Marjorie Sweeting facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Marjorie Sweeting
Born	28 February 1920 Fulham, London
Died	31 December 1994 Oxford, England
Resting place	Enstone, Oxfordshire
Scientific career
Fields	Geomorphologist

Marjorie Mary Sweeting (born February 28, 1920 – died December 31, 1994) was a famous British scientist. She was a geomorphologist, which means she studied how the Earth's surface changes and forms. Marjorie was especially interested in something called karst. Karst is a special type of landscape made of limestone that has been shaped by water, creating caves, sinkholes, and underground rivers.

Marjorie Sweeting traveled all over the world to learn about different landscapes. She visited places like Greece, Australia, the United States, Canada, South Africa, and Belize. But she spent a lot of time in China, which was very important for her work. She wrote two major books: Karst Landforms (1972) and Karst in China: its Geomorphology and Environment (1995). Her book about China was the first detailed look at China's karst by a Western scientist. This was a big deal, especially because science was often a field dominated by men at the time.

Early Life and Education

Marjorie May Sweeting was born in Fulham, London, in 1920. Her father, George Scotland Sweeting, was a geology lecturer at Imperial College in London. This likely sparked Marjorie's early interest in Earth science.

She went to Mayfield School for her secondary education. Later, she studied at Newnham College, Cambridge, and graduated in 1941. She continued her studies there, focusing on research. In 1948, she earned her doctorate degree. Her research was about the landforms found in the Ingleborough District of Yorkshire, England, which is known for its limestone features.

Besides her scientific work, Marjorie enjoyed traveling, going to the opera, watching sports, and spending time with friends. She passed away in 1994 at the age of 74 due to cancer. Since she had no close family, she left money to several colleges and scientific societies to support future research.

A Career in Geography

Marjorie Sweeting had a long and successful career at the University of Oxford. She started working at St Hugh's College, Oxford in 1951 as a lecturer and director of geography studies. She also taught and conducted research at Oxford University from 1954 until she retired in 1987.

One of her early research projects was her PhD thesis, which looked at the limestone landforms in the Ingleborough District of Yorkshire. This work helped her become an expert in karst.

Marjorie was involved in many international projects. She worked with the Karst Commission of the International Geographical Union, where she studied how humans affect karst landscapes. She also helped with the International Speleological Union, focusing on how quickly karst landscapes wear away (a process called denudation).

Expeditions and Research

A major highlight of Marjorie's career was leading an expedition to Gunung Mulu in Malaysia from 1977 to 1978. She was the program director for the Landform and Hydrology Survey for the Royal Geographical Society. The goal was to study how quickly land was forming and eroding in a tropical rainforest environment.

Much of Marjorie's early work focused on:

• The shapes of karst landforms.
• How geology controls these shapes.
• The rates at which landscapes wear down.

She also helped show how the types of minerals in rocks affect how quickly they weather. She did field studies and analysis in places like Jamaica and Puerto Rico.

Her book, Karst Landforms (1972), brought together all her knowledge from her travels, her own research, and the work of her students. It also included ideas from her discussions with other leading scientists in limestone studies. This book became a very important guide for karst studies and helped open up new research opportunities, especially in China.

Work in China

Even after retiring, Marjorie Sweeting continued her research, especially in China. This work led to her second major book, Karst in China: its Geomorphology and Environment, which was published in 1995, shortly after she died.

This book was the first detailed account of China's karst by a Western scientist. It was very important because China has some of the most significant limestone regions in the world, which had not been studied much by Western researchers before. Marjorie's work helped scientists understand these unique landscapes better.

Marjorie Sweeting wrote over seventy different scientific papers and books during her life. She was known as one of the most important and influential women geomorphologists of her time. In 1997, a special issue of a science journal called ‘Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie’ was published in her honor, focusing on tropical and subtropical karst.

Inspiring Future Scientists

A big part of Marjorie Sweeting’s career was how much she inspired and taught students. She often organized field trips for her undergraduate students, taking them to explore caves and beautiful karst landscapes.

During her time at Oxford, she guided over thirty graduate students. Many of these students went on to become important contributors to the field of geology, especially in karst studies. Two of her notable students were Margaret Marker and Gillian E. Groom, who both made significant scientific contributions.

Achievements and Awards

Marjorie Sweeting made huge contributions to the study of karst. She received many awards for her groundbreaking work, including:

• The Gill Memorial Prize from the Royal Geographical Society (1955).
• A Certificate of Merit from the National Speleological Society of America (1959).
• Honorary Member of the Cave Research Foundation of America (1969).
• The Busk medal (1980).

In 1977, she was given the special title of "personal readership," which recognized her outstanding research.

To honor her important work, The British Society for Geomorphology created "The Marjorie Sweeting Award" in 2008. This award and a prize of £200 are given to the best undergraduate student paper in geomorphology at any university in the UK.

Other Contributions

During World War II, Marjorie worked as a geography teacher at Howell's School in North Wales. After the war, she was one of only two women on a British national committee that worked to promote the teaching of geology in high schools.

Marjorie used "potholing" (exploring caves) as a fun way to introduce her students to karst systems and caving.

From 1977 onwards, Marjorie worked a lot on the karst landforms of China. This was a huge area to study, as karst covers about one-seventh of the country, more than 500,000 square kilometers! Her work was the first detailed study of China's karst regions by a Western geomorphologist.

Marjorie was recognized not only as a world expert on karst geomorphology but also as a kind and enthusiastic mentor for many generations of students. For much of her career, she was one of only a few female physical geographers in Britain. She worked hard and successfully to build her international scientific reputation in a field that was often dominated by men.