Augusto Gansser-Biaggi facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Augusto Gansser-Biaggi
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9 July 1936, Augusto Gansser is back to India, disguised as a pilgrim.
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| Born | 28 October 1910 Milan, Italy
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| Died | 9 January 2012 (aged 101) Massagno TI, Switzerland
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| Nationality | Swiss |
| Alma mater | ETH Zurich |
| Known for | Geology of the Himalayas (1964), Geology of Bhutan Himalaya (1983) |
| Awards | Gustav-Steinmann-Medaille (1982) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | geology, petroleum geology |
| Institutions | Shell, National Iranian Oil Company Professor of Geology, ETH Zurich (1958–1977) |
Augusto Gansser-Biaggi (born October 28, 1910 – died January 9, 2012) was a Swiss geologist. He was famous for his deep studies of the Himalaya Mountains. He was born in Milan, Italy.
Contents
A Life of Discovery
Augusto Gansser-Biaggi spent his life exploring the Earth. He traveled all over the world to study rocks and how our planet was formed.
Exploring the World
His adventures took him to many places:
- He went to East Greenland in 1934 for four months.
- In 1936, he explored the Himalayas for eight months.
- From 1937 to 1945, he worked for Shell in Colombia.
- He also worked for Shell in Trinidad from 1947 to 1950.
- From 1951 to 1958, he was the chief geologist for the National Iranian Oil Company in Iran.
Himalayan Secrets
During his first trip to the Himalayas, Augusto caught a type of malaria in Tibet. After that, he was immune to it for life. He once traveled around Mount Kailash pretending to be a pilgrim. There, he made an amazing discovery! He found rocks that usually form on the ocean floor (called ophiolites) on the side of the mountain. This was a big deal because it showed how the mountains were formed. He later realized this area, called the Indus-Yarlung suture zone, was where two giant pieces of Earth's crust, the Indian Plate and the Eurasian Plate, crashed into each other.
Oil in Iran
In Iran, Augusto used his field notes and air photos to find a special area. After four tries, the fifth drilling was successful. On August 26, 1956, it became the largest known "wildcat" oil gusher (a huge burst of oil from the ground) north of Qom. It was 3,000 meters deep and produced 80,000 tons of oil per day! The gas caught fire on September 13, but the well eventually closed itself.
Teaching and More Expeditions
From 1958 to 1977, Augusto was a geology professor at a famous university in Zurich, Switzerland. From there, he continued his research in the Himalayas, visiting Nepal, India, and Bhutan. He led five expeditions to Bhutan between 1963 and 1977. In 1980 and 1985, he was even invited to Tibet by Deng Xiaoping, a leader from China.
Family Life
After his first Himalayan trip, Augusto married Linda Biaggi, who was called Toti, from Lugano. They had six children: Ursula, Mario, Luca, Manuela, Francesca, and Rosanna. He even named a mountain peak, Pico Toti, in Colombia after his wife. Linda passed away in 2000. Augusto Gansser-Biaggi lived to be 100 years old, celebrating his birthday on October 28, 2010.
Amazing Achievements
Augusto Gansser-Biaggi received many important awards for his work:
- The Patron's Medal from the Royal Geographical Society in London for his book "The Geology of the Himalayas."
- The Wollaston Medal, which is the highest award from the Geological Society of London.
- The Prix Gaudry, the top award from the French Geological Society.
- The Gustav-Steinmann-Medaille from the Geological Society of West Germany.
- The King Albert Medal of Merit for his mountain research.
- In 1983, the University of Peshawar in Pakistan gave him the special title of "Baba Himalaya," which means "Father of the Himalayas."
- In 2005, he became an honorary member of the Nepal Geological Society.
