Valiya Hamza

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Valiya Mannathal Hamza
Born(1941-06-15)15 June 1941
Calicut, Kerala, India
NationalityIndian
Alma materNational Geophysical Research Institute, University of Kerala, University of Western Ontario
Known forDiscovery of the Hamza River
Scientific career
FieldsGeophysics
InstitutionsObservatório Nacional

Valiya Mannathal Hamza (born 15 June 1941)[1] is an Indian[2] scientist credited with co-discovering, together with Elizabeth Tavares Pimentel,[3] the large aquifer referred to as "Rio Hamza" or Hamza River, which flows deep below and parallel to the Amazon.[4] Hamza is listed as a permanent professor in the Geophysics specialization at the Brazilian National Observatory.[5]

Education[edit]

Hamza did his undergraduate and postgraduate studies at the University of Kerala in the 1960s, finishing with a graduate degree in physics in 1962 and a postgraduate degree in applied physics in 1964. He started as a senior scientific assistant at the National Geophysical Research Institute in Hyderabad, India in 1966. He moved to the University of Western Ontario, Canada, for his PhD in 1968, and completed the degree in 1973,[1] subsequently going to Brazil in 1974.[6]

Career[edit]

Hamza served as an associate professor of the University of Sao Paulo from 1974 to 1981, and a research supervisor at the Institute of Technology Research from 1982 to 1993. He also held positions as a secretary of the International Heat Flow Commission and member of the executive committee of the International Association of Seismology and Physics of the Earth's Interior.[1]

Hamza and colleague Elizabeth Tavares Pimentel discovered a subterranean river running along the same route as the Amazon River in 2011, which was later named after Hamza.[4]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c de Lima Gomes, Antonio Jorge; Hamza, Valiya Mannathal (2005). "Geothermal Gradient and Heat Flow in the State of Rio De Janeiro" (PDF). Revista Brasileira de Geofísica. 23 (4). Sociedade Brasileira de Geofísica: 347. doi:10.1590/S0102-261X2005000400001. ISSN 0102-261X.
  2. ^ "Amazon has a twin river that flows 4.000 metres below the ground". MercoPress. Mercopress. 26 August 2011. Retrieved 2 September 2011.
  3. ^ "Large Underground River Flowing Beneath The Amazon Rain Forest". Geeky Gadgets. 31 August 2011. Retrieved 31 August 2011 – via The Guardian.
  4. ^ a b Jha, Alok (26 August 2011). "Underground river 'Rio Hamza' discovered 4 km beneath the Amazon". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  5. ^ "Professors and Collaborators are displayed following CAPES' advices as well as determinations of the Technical and Scientific Council of the Observatório Nacional". Observatório Nacional. 2011. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  6. ^ "From Brazil to Kerala: Hamza waters run deep below Amazon". SmasHits. 31 August 2011. Archived from the original on 20 March 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2011.