Daniel Barringer (geologist)
| Daniel Barringer | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born | May 25, 1860 Raleigh, North Carolina |
| Died | November 30, 1929 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Fields | Geology |
| Alma mater |
Princeton University University of Pennsylvania Harvard University University of Virginia |
| Known for | Meteorite |
Daniel Moreau Barringer (May 25, 1860 – November 30, 1929) was a geologist best known as the first person to prove the existence of an impact crater on the Earth, the Meteor Crater in Arizona. The site, owned privately by Barringer and now by his family, has been renamed the Barringer Crater in his honor, although this name is mainly used in the scientific community.
Daniel Barringer, the son of Daniel Moreau Barringer and the nephew of Rufus Barringer, graduated from Princeton University in 1879 at the age of 19, and in 1882 graduated from the University of Pennsylvania's School of Law. He later studied geology and mineralogy at Harvard University and at the University of Virginia, respectively.
In 1892, Barringer, along with his friend Richard A. F. Penrose, Jr., and others, purchased a gold and silver mine near Cochise, Arizona. Later, Barringer also discovered the Commonwealth Silver Mine in Pearce, Arizona. These mining ventures made him a wealthy man.
In 1902 Barringer learned of the existence of a large (1.5 km in diameter) crater, located 35 miles east of Flagstaff, Arizona. The crater, known as Coon Mountain, had previously been studied by the geologist Grove Karl Gilbert in 1891. Gilbert had hypothesized that the crater must have been the result of either a gas explosion or a meteorite. After performing experiments in the crater, however, Gilbert's conclusion was that the crater could not be the result of an impact, and therefore could only be the result of an explosion. He concluded this despite the clear presence of thousands of small meteoritic particles in the vicinity of the crater.
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