Rudolf Staub (19 January 1890 – 25 June 1961) was a Swiss field

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, ...

who examined mountain formation and tectonics in the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

. He produced high resolution maps including the first to indicate tectonic regions in the Swiss Alps and came up with ideas on mountain formation based on the idea that there were alternating tectonic forces, ''Polflucht'' and ''Poldrift'' as suggested by

Alfred Wegener Alfred Lothar Wegener (; ; 1 November 1880 – November 1930) was a German climatologist, geologist, geophysicist, meteorologist, and polar researcher. During his lifetime he was primarily known for his achievements in meteorology and ...

TombstoneRudolfStaub-FexCrastaGR RomanDeckert20072024

Staub was born in

Glarus Glarus (; ; ; ; ) is the capital of the canton of Glarus in Switzerland. Since 1 January 2011, the municipality of Glarus incorporates the former municipalities of Ennenda, Netstal and Riedern.Trogen, he went to study mechanical engineering at

ETH Zurich ETH Zurich (; ) is a public university in Zurich, Switzerland. Founded in 1854 with the stated mission to educate engineers and scientists, the university focuses primarily on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. ETH Zurich ran ...

but he shifted to study geology at the

University of Zurich The University of Zurich (UZH, ) is a public university, public research university in Zurich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of the ...

. He studied under

Albert Heim Albert Heim (12 April 184931 August 1937) was a Swiss geologist, noted for his three-volume ''Geologie der Schweiz''. Born in Zürich, he was educated at Zürich and Berlin universities. Very early in life he became interested in the physical fe ...

and Jakob Oberholzer and worked on his doctoral thesis under Johann Ulrich Grubenmann, examining the Bernina region using the idea nappes. He served in the army during World War I and mapped the

Val Bregaglia The Val Bregaglia (; , ; ) is an alpine valley of Switzerland and Italy at the base of which runs the river Mera ( Romansh and ). Most of the valley falls within the Swiss district of Maloja in the canton of the Grisons, the lower part within ...

. He then taught at the ETH Zurich from 1926 and became a full professor two years later, succeeding

Hans Schardt Hans Schardt (18 June 1858 – 3 February 1931) was a Swiss geologist and a professor at the University of Neuchâtel and at the ETH and the University of Zurich. He contributed to studies on the folding and movement of layers of the earth based ...

. 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 ...

he headed the geological services unit of the Swiss Army, helping in the construction of dams for power production. In 1924 he on how the Alps were formed based on the work of Emile Argand. Some of his conclusions were not accepted even by Argand. Staub suggested the position of an orogenic arc, known as the "Castillian Bend", which was questioned by many others and it was largely forgotten until it was rediscovered in 2004 and identified as part of the orocline now called the Central Iberian arc. Staub owned a car, possessed private means to support himself, travelled widely, and was an able mountaineer unlike many of his contemporaries. Outside of the Alps, he also explored Italy, Spain and Morocco. Staub received an Eduard Suess Medal. He found his final resting place in the cemetery of the 15th century mountain church of Fex-Crasta in the Fex Valley, which is a part of the municipality of

Sils im Engadin/Segl Sils im Engadin/Segl (; Romansh language, Romansh ), often also as ''Sils i.E./Segl'', is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality and village in the Maloja Region, Upper Engadine in the Switzerland, Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of ...

, a village in the

Swiss canton The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the Federated state, member states of the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss Confederacy in the form of the first three confederate allies used to be referred to as the . Two important ...

of Graubünden.

References

External links

* Der Bau der Alpen (1924) {{DEFAULTSORT:Staub, Rudolf 1890 births 1961 deaths 20th-century Swiss geologists Academic staff of ETH Zurich ETH Zurich alumni