Jens Esmark
Encyclopedia
Mineralogy
Mineralogy is the study of chemistry, crystal structure, and physical properties of minerals. Specific studies within mineralogy include the processes of mineral origin and formation, classification of minerals, their geographical distribution, as well as their utilization.-History:Early writing...
who contributed to many of the initial discoveries and conceptual analyses of glaciers, specifically the concept that glaciers had covered larger areas in the past.
Biography
Jens Esmark was born in Houlbjerg in Århus, DenmarkDenmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
. Esmark moved to Norway to the silver mining community of Kongsberg
Kongsberg
is a town and municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is located at the southern end of the traditional region of Numedal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Kongsberg....
. He studied at the local mining academy. He completed his subsequent studies in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
and was accepted as a surveyor
Surveying
See Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...
. Starting in 1797, Esmark was employed as a lecturer in mineralogy at the Kongsberg Mining Academy. In 1814, Esmark became Norway's first professor of geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
as a professor of geology at the University of Oslo
University of Oslo
The University of Oslo , formerly The Royal Frederick University , is the oldest and largest university in Norway, situated in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. The university was founded in 1811 and was modelled after the recently established University of Berlin...
.
In August 1801 Esmark was the first person to ascend Snøhetta
Snøhetta
Snøhetta is an international architecture, landscape architecture, and interior design office based in Oslo, Norway and New York City. Craig Dykers and Kjetil Trædal Thorsen are the two principals of the company. In addition there are four partners, architect Robert Greenwood, architect Ole...
, highest in the mountain range Dovrefjell
Dovrefjell
Dovrefjell is a mountain range in central Norway that forms a natural barrier between Eastern Norway and Trøndelag, the area around Trondheim. As a result, it has been heavily trafficked during and probably preceding historical times...
in southern Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. The same year he led the first expedition to Bitihorn
Bitihorn
Bitihorn is a mountain in the southernmost outskirts of Jotunheimen, Norway. It is situated due west of national route 51, and is therefore a landmark for tourists following that popular route.- Geology :...
, a small mountain in the southernmost outskirts of Jotunheimen
Jotunheimen
Jotunheimen is a mountainous area of roughly 3,500 km² in Southern Norway and is part of the long range known as the Scandinavian Mountains. The 29 highest mountains in Norway are all in Jotunheimen, including the very highest - Galdhøpiggen...
, Norway. In 1810 he was the first person to ascend the mountain Gaustatoppen
Gaustatoppen
Gaustatoppen is the highest mountain in the county Telemark in Norway. The view from the summit is impressive, as one can see an area of approximately 60,000 km², one sixth of Norways mainland. There is an elevator system inside the mountain, built for military purposes, that lately has become...
in Telemark
Telemark
is a county in Norway, bordering Vestfold, Buskerud, Hordaland, Rogaland and Aust-Agder. The county administration is in Skien. Until 1919 the county was known as Bratsberg amt.-Location:...
, Norway.
Professor Esmark theorized in 1824 that glaciers had once been larger and thicker and had covered much of Norway and the adjacent sea floor. He also attributed erratic boulders
Glacial erratic
A glacial erratic is a piece of rock that differs from the size and type of rock native to the area in which it rests. "Erratics" take their name from the Latin word errare, and are carried by glacial ice, often over distances of hundreds of kilometres...
and moraines to glacial transportation and deposition. He first recognized glaciers as a powerful agent of erosion
Erosion
Erosion is when materials are removed from the surface and changed into something else. It only works by hydraulic actions and transport of solids in the natural environment, and leads to the deposition of these materials elsewhere...
that had carved the Norwegian fjords.
Professor Esmark was also an important figure in the history and cultural heritage of mineralogy
Mineralogy
Mineralogy is the study of chemistry, crystal structure, and physical properties of minerals. Specific studies within mineralogy include the processes of mineral origin and formation, classification of minerals, their geographical distribution, as well as their utilization.-History:Early writing...
. He introduced norite
Norite
Norite is a mafic intrusive igneous rock composed largely of the calcium-rich plagioclase labradorite and hypersthene with olivine. Norite is essentially indistinguishable from gabbro without thin section study under the petrographic microscope...
the name for which was derived from the Norwegian name for Norway, Norge.
On the island of Løvø, Norway, his son, Hans Morten Thrane Esmark
Morten Thrane Esmark
Hans Morten Thrane Esmark was a Norwegian priest and mineralogist.He was born in Kongsberg as a son of Jens Esmark. He became known for describing several new minerals, especially from the Langesundsfjorden district.-References:...
, found the first specimens of a black mineral, thorite
Thorite
Thorite, SiO4, is a rare nesosilicate of thorium that crystallizes in the tetragonal system and is isomorphous with zircon and hafnon. It is the most common mineral of thorium and is nearly always strongly radioactive. It was named in 1829 to reflect its thorium content...
, from which the element thorium
Thorium
Thorium is a natural radioactive chemical element with the symbol Th and atomic number 90. It was discovered in 1828 and named after Thor, the Norse god of thunder....
is derived. His son also provided him with a new mineral which he found in Arendal
Arendal
is a town and municipality in the county of Aust-Agder, Norway. Arendal belongs to the traditional region of Sørlandet.The town of Arendal is the administrative center the municipality and also of Aust-Agder county...
, Norway. In 1806 he named datolite
Datolite
Datolite is a calcium boron hydroxide nesosilicate, CaBSiO4. It was first observed by Jens Esmark in 1806, and named by him from δατεῖσθαι, "to divide," and λίθος, "stone," in allusion to the granular structureof the massive mineral....
, from the Greek word meaning "to divide". This was a reference to the granular structure of the first specimens studied.
In 1825, Professor Esmark was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences or Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden. The Academy is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization which acts to promote the sciences, primarily the natural sciences and mathematics.The Academy was founded on 2...
.In 1832, he was Knighted in the Swedish Order of Vasa
Order of Vasa
The Royal Order of Vasa was a Swedish Royal order of chivalry, awarded to citizens of Sweden for service to state and society especially in the fields of agriculture, mining and commerce. It was instituted on 29 May 1772 by King Gustav III of Sweden...
.
Selected works
- Kurze Beschreibung einer mineralogischen Reise durch Ungarn, Siebenbürgen und den Bannat utkom (1798)
- Reise fra Christiania til Trondhjem (1829)