Franz Kossmat

Franz Kossmat ( 22 August 1871 in Vienna – 1 December 1938 in Leipzig) was an Austrian-German geologist, for twenty years the director of the Geological Survey of Saxony under both the kingdom and the subsequent German Republic.

Kossmat was professor of Mineralogy and Geology at the Graz University of Technology. From 1913 to 1934 Kossmat was the director of the Geological Survey of Saxony and director of the Geological-Paleontological Institute of the University of Leipzig. In 1920 he presented the first gravity measures for middle Europe. It was published in 1921. In his life he published over twenty books himself, and collaborated on numerous others. He is most known for his work on isostasy and his opposition to Wegener's theories of continental drift.

Selected works

* -- (1906) "Paläogeographie : (Geologische Geschichte der Meere und Festländer)" ("The Geological History of the Oceans and Continents")G.J. Göschen, [http://worldcat.org/oclc/11245502 OCLC 11245502] , a second edition was published in 1916.
* -- (1921) "Die mediterranen Kettengebirge in ihrer Beziehung zum Gleichgewichtszustande der Erdrinde" ("The Mediterranean Mountain Chain in its relationship with the Isostasy of the Earth’s Crust ") Abh. d. Math.-Phys. Klasse der Sächs. Akad. d. Wiss. (Proceedings of Math and Physics Classes of the Saxony Academy of Science), vol. 38, no. 2, Teubner, Leipzig
* -- (1936) "Paläogeographie und Tektonik" ("Paleogeography and Tectonics") Gebrüder Borntraeger, Berlin, [http://worldcat.org/oclc/8420779 OCLC 8420779]

References

* Drost, Kerstin (2004) "Franz Kossmat: 1871 - 1938" Dresden Museum für Mineralogie und Geologie, Dresden, [http://worldcat.org/oclc/163338505 OCLC 163338505] , in German

External links

* [http://www.umwelt.sachsen.de/lfug/geologie-la-a_5012.html Photograph of Franz Kossmat] Geological Survey and Archive of Saxony