Nathaniel Wetherell
Encyclopedia
Dr. Nathaniel Thomas Wetherell MRCS
FGS
(September 6, 1800 - December 22, 1875) was a British
geologist
and surgeon
. His work involved the collection of various fossil
s found in England
. He was born, lived, and died in Highgate
, England.
Wetherell discovered a strange mixture of rocks and fossils of northern provenance in Coldfall Wood
, Muswell Hill
in 1835. This led subsequently to the recognition that glaciation had affected southern England.
Membership of the Royal College of Surgeons
MRCS is a professional qualification for surgeons in the UK and IrelandIt means Member of the Royal College of Surgeons. In the United Kingdom, doctors who gain this qualification traditionally no longer use the title 'Dr' but start to use the title 'Mr', 'Mrs', 'Miss' or 'Ms'.There are 4 surgical...
FGS
Geological Society of London
The Geological Society of London is a learned society based in the United Kingdom with the aim of "investigating the mineral structure of the Earth"...
(September 6, 1800 - December 22, 1875) was a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
geologist
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
and surgeon
Surgeon
In medicine, a surgeon is a specialist in surgery. Surgery is a broad category of invasive medical treatment that involves the cutting of a body, whether human or animal, for a specific reason such as the removal of diseased tissue or to repair a tear or breakage...
. His work involved the collection of various fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
s found in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. He was born, lived, and died in Highgate
Highgate
Highgate is an area of North London on the north-eastern corner of Hampstead Heath.Highgate is one of the most expensive London suburbs in which to live. It has an active conservation body, the Highgate Society, to protect its character....
, England.
Wetherell discovered a strange mixture of rocks and fossils of northern provenance in Coldfall Wood
Coldfall wood
Coldfall Wood is an ancient wood in Muswell Hill, North London. It covers an area of approximately 14 hectares and is surrounded by the St. Pancras and Islington Cemetery, the East Finchley public allotments, and the residential roads Creighton Avenue and Barrenger Road...
, Muswell Hill
Muswell Hill
Muswell Hill is a suburb of north London, mostly in the London Borough of Haringey. It is situated about north of Charing Cross and around from the City of London. Muswell Hill is in the N10 postal district and mostly in the Hornsey and Wood Green parliamentary constituency.- History :The...
in 1835. This led subsequently to the recognition that glaciation had affected southern England.
External links
- http://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/darwinletters/namedefs/namedef-5078.htmlDarwin Project: Wetherell's correspondence with Charles DarwinCharles DarwinCharles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
]
Selected bibliography
- Wetherell N.T., 1852, Note on a new species of ClionitesCeratitidaThe Ceratitida is an order that contains almost all ammonoid cephalopod genera from the Triassic as well as ancestral forms from the Upper Permian, the exception being the phylloceratids which gave rise to the great diversity of post Triassic ammonites....
(With a Plate.), Annals and Magazine of Natural History 1852. Vol. 10 Jul.-Dec. No. LIX. (No. 59. November 1852.) XXXIII. p. 354. - Wetherell N.T., 1859, On the Structure of some of the Siliceous NodulesFlintFlint is a hard, sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as a variety of chert. It occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalks and limestones. Inside the nodule, flint is usually dark grey, black, green, white, or brown in colour, and...
of the ChalkChalkChalk is a soft, white, porous sedimentary rock, a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite. Calcite is calcium carbonate or CaCO3. It forms under reasonably deep marine conditions from the gradual accumulation of minute calcite plates shed from micro-organisms called coccolithophores....
, Quarterly Journal of the Geological SocietyGeological Society of LondonThe Geological Society of London is a learned society based in the United Kingdom with the aim of "investigating the mineral structure of the Earth"...
1859 vol 15 issue 1-2 p. 193. - Wetherell N.T., 1859, On the occurrence of Graphularia Wetherellii in Nodules from the London ClayLondon ClayThe London Clay Formation is a marine geological formation of Ypresian age which crops out in the southeast of England. The London Clay is well known for the fossils it contains. The fossils from the Lower Eocene indicate a moderately warm climate, the flora being tropical or subtropical...
and the Crag, Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society 1859 vol 15: p. 30-32.