Thomas Jamieson

Infobox_Scientist
name = Thomas Francis Jamieson
birth_date = 1829
death_date = 1913
residence = United Kingdom
nationality = British
field = Geologist
work_institution = University of Aberdeen
alma_mater = University of Aberdeen
doctoral_students =
prizes =
footnotes =

Thomas Francis Jamieson (1829-1913) was a British geologist most associated with his studies of sea level and glacial isostasy during the Quaternary [Citation
last1 = Hancock | first1 = Paul L.
last2 = Skinner | first2 = Brian J.
last3 = Dineley | first3 = David L.
title = The Oxford Companion to The Earth
publisher = Oxford University Press
year = 2000
isbn = 0-19-854039-6 ] .

Born the son of a jeweller, Jamieson was raised in Aberdeen and educated at Aberdeen Grammar School and the University of Aberdeen, at which he was appointed Fordyce Lecturer in Agriculture in 1862 [cite web |url=http://www.geo.ed.ac.uk/scotgaz/people/famousfirst2418.html |title=Thomas Francis Jamieson biography |accessdate=2008-09-12 |work= |publisher=Gazetteer for Scotland |date= ] .

Interested in geology from an early age, Jamieson corresponded widely with other scientists, including Charles Lyell and Charles Darwin [cite web |url=http://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/darwinletters/namedefs/namedef-2540.html |title=Thomas Francis Jamieson, 1829–1913 |accessdate=2008-09-12 |work= |publisher=Darwin Correspondence Project |date= ] . After early research on petrology, Jamieson studied the glaciated rocks of Scotland, providing evidence for the then-fledgling theory of ice ages. Later work on marine sediments found above sea level in the Forth Valley convinced Jamieson that the area had once been beneath sea level, and that this was caused by the weight of glaciers depressing the land.

While these views brought Jamieson into conflict with the prevailing orthodoxy of the Geological Survey of Scotland (now the British Geological Survey), he continued to elaborate them, identifying raised shorelines around Scotland at a series of elevations (7.6, 15.0 or 30.5 metres). Despite these efforts, and his election to the Geological Society of London in 1862, his views on the geological history of Scotland only gained full acceptance in the late 20th century.

References

ee also

* Post-glacial rebound
* Glen Roy

External links

* [http://www.geo.ed.ac.uk/scotgaz/people/famousfirst2418.html Thomas Francis Jamieson biography] , "Gazetteer for Scotland"
* [http://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/darwinletters/namedefs/namedef-2540.html Thomas Francis Jamieson entry] , Darwin Correspondence Project