Alfred Lothar Wegener

Alfred Lothar Wegener (November 1, 1880 – November 1930) was a German scientist, geophysicist, and meteorologist.He is most notable for his theory of continental drift (Kontinentalverschiebung), proposed in 1912, which hypothesized that the continents were slowly drifting around the Earth. However, his hypothesis was not accepted until the 1950s, when numerous discoveries such as palaeomagnetism confirmed his hypothesis of continental driftWegener attended the Kollnische Gymnasium in his home town. After he had finished school he studied physics, astronomy and meteorology at the Friedrich Wilhelms University (today Humboldt University), Berlin. In 1905, he earned his Ph.D. in astronomyunder the direction of Julius Bauschinger. However Wegener was always interested in the developing fields of meteorology andclimatology. He was a record-holding balloonist (flying a balloon continuously for 52 hours) and pioneered the use of weather balloonsto track air masses. His lectures, The Thermodynamics of the Atmosphere, became a standard textbook in meteorology. Wegener was involved in several expeditions to Greenland to study polar air circulation before the existence of the jet stream was accepted. He and J.P. Koch were the first to winter the inland ice in Northeast Greenland. Inside the hut they drilled to a depth of 25 m with an auger.

Wegener (left) and Villumsen (right) in Greenland; November 1st, 1930.

Last expedition

In 1930, his last expedition was to Greenland to conduct the first 12-month monitoring of arctic weather. Wegener felt responsible for the expedition's success, as the German government had contributed $120,000 ($1.5 million in 2007 dollars) at a time when Germans were starving to death due to post-war shortages. This success depended on enough provisions being transferred from West camp to Eismitte ("mid-ice") for two men to winter there, which was a factor in the decision that led to his death. Due to a late thaw, the expedition was six weeks behind schedule, and as summer ended, the men at Eismitte sent a message that they had insufficient fuel, and so would return on October 20.

Vehicles used by the 1930 expedition (stored).

On September 24, although the route markers were by now largely buried by snow, Wegener set out with thirteen Greenlanders and his meteorologist Fritz Loewe to supply the camp by dog sled. During the journey the temperature reached −60 °C (−76 °F) and Loewe's toes became so frostbitten they had to be amputated with a penknife without anesthetic. Twelve of the Greenlanders returned to West camp. On October 19, the remaining three members of the expedition reached Eismitte. With only enough supplies for three at Eismitte, Wegener and Rasmus Villumsen took two dog sleds and made for West camp. They took no food for the dogs and killed them to feed the rest until they could only run one sled. While Villumsen rode the sled, Wegener had to use skis. They never reached the camp.

Death

Six months later on May 12, 1931, Wegener's body was found in Greenland, halfway between Eismitte and West camp, buried with great care. A pair of skis marked the grave site. At 50 years of age and a heavy smoker, Wegener's suspected cause of death was heart failure through overexertion. His body was reburied in the same spot by the team that found the burial site and marked with a large cross. After burying Wegener, Villumsen departed for the West camp, but was never seen again. It is estimated that the 23-year-old's body now lies buried under more than 100 metres (330 ft) of accumulated ice and snow.http://www.firstnamestore.com/?p=33276#axzz1ffc8EQOJ

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