Edward A. "Ted" Irving, CMFRSCFRS (27 May 1927 – 25 February 2014) was a British-Canadian geologist. He was a scientist with the Geological Survey of Canada. His studies of paleomagnetism provided the first physical evidence of the theory of continental drift. His efforts contributed to our understanding of how mountain ranges, climate, and life have changed over the past millions of years.[1][4]
When Irving started his graduate studies, the history of the Earth's magnetic field was known for the few centuries since the first magnetic observatories had been established. With fellow students Kenneth Creer and Jan Hospers, he looked to extend this record back in time. Irving used a magnetometer,[6] recently designed by Patrick Blackett, to analyze the magnetic directions imparted to rocks by their iron minerals. He found large discrepancies between the directions of the present magnetic field direction and those recorded in Precambrian rock in the highlands of Scotland. He surmised the only explanation could be that Scotland had shifted relative to the geomagnetic pole. Irving also determined that India had moved northward by 6000 km and rotated by more than 30°. These results confirmed the predictions Alfred Wegener had put forth in his theory of continental drift in 1912.[4][7]: 146–147
In 1954, Irving attempted to obtain a PhD for his graduate work.
Unfortunately the field was so new that his doctoral examiners were not familiar enough with the subject matter to recognize his research achievements. They refused to give him the degree.[8]: 41–42 Not having a PhD did not stop him from obtaining a position as a research fellow at the Australian National University in Canberra.
Career
For the next ten years Irving studied Australia's ancient latitudes and published around 30 papers. He was able to demonstrate the continent's southward movement since the Permian period. In 1965, he submitted some of his papers to Cambridge and obtained a ScD, the highest earned degree at the time.[4]
Irving met his wife Sheila while in Australia. She was a Canadian citizen. In 1964, they moved to Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and Irving began work as a research officer for Dominion Observatory with the Department of Mines and Technical Surveys. In 1966, Irving returned to England to teach geophysics at the University of Leeds. He returned to Ottawa in 1967 to work as a research scientist in the Earth Physics Branch of the Department of Energy, Mines, and Resources. In 1981, Irving moved to Sidney, British Columbia, to establish a paleomagnetism laboratory at the Pacific Geoscience Centre with the Earth Physics Branch. The branch would later be incorporated into the Geological Survey of Canada. He mapped the movements of Vancouver Island and other parts of the Cordillera that have moved sideways and rotated relative to the Precambrian Canadian Shield.[4]
In 2005, Irving was semi-retired, investigating the nature of the geomagnetic field in the Precambrian to understand how the crust was being deformed and how the latitudes varied. He and his wife Sheila had four children.[4] He died during the night of 24 February 2014 in Saanich, British Columbia.[5]
Selected works
Irving published a total of 205 papers,[9] including:
— (March 1979). "Paleopoles and paleolatitudes of North America and speculations about displaced terrains". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 16 (3): 669–694. Bibcode:1979CaJES..16..669I. doi:10.1139/e79-065.
—; Woodsworth, G. J.; Wynne, P. J.; Morrison, A. (1985). "Paleomagnetic evidence for displacement from the south of the Coast Plutonic Complex, British Columbia". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 22 (4): 584–598. Bibcode:1985CaJES..22..584I. doi:10.1139/e85-058.
In addition, he published the first book on paleomagnetism:[3]
Frankel, Henry R. (2012). The continental drift controversy: Paleomagnetism and Confirmation of Drift (1. publ. ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN9780521875059.
