Hans Cloos
Encyclopedia
Hans Cloos was a prominent German
structural geologist
.
Born in Magdeburg, Germany, Hans Cloos earned his doctorate
at Freiburg
in 1910, then worked in Indonesia
and Namibia
up until the start of First World War. During the war his geological skills were put to use along the western front.
Following the war, he began a study of pluton
s and their interior structure. In 1919 he became professor of geology at the University of Breslau. His younger brother, Ernst Cloos, who was born in 1898, would come to study geology at Breslau under his brother and later became a prominent geologist as well.
In 1926 Cloos left Breslau to become professor of geology at the University of Bonn
. He made additional geological trips to explore the Scandinavian region
, England
, and North America
.
Professor Hans Cloos made pioneering studies of rock deformation, including granite
tectonics
. He employed scale models to study the physical mechanics of faulting, and examined how continents developed their structure. He was also noted for his artistic abilities, including music and draftsmanship.
Cloos died in Bonn, Germany in 1951.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
structural geologist
Geologist
A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth as well as the processes and history that has shaped it. Geologists usually engage in studying geology. Geologists, studying more of an applied science than a theoretical one, must approach Geology using...
.
Born in Magdeburg, Germany, Hans Cloos earned his doctorate
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
at Freiburg
Freiburg
Freiburg im Breisgau is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. In the extreme south-west of the country, it straddles the Dreisam river, at the foot of the Schlossberg. Historically, the city has acted as the hub of the Breisgau region on the western edge of the Black Forest in the Upper Rhine Plain...
in 1910, then worked in Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
and Namibia
Namibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...
up until the start of First World War. During the war his geological skills were put to use along the western front.
Following the war, he began a study of pluton
Intrusion
An intrusion is liquid rock that forms under Earth's surface. Magma from under the surface is slowly pushed up from deep within the earth into any cracks or spaces it can find, sometimes pushing existing country rock out of the way, a process that can take millions of years. As the rock slowly...
s and their interior structure. In 1919 he became professor of geology at the University of Breslau. His younger brother, Ernst Cloos, who was born in 1898, would come to study geology at Breslau under his brother and later became a prominent geologist as well.
In 1926 Cloos left Breslau to become professor of geology at the University of Bonn
University of Bonn
The University of Bonn is a public research university located in Bonn, Germany. Founded in its present form in 1818, as the linear successor of earlier academic institutions, the University of Bonn is today one of the leading universities in Germany. The University of Bonn offers a large number...
. He made additional geological trips to explore the Scandinavian region
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, and North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
.
Professor Hans Cloos made pioneering studies of rock deformation, including granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
tectonics
Tectonics
Tectonics is a field of study within geology concerned generally with the structures within the lithosphere of the Earth and particularly with the forces and movements that have operated in a region to create these structures.Tectonics is concerned with the orogenies and tectonic development of...
. He employed scale models to study the physical mechanics of faulting, and examined how continents developed their structure. He was also noted for his artistic abilities, including music and draftsmanship.
Cloos died in Bonn, Germany in 1951.
Awards and honors
- The Hans Cloos medal, awarded annually by the IAEG to an engineering geologist of outstanding merit, was named after him.
- The wrinkle ridge Dorsum CloosDorsum CloosDorsum Cloos is a wrinkle-ridge at in Mare Smythii on the Moon. It is 100 km long and was named after Hans Cloos in 1976....
on the MoonMoonThe Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
is named after him. - In 2006, Cloos was featured in the book Bedrock: Writers on the Wonders of Geology edited by Lauret E. Savoy, Eldridge M. MooresEldridge M. MooresEldridge Moores is an American geologist who specializes in the understanding of ophiolites and the geology of the continental crust of the Western United States and Tethyan belt, the geology of Greece, Cyprus, and Pakistan, and the tectonic development of the Sierra Nevada...
, and Judith E. Moores (Trinity University Press) which looks at how writing pays a tribute to the Earth's geological features.