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Kirk Bryan (22 July 1888 in Albuquerque, New Mexico - 22 August 1950 in Cody, Wyoming) was an American geologist on the faculty of Harvard
University from 1925 until his death in 1950.
Bryan received his undergraduate education at the University of New Mexico and
later obtained a Ph.D. from Yale University.[1]
A geomorphologist, he worked primarily in
arid regions, and was one of the pioneers in explaining the forces
that formed landmasses in those areas.
According to Luna
Leopold, one of his students, Bryan was influential as a
teacher. In 2004, Leopold wrote:[2]
His students made important advances in a variety of subjects,
including alluvial chronology, periglacial and glacial geology,
wind action, soil and vegetative effects on landscape development,
and archaeology. His
influence is indicated by the fact that of the four geologists who
have received the National Medal of Science,
three were students of Kirk Bryan.[3]
The Geological Society of
America's Kirk Bryan Award is named in his honour. It is
awarded annually in recognition of a publication of distinction
advancing the science of geomorphology or Quaternary geology[4], which
were Bryan's areas of specialization.
Publications
Bryan was a prolific writer. This is a partial list of his
scientific contributions:
- 1925. Date of channel trenching (arroyo cutting) in the arid
Southwest. Science 62(1607): 338–344.
- 1927. Channel erosion of the Rio Salado, Socorro County, New
Mexico. U.S. Geological
Survey Bulletin 79: 15–19.
- 1928. Historic evidence on changes in the channel of Rio
Puerco, a tributary of the Rio Grande in New Mexico. Journal of
Geology 36(3): 265–282.
- 1928. Change in plant associations by change in ground water
level. Ecology 9(4): 474–478.
- 1929. Flood-water farming. Geographical Review
19:444–456.
- 1929. Folsom culture and its age. Geological Society of
America Bulletin 40:128-129.
- 1938. Prehistoric quarries and implements of pre-Amerindian
aspect in New Mexico. Science (new series) 87 (229):
343–346.
- 1941. Geologic antiquity of man in America. Science 93
(2422): 505-514.
- K. Bryan and C.C. Albritton. 1943. Soil phenomena as evidence
of climate changes. American Journal of
Science 241: 469-490.
- 1950. The Place of Geomorphology in the Geographic Sciences.
Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Vol.
40, No. 3 (Sep., 1950), pp. 196-208
References
- ^
Kirk Bryan, 1888-1950, by
Derwent Whittlesey, Annals of the Association of American
Geographers, Vol. 41, No. 1 (Mar., 1951), pp. 88-94
- ^
Geomorphology: A Sliver Off
the Corpus of Science, Luna B. Leopold, Annu. Rev. Earth
Planet. Sci. 2004. 32:l-12
- ^
Leopold did not provide a list of the National Medal of Science
winners to whom he referred, and his meaning is not apparent. Earth
scientists in addition to Leopold who had received the National
Medal of Science at the time of this statement include geochemist
Wallace S. Broecker, oceanographer Walter Munk,
geophysicist Frank
Press, oceanographer Roger Revelle, geologist William Rubey, planetary geologist Eugene Shoemaker, meteorologist Verner Suomi, geophysicist George
Wetherill, and geographer Gilbert F. White. None of these men's
biographies (other than Leopold's) suggest that they ever studied
formally under Bryan, although several may have collaborated with
him.
- ^
Kirk Bryan Award,
Geological Society of America website
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