groundwater in the soil and rock (geology), rocks of the Earth's crust (ge ...

. Working from M.K. Hubbert's 1940 paper "The theory of ground-water motion" Tóth solved the

Laplace Pierre-Simon, marquis de Laplace (; ; 23 March 1749 – 5 March 1827) was a French scholar and polymath whose work was important to the development of engineering, mathematics, statistics, physics, astronomy, and philosophy. He summariz ...

equation for a "unit basin" geometry. Superposing a sinusoidal constant head surface on the unit basin "resulted in the concept of composite flow patterns.", referred to as "hierarchically nested flow systems." His theory of regional groundwater flow is discussed in most hydrogeology textbooks, such as Fetter, Hornberger et al., Deming, and Freeze and Cherry's Groundwater, the cover of which prominently featured his regional flow diagram. He rose to be the Head of the Groundwater Department at the Research Council. He also taught hydrogeology courses at the University of Alberta and University of Calgary and was a full professor at the University of Alberta (Rostron, Benjamin J, p. 205-206 in Deming, 2002. Among his more than a hundred publications of international influence based on his theory, several of his studies cover special fields, such as: underground storage of highly radioactive waste; formation and improvement of saline soils; hydrocarbon and uranium ore exploration; soil and rock mechanics; and formation of wetlands.

Awards, recognitions

* Meinzer Award - Hydrogeology Division of the Geological Society of America (1965) * President's Award - International Association of Hydrogeologists (1999) * M. King Hubbert Science Award - National Groundwater Association (2003) * Theis Award - American Institute of Hydrology (2004) * Magyar Érdemrend középkereszt polgári tagozata állami kitüntetés (2013) * External Member Hungarian Academy of Sciences (2016) "Archived web page, in Hungarian"
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Significant works

Tóth József publication list, Tóth József és Erzsébet Hidrogeológia Professzúra honlapján a Virtuális könyvtárbanTóth József publication list

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Toth, Jozsef 1933 births Living people Hydrogeologists 20th-century Canadian scientists Canadian geologists 21st-century Canadian scientists