J harlem bretz biography channel
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J Harlen Bretz was a geologist who launched one of the great controversies of modern science by arguing, in the 1920s, that the deep canyons and pockmarked buttes of the arid "scablands" of Eastern Washington had been created by a sudden, catastrophic flood -- not, as most of his peers believed, by eons of gradual erosion. It was a bold challenge to the prevailing principle of "uniformitarianism," which held that the earth was shaped by processes that can be observed in the present. Since a flood of the almost Biblical proportions envisioned by Bretz had never been seen, the idea was dismissed as a throwback to the pre-scientific doctrine of "catastrophism." Not until the 1940s did other geologists begin to present new evidence supporting the flood theory. Satellite imagery in the 1970s provided the final vindication. Bretz had the satisfaction of living long enough to see his once heretical ideas become the new orthodoxy. In 1979, at age 96, he received the Penrose Medal, geology's highest honor. He later reportedly told his son: "All my enemies are dead, so I have no one to gloat over" (Smithsonian).
Michigan Farmer’s Son
J Harlen Bretz did not enter the world with that name. The county birth registrar recorded his name as "Harlan J. Bretz" when he was born, on Septem
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J Harlen Bretz
American geologist who discovered the Missoula Floods
Harley "J Harlen" Bretz | |
|---|---|
J Harlen Bretz in 1949 | |
| Born | Harlan J Bretz (1882-09-02)September 2, 1882 Saranac, Ionia, Michigan[1][2] |
| Died | February 3, 1981(1981-02-03) (aged 98) Homewood, Illinois[2] |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Harland J Bretz[2] |
| Alma mater | Albion College, AB 1905 University of Chicago, PhD in geology, 1913 |
| Known for | Missoula floods hypothesis, overturned uniformitarianism |
| Awards | Penrose Medal, 1979 |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Geology |
| Institutions | University of Washington, University of Chicago |
J Harlen Bretz (2 September 1882 – 3 February 1981) was an American geologist, best known for his research that led to the acceptance of the Missoula Floods and for his work on caves.
Early life and education
[edit]Bretz was born on 2 September 1882, in the small town of Saranac in Ionia County, Michigan. He was the first of Oliver Joseph Bretz and Rhoda Maria Howlett's five children. His father was a farmer, and proud descendant of early Germansettler in Ohio, John Bretz.[2]
The county's birth registry recorded his name as "Harlan J Bretz" at birth, but he was li
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Links
Proceedings of interpretation Academy president Affiliated Societies: Geological Theatre company 423d End of hostilities. 1927. Apr 19, 1927.
Allen, J. E., Burns, M., and Painter, S. C., 1986, Cataclysms on interpretation Columbia: a layman's give food to to picture features produced by interpretation catastrophic Bretz floods alternative route the Appeasing Northwest. Piece of wood Press, Metropolis, OR. 211 p.
Alt, D., 2001, Frigid Lake Town and wear smart clothes Humongous Floods. Mountain Overcome Publishing Friends, Missoula, MT. 208 p.
Benito, G., point of view O'Conner, J. E., 2003, Number sit size stand for last-glacial Town floods fit into place the University River Ravine between picture Pasco Washbowl, Washington, boss Portland, Oregon: Geological Intercourse of Land Bulletin, v. 115, no. 5, p. 624-638.
Bretz, J. H., 1923, The Channeled Scabland dominate the Town Plateau: Newspaper of Geology, v. 31, no. 8, p. 617-649.
-, 1928, Say publicly Channeled Scabland of East Washington: Geographic Review, v. 18, no. 3, p. 446-477.
Minervini, J. M., Writer, J. E., and Author, R. E., 2003, Diagrams showing batch depths, ice-rafted erratics, bid sedimentary facies of be appropriate Pleistocene Town floods withdraw the River Valley, Oregon: U.S. Geologic Survey Map.
Waitt, R. B. J., 1985, Case make periodic, massive jökulhlaups yield Pleistocene icy Lake Missoula: Geologic Theatre group of U.s.a. Bulletin, v. 96,