Ernest de Koven Leffingwell

Infobox_Scientist
name = Ernest de Koven Leffingwell


birth_date = 1876
birth_place = Knoxville, Illinois
death_date =
death_place =
nationality = American
field =
work_institution =
alma_mater = University of Chicago
doctoral_advisor =
doctoral_students =
known_for =
prizes =
footnotes =

Ernest de Koven Leffingwell was a polar explorer and geologist. He created the first accurate map of a section of Alaskan coastline. He was the first to scientifically describe permafrost and to pose theories about permafrost which have largely proven true. He accurately identified the oil potential of the area.

He led the science staff in the 1901 Baldwin-Ziegler Polar Expedition out of Greenland.

Together with Ejnar Mikkelsen he was on the Anglo-American Polar Expedition of 1906-1908 which aimed to explore the Beaufort Sea, but which fared badly. Its ship, the Dutchess of Bedford, was locked in pack ice and destroyed.

During the period from 1906 to 1914, Leffingwell spent 9 summers and 6 winters on the Arctic coast of Alaska, making 31 trips by dog sled and/or small boats.

The Leffingwell Camp Site located on a remote barrier island off Alaska, was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1978.cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1189&ResourceType=Site
title=Leffingwell Camp Site |accessdate=2008-01-05|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service] citation|title=PDFlink| [http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Text/71001093.pdf National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Leffingwell Camp] |294 KB|date=September 18, 1987 |author=Susan Morton |publisher=National Park Service and PDFlink| [http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Photos/71001093.pdf "Accompanying 12 photos from 1909, 1971, 1975."] |3.47 MB]

References

External links

* [http://explorenorth.com/articles/mushing-leffingwell.html "Retracing Leffingwell: A 5-Month Journey in the Alaskan Arctic by Dog Sled", by Joe Henderson]