Eduard SuessBorn 20 Aug 1831; died 26 Apr 1914 at age 82. Austrian geologist who helped lay the basis for paleogeography and tectonics (the study of the architecture and evolution of the Earth's outer rocky shell). He was an authority on structural geology, especially of mountains, and postulated the existence of the giant land mass Gondwanaland. While he was a professor (1857–1901) at the Univ. of Vienna, he also served for more than 20 years in the Austrian parliament. His Austrian-born son, Hans Suess, became a geochemist who pioneered radiocarbon dating techniques and was a founding faculty member of the University of California, San Diego.Image from Austrian commemorative stamp of 26 Apr 1989. |
