Martin Litherland

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia

Martin Litherland OBE (born 1945, Woking, England) is a geologist who has travelled and published[1][2] widely.

Life and career[edit]

Martin Litherland poses at the source of the Rio Verde in the upper reaches of the Lost World in 1981.
Martin Litherland poses at the source of the Rio Verde in the upper reaches of the Lost World in 1981.

Litherland was born in 1945, the son of a Methodist minister.

In 1970 he was awarded a PhD by Liverpool University on the stratigraphy and structure of the Dalradian rocks around Loch Creran, Scotland,[3][4] which resolved the major stratigraphic puzzle.[5] The rocks also contained early forms of animal life.[6]

He joined the (present) British Geological Survey (BGS). He was seconded to the Botswana Geological Survey (1970–1975). During this time he mapped the Maitengwe-Sebina area of Rhodesian (now Zimbabwe) Craton where a new uniformitarian theory was proposed;[7][8][9] he also mapped the Mamuno-Kalkfontein area of the Ghanzi Ridge.[10] Precambrian life forms were found,[11] and rock engravings were reported.[12]

Litherland was Senior Exploration Geologist for the Eastern Bolivia Mineral Exploration Project (1976–1985), an ODA Technical Cooperation project covering the unexplored Bolivian part of the Brazilian Shield [13][14][15] under difficult conditions.[16] The Lost World of Fawcett/Conan Doyle was also mapped.[17][18] He noted Andean-trending structures[19] and discovered alkaline igneous rocks.[20]

From 1986 to 1992, Litherland was Team Leader of the Cordillera Real Geological Research Project in Ecuador. The Project mapped the eastern Andean cordillera along a series of difficult traverses and discovering many 'un-Andean' geological features.[21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28]

He was awarded the OBE in 1993.[29]

From 1993 until retirement in 2000, Litherland worked in the Keyworth office of the British Geological Survey. He launched a series of popular geological publications in the form of tourist and fossil guides, books and posters.[30][31][32]

After retirement, he taught English and Spanish; and published poems related to his geological career; his childhood; religion; and Richard 111; as well as short stories.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Litherland, M." World Cat Identities. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
  2. ^ "Keyword search for Martin Litherland". Natural Environment Research Council. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
  3. ^ Litherland, M. (August 1980). "The stratigraphy of the Dalradian rocks around Loch Creran, Argyll". Scottish Journal of Geology. 16 (2–3): 105–123. doi:10.1144/sjg16020105. S2CID 129903605.
  4. ^ Litherland, M. (April 1982). "The structure of the Loch Creran Dalradian and a new model for the SW Highlands]". Scottish Journal of Geology. 18 (2–3): 205–225. doi:10.1144/sjg18020205. S2CID 130738729.
  5. ^ Rast, N.; Litherland, M. (May 1970). "The correlation of the Ballachulish and Perthshire (Italy) Dalradian successions". Geological Magazine. 107 (3): 259–272. Bibcode:1970GeoM..107..259R. doi:10.1017/s0016756800055734. S2CID 129928566.
  6. ^ Litherland, M. (May 1975). "Organic remains and traces from the Dalradian of Benderloch, Argyll". Scottish Journal of Geology. 11 (1): 47–50. doi:10.1144/sjg11010047. S2CID 129585467.
  7. ^ Litherland, M. (23 April 1973). "Uniformitarian Approach to Archean "Schist Relics"". Nature Physical Science. 242 (121): 125–127. Bibcode:1973NPhS..242..125L. doi:10.1038/physci242125a0.
  8. ^ Key, Roger M.; Litherland, Martin; Hepworth, John V. (July 1976). "The evolution of the archaean crust of northeast Botswana". Precambrian Research. 3 (4): 375–413. Bibcode:1976PreR....3..375K. doi:10.1016/0301-9268(76)90028-0.
  9. ^ The geology of the area around Maitengwe, Sebina and Tshesebe, Northeast and Central Districts, Botswana. District Memoir 2, Botswana Geological Survey
  10. ^ The geology of the area around Mamuno and Kalkfontein, Ghanzi District, Botswana. Vol. District Memoir 4. Botswana Geological Survey. 1982. ASIN B0006EJPYM.
  11. ^ Litherland, Martin; Malan, Stephanus P. (October 1973). "Manganiferous stromatolites from the Precambrian of Botswana". Journal of the Geological Society. 129 (5): 543–544. Bibcode:1973JGSoc.129..543L. doi:10.1144/gsjgs.129.5.0543. S2CID 128489557.
  12. ^ Litherland, M.; Litherland, A.R.; Sekwale, M. "Rock engravings from Mamuno". Botswana Notes & Records (Journal of the Botswana Society). 7: 19–29. Archived from the original on 25 August 2011. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
  13. ^ Litherland, M. (1986). The Geology and Mineral Resources of the Bolivian Precambrian Shield. H.M.S.O. ISBN 9780118844154.
  14. ^ Litherland, M.; Bloomfield, K. (August 1981). "The proterozoic history of eastern Bolivia". Precambrian Research. 15 (2): 157–161, 165–179. Bibcode:1981PreR...15..157L. doi:10.1016/0301-9268(81)90027-9.
  15. ^ Litherland, M.; Annells, R.N.; Darbyshire, D.P.F.; Fletcher, C.J.N.; Hawkins, M.P.; Klinck, B.A.; Mitchell, W.I.; O'Connor, E.A.; Pitfield, P.E.J.; Power, G.; Webb, B.C. (May 1989). "The proterozoic of Eastern Bolivia and its relationship to the Andean mobile belt". Precambrian Research. 43 (3): 157–174. Bibcode:1989PreR...43..157L. doi:10.1016/0301-9268(89)90054-5.
  16. ^ Litherman, Martin, Unknown Bolivia: Overseas exploration against the odds (PDF), British Geologic Survey
  17. ^ Litherland, M.; Power, G. (1989). "The geologic and geomorphologic evolution of Serranía Huanchaca, eastern Bolivia: The legendary "Lost World"". Journal of South American Earth Sciences. 2 (1): 1–17. Bibcode:1989JSAES...2....1L. doi:10.1016/0895-9811(89)90023-0.
  18. ^ Litherland, Martin (8 November 2003). "Record 37: We mapped the Serrania Huanchaca (Conan Doyle's Lost World, after Fawcett's descriptions) in two field seasons 1980 & 1981" (email). The Great Web of Percy Harrison Fawcett.
  19. ^ Litherland, M.; Klinck, B. A.; O'Connor, E. A.; Pitfield, P. E. J. (28 March 1985). "Andean-trending mobile belts in the Brazilian Shield". Letters to Nature. 314 (6009): 345–348. Bibcode:1985Natur.314..345L. doi:10.1038/314345a0. S2CID 4366785.
  20. ^ Fletcher, C.J.N.; Litherland, M. (October 1981). "The geology and tectonic setting of the Velasco Alkaline Province, eastern Bolivia". Journal of the Geological Society. 138 (5): 541–548. Bibcode:1981JGSoc.138..541F. doi:10.1144/gsjgs.138.5.0541. S2CID 131697768.
  21. ^ Litherland, M. (1994). Metamorphic Belts of Ecuador – Overseas Geology & Mineral Resources. British Geological Survey. ISBN 9780852722398.
  22. ^ Litherland, M.; Fortey, N.J.; Beddoe-Stephens, B. (July–August 1992). "Newly discovered Jurassic skarnfields in the Ecuadorian Andes". Journal of South American Earth Sciences. 6 (1–2): 67–75. Bibcode:1992JSAES...6...67L. doi:10.1016/0895-9811(92)90018-T.
  23. ^ Litherland, M; Aspden, J.A (January 1992). "Terrane-boundary reactivation: A control on the evolution of the Northern Andes". Journal of South American Earth Sciences. 5 (1): 71–76. Bibcode:1992JSAES...5...71L. doi:10.1016/0895-9811(92)90060-C.
  24. ^ Aspden, John A.; Litherland, Martin (30 April 1992). "The geology and Mesozoic collisional history of the Cordillera Real, Ecuador". Tectonophysics. 205 (1–3): 187–204. Bibcode:1992Tectp.205..187A. doi:10.1016/0040-1951(92)90426-7.
  25. ^ "El complejo de napas Cuyuja de la Cordillera Real, Ecuador". Boletín Geológico Ecuatoriano. 3 (1): 57–61. 1992. Archived from the original on 30 September 2011.
  26. ^ "La geología del cerro hermoso de los Llanganates". Boletín Geológico Ecuatoriano. 2 (1): 47–52. 1991. Archived from the original on 30 September 2011.
  27. ^ "Las ofiolitas de Peltetec y su significado en laevolución geológica del Ecuador". Boletín Geológico Ecuatoriano. 3 (1): 43–46. 1992. Archived from the original on 30 September 2011.
  28. ^ Litherland, Martin; Aspen, John A; Eguez, Arturo (21–23 September 1993), The Geotectonic Evolution of Ecuador in the Phanerozoic (PDF), Oxford (UK): The Second ISAG
  29. ^ "Supplement to the London Gazette" (PDF). London Gazette. 31 December 1992. p. 18. Dr. M. Litherland. For services to geological surveying in Ecuador
  30. ^ Tourists' Rock, Fossil and Mineral Map of Great Britain: New publications from Earthwise (PDF), British Geological Survey
  31. ^ Robinson, Eric; Litherland, Martin (1 January 1999). Greenwich: Holiday Geology Guide. British Geological Survey. ISBN 978-0852723272.
  32. ^ Robinson, Eric; Litherland, Martin (1 January 1999). The Tower: Holiday Geology Guide. British Geological Survey. ISBN 978-0852723272.

Ref. 21 authors LITHERLAND, M., ASPDEN, J.A., and JEMIELITA, R.A.

External links[edit]

  • "Fossil focus". British Geological Survey. These pages describe the major fossil groups that are commonly found.
  • "Holiday Geology Guides". British Geological Survey. Why does an area look the way it does?