Bill Mathews
Encyclopedia
William Henry Mathews (1919–2003) was a Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
geologist
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
, volcanologist
Volcanology
Volcanology is the study of volcanoes, lava, magma, and related geological, geophysical and geochemical phenomena. The term volcanology is derived from the Latin word vulcan. Vulcan was the ancient Roman god of fire....
, engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
, and professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
. He is considered a pioneer in the study of subglacial eruption
Subglacial eruption
A subglacial eruption is a volcanic eruption that has occurred under ice, or under a glacier. Subglacial eruptions can cause dangerous floods, lahars and create hyaloclastite and pillow lava. Subglacial eruptions sometimes form a subglacial volcano called a tuya. Tuyas in Iceland are called table...
s and volcano-ice interactions in North America. Many of his publications continue to be regarded as classics in their field, even now several decades after they were written.
Biography
Bill Mathews was born in VancouverVancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
in 1919. His childhood was marked by personal tragedy, as his mother and a brother died when he was two, and his father, Vancouver pioneer Thomas Mathews, died when he was 13.
Mathews attended King George Secondary School
King George Secondary School
King George Secondary School is a public secondary school located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.The school is located in the West End, with two elementary schools feeding in...
before entering the University of British Columbia
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...
in 1935, earning a Bachelor of Applied Science in geological engineering in 1940, followed by a Master of Applied Science with a major in petrology
Petrology
Petrology is the branch of geology that studies rocks, and the conditions in which rocks form....
and a minor in physics in 1941. During college, he served as a student assistant for the Geological Survey of Canada from 1938 to 1941, and was also an instructor in the mountain infantry school of the Alpine Club of Canada
Alpine Club of Canada
The Alpine Club of Canada is a mountain club with a National Office in Canmore, Alberta that has been a focal point for Canadian mountaineering since its founding in 1906. The club was co-founded by Arthur Oliver Wheeler, who served as its first president, and Elizabeth Parker, a journalist for...
, training personnel for the Canadian armed forces. After graduation, he worked as a mining engineer for the British Columbia Department of Mines from 1942 to 1946.
He then moved on to the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, completing his Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
in June 1948 with a dissertation titled Geology of the Mount Garibaldi
Mount Garibaldi
Mount Garibaldi is a potentially active stratovolcano in the Sea to Sky Country of British Columbia, north of Vancouver, Canada. Located in the southernmost Coast Mountains, it is one of the most recognized peaks in the South Coast region, as well as British Columbia's best known volcano...
map-area, southwestern British Columbia. While at Berkeley, he also met and married his wife, Laura Lou. Mathews served on the Berkeley faculty as an assistant professor from 1948 to 1951, and then returned to Canada to accept an associate professorship in the Department of Geography and Geology at the University of British Columbia. He was promoted to full professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
in 1959, served as department chairman from 1964 to 1971, and continued teaching until his retirement to professor emeritus status in 1984.
Mathews received the Willet G. Miller Medal
Willet G. Miller Medal
The Miller Medal is an award of the Royal Society of Canada given for outstanding research in any branch of the earth sciences.In 1941, twelve friends of Willet Green Miller, FRSC , a distinguished geologist, and a guiding force in the development of the Ontario mining industry, subscribed funds to...
for "outstanding research in any branch of the earth sciences" from the Royal Society of Canada
Royal Society of Canada
The Royal Society of Canada , may also operate under the more descriptive name RSC: The Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada , is the oldest association of scientists and scholars in Canada...
in 1989. Even after his retirement from teaching duties, he maintained an active research program and began writing a book on the geology of southern British Columbia, working part-time on the project until his death in 2003. The book was published posthumously in 2005 as Roadside Geology of Southern British Columbia.
Scientific research
Volcano
2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...
es, glacier
Glacier
A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...
s, regional geomorphology
Geomorphology
Geomorphology is the scientific study of landforms and the processes that shape them...
, landslide
Landslide
A landslide or landslip is a geological phenomenon which includes a wide range of ground movement, such as rockfalls, deep failure of slopes and shallow debris flows, which can occur in offshore, coastal and onshore environments...
s, hydrogeology
Hydrogeology
Hydrogeology is the area of geology that deals with the distribution and movement of groundwater in the soil and rocks of the Earth's crust, . The term geohydrology is often used interchangeably...
, stratigraphy
Stratigraphy
Stratigraphy, a branch of geology, studies rock layers and layering . It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks....
, coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
geology, and mineral
Mineral
A mineral is a naturally occurring solid chemical substance formed through biogeochemical processes, having characteristic chemical composition, highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties. By comparison, a rock is an aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids and does not...
deposits. But his most influential work was in the fields of subglacial eruptions and volcano-ice interactions. He discovered several ideal field laboratories for this research in his home province of British Columbia, including the numerous volcanoes in Garibaldi Provincial Park
Garibaldi Provincial Park
Garibaldi Provincial Park, also called Garibaldi Park, is a wilderness park located in British Columbia, Canada, about 70 kilometres north of Vancouver. The park is located to the east of the Sea to Sky Highway between Squamish and Whistler and covers an area of over 1,950 square kilometres...
just north of Vancouver and the remote Tuya Volcanic Field
Tuya Volcanic Field
The Tuya volcanic field is a volcanic field of tuyas located in far northern British Columbia, Canada, near the border with the Yukon Territory and focussed on the area of the Tuya Range, a subrange of the Stikine Ranges of the Cassiar Mountains, though some vents are in the Kawdy Plateau, the...
in far northern British Columbia. While still in graduate school at Berkeley in 1947, he published a paper, "Tuyas, Flat-Topped Volcanoes in Northern British Columbia", in which he coined the term "tuya
Tuya
A tuya is a type of distinctive, flat-topped, steep-sided volcano formed when lava erupts through a thick glacier or ice sheet. They are somewhat rare worldwide, being confined to regions which were covered by glaciers and also had active volcanism during the same time period.-Formation:Tuyas are...
" to refer to the distinctive, flat-topped, steep-sided volcanoes formed when lava erupts through a thick glacier or ice sheet
Ice sheet
An ice sheet is a mass of glacier ice that covers surrounding terrain and is greater than 50,000 km² , thus also known as continental glacier...
. He took the name from Tuya Butte
Tuya Butte
Tuya Butte is a tuya in the Tuya Range of north-central British Columbia, Canada. It is a bit less isolated from other ranges than neighbouring Mount Josephine...
, a near-ideal specimen of the type, and this name has since become standard worldwide among volcanologists in referring to and writing about these volcanic formations. Late in his career, other scientists named a previously unnamed tuya in the Tuya Volcanic Field
Tuya Volcanic Field
The Tuya volcanic field is a volcanic field of tuyas located in far northern British Columbia, Canada, near the border with the Yukon Territory and focussed on the area of the Tuya Range, a subrange of the Stikine Ranges of the Cassiar Mountains, though some vents are in the Kawdy Plateau, the...
in honor of him as Mathews Tuya
Mathews Tuya
Mathews Tuya is a subglacial mound in northcentral British Columbia. It is one of the six tuyas close to Tuya Lake. It has been partly glaciated so it is probably older than 10,000 years. The other volcanoes in the area include Tuya Butte, South Tuya and Ash Mountain...
.
Mathews published his first article, titled "Geology of the Garibaldi Lake area", in the Canadian Alpine Journal
Canadian Alpine Journal
The Canadian Alpine Journal is the yearly magazine of the Alpine Club of Canada. It serves as a worldwide journal of record for achievements in climbing, mountaineering, ski mountaineering, and exploration of mountains....
in 1938 when he was only 19 years old. He would go on to author more than 100 published scientific papers and reports over the next six decades. A large portion of this body of work is devoted to the numerous fascinating volcanic, glacial, and limnological
Limnology
Limnology , also called freshwater science, is the study of inland waters. It is often regarded as a division of ecology or environmental science. It covers the biological, chemical, physical, geological, and other attributes of all inland waters...
features of Garibaldi Provincial Park, which he examines, analyzes, and interprets in meticulous detail and with far-reaching insight.
Honors and memberships
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Geological Association of Canada The Geological Association of Canada promotes and develops the geological sciences in Canada. The organization holds conferences, meetings and exhibitions for the discussion of geological problems and the exchange of views in matters related to geology... Sigma Xi Sigma Xi: The Scientific Research Society is a non-profit honor society which was founded in 1886 at Cornell University by a junior faculty member and a handful of graduate students. Members elect others on the basis of their research achievements or potential... Alpine Club of Canada The Alpine Club of Canada is a mountain club with a National Office in Canmore, Alberta that has been a focal point for Canadian mountaineering since its founding in 1906. The club was co-founded by Arthur Oliver Wheeler, who served as its first president, and Elizabeth Parker, a journalist for... |
Arctic Institute of North America The Arctic Institute of North America is mandated to study the North American and circumpolar Arctic in the areas of natural science, social science, arts and the humanities. In addition, it acquires, preserves and disseminates information on environmental, physical, and social conditions in the... |