William Alexander Deer

William Alexander (Alex) Deer

Biography

Alex Deer was born in

Deer was best known for his geological and petrological work in Greenland with Lawrence Wager; and later, for his extensive contributions as editor, along with Robert Andrew Howie and Jack Zussman, of the 11-volume reference work Rock-Forming Minerals and the abridged version, An Introduction to the Rock-Forming Minerals, often known simply by the abbreviated title DHZ. The mineral deerite (IMA 1964–016) was named in his honour.^[4]

Deer was elected Honorary Fellow of both St John's College and Trinity Hall Cambridge.^[5][6]

Expeditions

In 1935-1936, he accompanied Lawrence Wager as a petrologist on the 1935-1936 British East Greenland Expedition. They over-wintered on Greenland, with a party that included Wager's wife, Phyllis Wager (née Worthington), and Wager's brother (Dr Harold Geoffrey Wager; Hal) and sister-in-law (Elizabeth Mary Wager; Kit).^[7]. Other members of the party included P. B. Chambers, Dr E. C. Fountaine, and fourteen Inuit, from two families.^[8] They built and stayed in a camp with a three-roomed central house, including a physiological laboratory and mess room, on the Skaergaard Peninsula, at the entrance to Kangerdlugssuak Fjord.^[9] In 1939, Wager and Deer published their report of the expedition. This treatise on the Skaergaard intrusion is regarded as one of the most significant contributions to the science of igneous petrology of the time.

In 1948 Deer led the NE Coast Baffin Land Expedition with Chris Brasher, also of St John's College, to see whether the igneous activity of the Kangerdlugssuaq region of East Greenland and the Disko Island area of West Greenland continued westward into Baffin Island. The reconnaissance was hampered by rough seas.

In 1953, Deer and Wager jointly led a British Greenland Geological Expedition back to Kangerdlugssuaq, where Wager had worked in 1930-31 and 1932, and Wager and Deer had overwintered in 1935-36. Five other geologists from Oxford and Manchester Universities took part including C. J. Hughes (Oxford), G. D. Nicholls (Manchester) G. M. Brown (Oxford), D. S. Weedon (Oxford) and P. E. Brown (Manchester).^[10]

In 1966 Deer led another British Greenland Geological Expedition, with a party including G. A. Chinner (Cambridge), C. G. G. Born (Cambridge) R. Elsdon (Cambridge) P. D. Burnford (Cambridge) I. A. D. Sweetman (Cambridge) B. Atkins (Oxford) C. Kent-Brookes (Oxford) J. D. Bell (Oxford) D. G. Parrish (Oxford) J. D. Gunner (Oxford) P. E. Brown (Sheffield) C. D. Curtis (Sheffield) D. C. Dunn, Medical officer (Sheffield) D. Abbott, Research and Productivity Corporation (Sheffield) and N. McKinnon, P. A. Stirling, T. J. Sweeney, drillers. They carried out a programme of drilling and geological survey in Kangerdlugssuaq, extending the work of the 1953 British East Greenland Geological Expedition.^[9]

Family

Deer married Margaret Marjorie Kidd, daughter of the electrical engineer William Kidd, in 1939 at St Paul's Methodist Church, Didsbury.^[2] Deer's papers are held at the Sedgwick Museum Archives, University of Cambridge.^[9]

Publications

• Deer, William Alexander;
  Wager, Lawrence Rickard (1939). "Olivines from the Skaergaard Intrusion, Kangerdlugssuak, East Greenland"
  (PDF). American Mineralogist. 24: 18–25.
• Deer, William Alexander; Howie, Robert Andrew; Zussman, Jack (1962). Rock-forming Minerals. Wiley. Note: 5 volumes
• Deer, William Alexander; Howie, Robert Andrew; Zussman, Jack (1992).
  ISBN 0-582-30094-0
  .
• Deer, William Alexander;
  Zussman, Jack
  (2009). Rock-forming Minerals. Geological Society. Note: 11 volumes