Harry Eugene Wheeler (1907 – 26 January 1987) was an American geologist and stratigrapher. Eric Cheney called him "the chief theoretical architect of sequence stratigraphy"[1]
Harry Eugene Wheeler | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1907 Pipestone, Minnesota, United States |
| Died | 26 January 1987 |
| Alma mater | University of Oregon Stanford University |
| Known for | Sequence stratigraphy |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Paleontology, Stratigraphy |
| Institutions | University of Nevada, University of Washington |
Wheeler was a professor of geology at the University of Washington from 1948 until 1976.[2]
Work on stratigraphy
editWheeler's work in the 1950 and 1960s was pivotal in the later development of sequence stratigraphy, which is still used today, for example by petroleum industry geologists.[3] His 1964 paper, Baselevel, Lithosphere Surface, and Time-Stratigraphy[4] evolved the concept of base level to emphasize the continuous spatial and temporal nature of stratigraphy, eventually giving rise to Wheeler diagrams:
But what of stratigraphic discontinuities as manifestations of nondeposition and accompanying erosion? Here we pass into the realm of no less important but completely abstract, area-time framework, in which a discontinuity takes on 'area-time' configuration in the form of the lacuna, which in turn, consists of hiatus and degradation vacuity.
Wheeler diagrams
editThe Wheeler diagram is a spatio-temporal plot, showing the (usually one dimensional) spatial distribution of sedimentary facies through time in a two-dimensional chart. Three-dimensional seismic data allows the construction of three-dimensional Wheeler 'diagrams', but these are rare because of the difficulty of producing them.
References
edit- ^ Cheney, E. (1987). Memorial to Harry Eugene Wheeler, 1907–1987. Washington Division of Geology and Earth Resources Bulletin 77, p 393–395.
- ^ Illman, Deborah L. (1996). Pathbreakers: A Century of Excellence in Science and Technology at the University of Washington. Office of Research, University of Washington.
- ^ Romans, Brian (2007). Theoretical Stratigraphy #1: Wheeler’s baselevel. Post on Clastic Detritus geoblog.
- ^ Wheeler, Harry E. (1964). Baselevel, Lithosphere Surface, and Time-Stratigraphy. Geological Society of America Bulletin 75 (7), p. 599-610. doi:10.1130/0016-7606(1964)75[599:BLSAT2.0.CO;2].
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