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Felix Andries Vening Meinesz

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"Vening Meinesz" redirects here. For Sjoerd Anne Vening Meinesz, Mayor of Rotterdam, see List of mayors of Rotterdam.
Felix Andries Vening Meinesz
Vening Meinesz with his gravimeter
BornJuly 30, 1887
The Hague
DiedAugust 10, 1966(1966-08-10) (aged 79)
Amersfoort
NationalityDutch
Known forgravimeter
AwardsHoward N. Potts Medal(1936)
Penrose Medal (1945)
William Bowie Medal (1947)
Alexander Agassiz Medal (1947)
Vetlesen Prize (1962)
Wollaston Medal (1963)
Scientific career
Fieldsgeophysicist
geodesist

Felix Andries Vening Meinesz (The Hague July 30, 1887 – Amersfoort August 10, 1966) was a Dutch geophysicist and geodesist. He is known for his invention of a precise method for measuring gravity. Thanks to his invention, it became possible to measure gravity at sea, which led him to the discovery of gravity anomalies above the ocean floor. He later attributed these anomalies to continental drift.[1] He was a Fellow of the Royal Society.[1]

Biography

Vening Meinesz's father, Sjoerd Anne Vening Meinesz, was mayor, first of Rotterdam, then of Amsterdam. He grew up in a protected environment. In 1910 he graduated in civil engineering in Delft. The same year he started working for the Dutch gravity survey. In 1915 he wrote his dissertation on the defects of the gravimeters used at that time.

Vening Meinesz then designed a new gravimeter, which the KNMI (Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute) built. The apparatus has two pendula of the same size hanging in a frame but moving in opposite phases. With mirrors and lightbeams the difference in amplitude of the two pendula is captured on a film. Vening Meinesz had discovered that horizontal accelerations (as by waves on a boat) had no influence on the difference in amplitude between the two pendula. The recorded difference then is the amplitude of a theoretical, undisturbed pendulum. Now it became possible to measure gravity more accurately. Vening Meinesz started with measuring gravity all over the Netherlands, for which a network of 51 monitoring stations was created. This became a success, which encouraged him to do measurements at sea. A perfected gravimeter, hanging in a 'swing', was designed. The experiment was successful.

Now measuring gravity at sea had become possible.[2] Between 1923 and 1929 the tall (over 2 metres) Vening Meinesz embarked in small submarines for some uncomfortable expeditions.[3] His goal was to establish the exact shape of the geoid and the Earth. When his expedition with the submarine Hr. Ms. K XVIII was made into a movie in 1935, Vening Meinesz became a hero of the Dutch cinema public. Besides, his research was in the international scientific spotlight. In 1927 he became a part-time professor in geodesy, cartography and geophysics at Utrecht University, and in 1937 he became professor at the Delft University of Technology as well. He was awarded the Howard N. Potts Medal in 1936. In 1927 he became member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.[4]

In World War II, Vening Meinesz was involved in the Dutch resistance. After the war he could take up his tasks as a professor again. From 1945 to 1951 he was the director of the KNMI. He retired in 1957.

Research and Discoveries

The vast amounts of data that his expeditions yielded were analyzed and discussed together with other leading Dutch Earth scientists of the time J.H.F. Umbgrove, B.G. Escher and Ph.H. Kuenen, the results were published in 1948.[5] An important result was the discovery of elongated belts of negative gravity anomalies along the oceanic trenches. The mean gravity force appeared to be the same on land and at sea, which was in agreement with the principle of isostasy. Vening Meinesz was especially intrigued by the oceanic trenches. The coexisitence of active volcanism, large negative gravity anomalies and the sudden difference in terrain elevation could only be explained by assuming the Earth's crust was somehow pushed together at these places. As a geophysicist, he was prejudiced that the crust was too rigid to deform at that scale in such a way. His discoveries could be explained only with the development of the theory of plate tectonics in the '50s.

Submarine Expeditions

Vening Meinesz measured the gravity field of the Earth with his pendulum apparatus onboard several submarines. The following expeditions are described in his publications, "Gravity Expeditions at Sea"

Vol 1: 1923-1930 [6]

Vol II: 1923-1933 [7]

Vol III: 1934-1939 [8]

Vening Meinesz was not onboard during expeditions after 1939. His experiments were performed by his students. Vol V: 1948-1958 [9]

Legacy

Named after him are:

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Bruins, G. J.; Scholte, J. G. J. (1967). "Felix Andries Vening Meinesz 1887-1966". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 13: 294. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1967.0015.
  2. ^ Vening-Meinesz, F.A. (1929). Theory and practice of pendulum observations at sea (PDF). Delft: Nederlandse Commissie voor Geodesie 2. p. 95. ISBN 978-90-6132-002-9.
  3. ^ Vening-Meinesz, F.A. (1932). Gravity expeditions at sea 1923-1930. Vol. I. The expeditions, the computations and the results. Delft: Nederlandse Commissie voor Geodesie 3. p. 109. ISBN 978-90-6132-003-6.
  4. ^ "Felix Andries Vening Meinesz (1887 - 1966)". Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  5. ^ Vening-Meinesz, F.A. (1948). Gravity expeditions at sea 1923-1938. Vol. IV. Complete results with isostatic reduction, interpretation on the results. Delft: Nederlandse Commissie voor Geodesie 9. p. 233. ISBN 978-90-6132-015-9.
  6. ^ Vening Meinesz, F.A., Gravity Expeditions at Sea 1923-1930 (Vol. I), Drukkerij Waltman, Delft
  7. ^ Vening Meinesz, F.A., Gravity Expeditions at Sea 1923-1933 (Vol. II), Drukkerij Waltman, Delft
  8. ^ Vening Meinesz, F.A., Gravity Expeditions at Sea 1934-1939 (Vol. III), Drukkerij Waltman, Delft
  9. ^ Vening Meinesz, F.A., Gravity Expeditions 1948-1958 (Vol. V), Drukkerij Waltman, Delft
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