Harold Wellman

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Harold Wellman
Born
Harold William Wellman

(1909-03-25)25 March 1909
Devonport, England
Died28 April 1999(1999-04-28) (aged 90)
NationalityNew Zealand
Known forDiscovery of the Alpine Fault
SpouseJoan Evelyn Butler
Scientific career
FieldsGeology
Doctoral studentsRoger Cooper

Harold William Wellman (25 March 1909 – 28 April 1999) was an English-born New Zealand geologist known for his work on

Hector Memorial Medal
and Prize in 1957 and the McKay Hammer Award in 1959.

Life and career

Elevation map of the west coast of New Zealand's South Island showing the sharp line formed by the Alpine Fault. North is to the right.

Harold Wellman was born in

West Coast due to the lack of work available during the depression.[2]

In the mid-1930s Wellman began his geological study while working in mineral exploration for the

Canterbury University, later moving to Victoria University where he completed his Bachelor of Science (1939) and Master of Science (1941). That same year he married Joan Evelyn Butler in Dunedin
, with whom he had three children.

Between 1952 and 1958 he worked for the

Royal Society of New Zealand in 1954, an honorary Doctor of Sciences from the University of New Zealand
in 1956 and he was awarded the Royal Society's Hector Memorial Medal and Prize in 1957. He later joined the Department of Geology at Victoria University, becoming chair in 1970 and an emeritus professor in 1975.

Works and discoveries

During his career Harold Wellman published on a wide variety of geological topics, however, he was most influential in discovering the Alpine Fault and its importance to New Zealand's geology. In 1940 Harold Wellman first identified that the Southern Alps was related to a fault line which ran for approximately 650 km (400 miles). The fault was officially named the Alpine Fault in 1942. At the same time, Harold Wellman proposed the 480 km (300 miles) lateral displacement on the Alpine Fault.[3]

This displacement was inferred by Harold Wellman due in part to the similarity of rocks in

geosynclinal
hypothesis in favour of plate tectonics.

References

  1. S2CID 131598229
    .
  2. ^ Grapes, R. H. "Wellman, Harold William". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  3. doi:10.18814/epiiugs/2011/v34i1/008
    .
  4. ^ Wellman, H. w. (1956). "Structural outline of New Zealand (No. 121)". New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Wellington. 121 (4).

Further reading

  • Nathan, S (2005). Harold Wellman: a man who moved New Zealand Wellington, 2005.

External links

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