Raphael Pumpelly

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birth_date = 1837
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death_date = 1923
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nationality = American
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field = geology
work_institutions = Harvard University
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Raphael Pumpelly (1837 – 1923) was an American geologist and explorer.

Invited by the respective governments, he surveyed parts of Japan and China. He made the first extensive survey of the Gobi Desert, and explored Mongolia and Siberia.

Later he was Professor of Mining Science at Harvard University. Among his scientific accomplishments was a theory of secular rock disintegration. He was influenced by Louis Agassiz.

The mineral Pumpellyite, a variety of "greenstone" found only in Keweenaw County in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, was named in his honor.

Pumpelly spent his summers near Mount Monadnock, and in 1884 he blazed a trail from his house to the summit that still carries his name. The Pumpelly Trail is considered one of the most scenic on the mountain.

External links

* [http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/information/biography/pqrst/pumpelly_ralph.html Raphael Pumpelly biography]
* [http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/moa/moa-cgi?notisid=ABK9283-0014-121 Pumpelly, "A Mining Adventure in Arizona"] , Putnam's monthly magazine, 1869

* Digital versions (page images) of books by Raphael Pumpelly are available at the [http://dsr.nii.ac.jp/toyobunko/language/en.html.en Toyo Bunko Rare Books Archive] of the Digital Silk Roads Project