Alexander McKay (geologist)
Alexander McKay (11 April 1841 – 8 July 1917) was a New Zealand geologist. He was born in Carsphairn, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland on 11 April 1841.[1]
McKay reached New Zealend in 1863 where he spent a number of years prospected for gold. A meeting with Julius von Haast saw a change of direction in which McKay, largely self-taught, undertook geological mapping and fossil collecting expeditions throughout the islands. In 1872 James Hector appointed him to the Geological Survey of New Zealand.[2]
McKay's greatest achievement was to free New Zealand sciences from the strictures of European-based thinking, developing new theories, of worldwide importance, on block faulting in the evolution of mountain systems.[2] The discipline of neotectonics is largely based upon McKay's observations and theories.[3]
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Cherry Lewis, Simon J. Knell (2009) "The Making of the Geological Society of London", pp350, Geological Society of London. ISBN 1862392773 Retrieved February 2015
- ↑ D.G. Bishop (2008) The Real McKay, Otago University Press, ISBN 1877372226 Retrieved February 2015
External links
- Lua error in Module:Internet_Archive at line 573: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
<templatestyles src="Asbox/styles.css"></templatestyles>
   |
This article about a New Zealand scientist is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
<templatestyles src="Asbox/styles.css"></templatestyles>
 |
This biographical article about a geologist is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
