Waldemar Christofer Brøgger | |
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Brøgger in 1922
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Born |
10 November 1851 Oslo |
Died |
17 February 1940 (aged 88) Oslo |
Nationality | Norwegian |
Fields | geology |
Institutions | |
Doctoral students | Victor Moritz Goldschmidt |
Known for | Formation of rocks |
Notable awards |
Murchison Medal (1891) Wollaston Medal (1911) Fellow of the Royal Society |
Waldemar Christofer Brøgger ForMemRSFRSE (10 November 1851 – 17 February 1940) was a Norwegian geologist and mineralogist. His research on Permian igneous rocks (286 to 245 million years ago) of the Oslo district greatly advanced petrologic theory on the formation of rocks.
He was born and died in Oslo, Norway, then called Christiania. He attended the Cathedral School in Oslo before studying at Oslo University.
He was professor of mineralogy and geology from 1881 to 1890 in the , and from 1890 to 1916 was Professor of Mineralogy and Palaeontology in the University of Christiania. He also became rector and president of the senate of the royal university of Christiania.
His observations on the igneous rocks of South Tyrol compared with those of Christiania afford much information on the relations of the granitic and basic rocks. The subject of the differentiation of rock-types in the process of solidification as plutonic or volcanic rocks from a particular magma received much attention from him. He dealt also with the Palaeozoic rocks of Norway, and with the late glacial and post-glacial changes of sea level in the Christiania region.
He is credited for proposing that pegmatites form through the interaction of silicate melt and supercritical water. Credit for this discovery is often given to Richard H. Jahns.