zum Thema: On Wegener’s trails in Greenland: The Alfred Wegener Memorial Expedition 2014
Zeit: Donnerstag, 30 April 2015, 11:00 Uhr (s.t.)
Ort: SR des Wegener Center im 1. Stock, Brandhofgasse 5
Moderation: Prof. Gottfried Kirchengast
Herzlich willkommen!
Abstract:
The Alfred Wegener Expedition to Greenland was organised in honour of the 100th anniversary of Wegener’s original publications of the continental drift theory in 1912. The aim of the expedition was to trace the footsteps of Wegener’s dramatic Greenland expedition in that same year of 1912. Aside from his scientific genius Wegener was a keen aviation pioneer and the memorial expedition was to be conducted in this spirit. A small aircraft with landing abilities on glaciers and tundra was flown from Alaska to Greenland. There, geological studies were performed and the 1912 expedition was traced. Alfred Wegener’s historic sled of the 1912 expedition was discovered. This contribution presents a film on this expedition, complemented by an introduction and comments by the speaker.
About the Speaker:
Kurt Stüwe has lived and worked as a geologist in Alaska and Zimbabwe, and for 13 years in Australia, but for the last 15 years he has been an Associate Professor for Earth Sciences at University of Graz. He has worked in many sub-disciplines of the Earth Sciences, including metamorphic geology, structural geology, geophysics and geomorphology. He has used all of these fields to study the dynamic evolution of mountain belts and always had a focus on quantitative treatment of geological problems. He is also an avid mountaineer and has climbed in the highest mountain ranges of all continents. In 2014 he led the Alfred Wegener Memorial Expedition to North-East Greenland.