Väinö Auer (ˈʋæinø ˈɑu.er) (January 7, 1895 in Helsinki, Russian Empire – March 20, 1981 in Helsinki, Finland), the son of senator Kyösti Auer, was a Finnish 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 geographer

Geography

Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...

, chiefly remembered as an explorer of Tierra del Fuego

Tierra del Fuego

Tierra del Fuego is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of a main island Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego divided between Chile and Argentina with an area of , and a group of smaller islands including Cape...

 and Patagonia

Patagonia

Patagonia is a region located in Argentina and Chile, integrating the southernmost section of the Andes mountains to the southwest towards the Pacific ocean and from the east of the cordillera to the valleys it follows south through Colorado River towards Carmen de Patagones in the Atlantic Ocean...

. He is also noted for his pioneering studies on tephrochronology

Tephrochronology

250px|thumb|right|Tephra horizons in south-central [[Iceland]]. The thick and light coloured layer at the height of the [[volcanologists]] hands is [[rhyolitic]] [[tephra]] from [[Hekla]]....

, desertification

Desertification

Desertification is the degradation of land in drylands. Caused by a variety of factors, such as climate change and human activities, desertification is one of the most significant global environmental problems.-Definitions:...

, and the development of bog

Bog

A bog, quagmire or mire is a wetland that accumulates acidic peat, a deposit of dead plant material—often mosses or, in Arctic climates, lichens....

s.

Auer studied at the University of Helsinki

University of Helsinki

The University of Helsinki is a university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but was founded in the city of Turku in 1640 as The Royal Academy of Turku, at that time part of the Swedish Empire. It is the oldest and largest university in Finland with the widest range of disciplines available...

, graduating BSc (1917), MSc (1918), and PhD (1923). His studies were interrupted by the Finnish Civil War

Finnish Civil War

The Finnish Civil War was a part of the national, political and social turmoil caused by World War I in Europe. The Civil War concerned control and leadership of The Grand Duchy of Finland as it achieved independence from Russia after the October Revolution in Petrograd...

, where he saw action in 1918. Auer became a professor of geography at the University of Helsinki in 1929.

While holding his professorship Auer launched expeditions to Tierra del Fuego in 1928-1929, and to Patagonia in 1937-1938. Following the end of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 he relocated to Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 in 1946, entering the service of the Argentine government as an advisor to the Juan Peron

Juan Perón

Juan Domingo Perón was an Argentine military officer, and politician. Perón was three times elected as President of Argentina though he only managed to serve one full term, after serving in several government positions, including the Secretary of Labor and the Vice Presidency...

 regime and the Central Bank

Banco Central de la República Argentina

-Overview:Established by six Acts of Congress enacted on May 28, 1935, the bank replaced Argentina's Currency board, which had been in operation since 1890...

, among other functions. During his years in Argentina, Auer continued his earlier studies on the natural history of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, while advising the Argentine government in matters related to land use and colonization of the country’s southern frontier.

Auer returned to Finland in 1953. In the last years of his professional career, he served as a professor of geography (1953-1957), and of geology and palaeontology (1957-1963) at the University of Helsinki.

A documentary film about the life and work of Väinö Auer in Finland and Latin America was published on 2007 and broadcast on Magellan Chile. Auer was geographer, explorer and above all swamp geologist. His swamp auger reached the central, post ice age layers of earth’s climate history in Canada, Finland, Tierra del Fuego and Patagonia. The film travels in time to the different stages of Auer’s life: in the swamps and wilderness of Finland, the peculiar shallow swamps of Tierra del Fuego and the Patagonian pampas that are whipped by dusty winds.

The documentary film is based on Auer’s diary entries and articles. Through them, it also takes a tour of dramatic human history in the 20th century. In that perspective he confesses his involvement in the construction of a German submarine base in Tierra del Fuego in 1943, which, if true, makes a remarkable rewriting of knowledge of the Second World War.

Publications

For a complete list cf. Alhonen & Alhonen (2006).

Auer, V. (1960) The Quaternary History of Fuego-Patagonia. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 152.

Auer, V. (1956-1970) The Pleistocene of Fuego-Patagonia. Parts I-V. Annales Academiae Scientarum Fennicae A III, 45, 50, 60, 80, 100, 1300 pp.