EDITORIAL

ALPS AS INSPIRATION DOI: 10.2138/gselements.17.1.3

Looking down on the Otto Ampferer (1875–1947)—a figure central to Earth from space, the the scientific controversies at the heart of this PRINCIPAL EDITORS Alps appear to be a small, issue of Elements—was also an important con­ JOHN M. EILER, Caltech, USA ([email protected]) and possibly unim­ tributor to this tradition (Fig. 1). Born and raised RICHARD J. HARRISON, University of portant, adornment to in the Tyrol (the Alpine region at the borders of Cambridge, UK ([email protected]) the tremendous girdle of Italy, Austria, and Switzerland), Ampferer spent REBECCA A. LANGE, University of Michigan, “Alpide” orogens that the entirety of his career working in the Alps, USA ([email protected]) stretch the full width of most of that time as a member of the Austrian EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE John Eiler the southern margin of geological survey. He was a paragon of field map­ BLANCA BAULUZ, Sociedad Española the Eurasian continent. ping and mountaineering, exploring the chal­ di Mineralogía But seen up close, and with his­ lenging Alpine landscape in COSTANZA BONADIMAN, Società Italiana di Mineralogia e Petrologia torical perspective, the Alps a way that reached into every CATHERINE CORRIGAN, Meteoritical Society punch far above their weight. nook and cranny and every ele­ ALICIA CRUZ-URIBE, International From the deepest prehistory of ment of its geology. Ampferer Association of Geoanalysts our hominid ancestors to the was an early exponent of the SYLVIE DEMOUCHY, Société Française de Minéralogie et de Cristallographie modern age, the Alps have been nappe theory for the develop­ KATERINA M. DONTSOVA, The Clay Minerals a formidable barrier to trade, ment of large-scale structures Society communication, migration, in mountain belts; even more BARBARA L. DUTROW, Mineralogical and conquest across the small, importantly, he was the origi­ Society of America but storied, “peninsula” of nator of a theory of sub-crustal DANIEL J. FROST, European Association of Geochemistry, Chair Europe—a fact brought home currents in the interior of the JÖRG HERMANN, Swiss Geological Society for me when I recently toured a solid earth—something that, to MARK E. HODSON, Mineralogical Society museum in Bolzano (Italy) ded­ the modern ear, sounds suspi­ of Great Britain and Ireland icated to the life and remains of ciously like mantle convection HEATHER JAMIESON, Mineralogical Association of Canada “Ötzi”, a man who met his end (Fig. 2). Ampferer imagined SIMON M. JOWITT, International Association five thousand years ago in the that these interior flows drive on the Genesis of Ore Deposits high peaks and ice fields of the deformation by dragging the KLAUS MEZGER, Deutsche Mineralogische Ötztal Alps. crust into regions of conver­ Gesellschaft gence and divergence, in places MAREK MICHALIK, Mineralogical Society Given the thousands of years of Poland leading to a form of subduc­ that humans have traversed RITSURO MIYAWAKI, Japan Association tion and associated orogeny. the wonders of the Alpine land­ Otto Ampferer, c. 1900. of Mineralogical Sciences Figure 1 Ampferer’s idea of subduction RYAN R.P. NOBLE, Association of Applied scape, it feels fitting that many Geochemists of the first modern-sounding ORFAN SHOUAKAR-STASH, International Association of GeoChemistry scientific murmurings about Earth materials th SASHA TURCHYN, Geochemical Society and history came from 17 century thinkers, such as René Descartes, Agostino Scilla, Gottfried EXECUTIVE EDITOR Wilhelm Leibniz and Nicolas Steno, who lived Ampferer’s schematic illustrating the JODI J. ROSSO ([email protected]) Figure 2 near, travelled through, or who simply explored division and movement of crust by EDITORIAL OFFICE the Alps. And that first flowering of geology as its ascending and descending undercurrents. From own discipline, in the 18th century, was largely Ampferer (1941) driven by scientists at Alps-accessible French and Swiss institutions. Key figures such as Jean-André differed from what is usually meant by that term Deluc and Horace Bénédict de Saussure were dedi­ today, and might be minimized as just one of 2710 Crimson Way, Floyd 263 cated mountaineers who helped shape both the Richland, WA 99354-1671, USA several loosely similar ideas that preceded the human exploration of Alpine landscapes and Tel/Fax: (509) 420-5331 (UTC-8) plate tectonic revolution. But in this issue, we the emerging field of the geosciences through Layout: POULIOT GUAY GRAPHISTES see his thoughts, first developed in reaction to Copy editor: PATRICK ROYCROFT a combination of the locals’ love for their land­ simply walking and observing the Alpine land­ Proofreader: PATRICK ROYCROFT scape, athletic daring, and the then-new spirit of Printer: ALLEN PRESS scape, reflected, tested, and adapted using the scientific inquiry. Louis Agassiz was arguably the The publishers assume no responsibility for most modern geophysical, petrological, and geo­ greatest of these figures; though he spent much any statement of fact or opinion expressed chemical data. Geology can be seen as a scientific in the published material. The appearance of his career in the United States, he was born response to the human urge to connect with the of advertising in this magazine does not in western Switzerland and launched his pro­ constitute endorsement or approval of the beauties and mysteries of the landscapes in which quality or value of the products or of the claims fessorial career at the University of Neuchâtel we live. Nowhere do I see this idea more strongly made for them. (Switzerland). During the decade that he spent than in the story of Tyrol native Otto Ampferer living and working in Switzerland, the Alps pro­ elementsmagazine.org and the Alpine peaks in which he was able to see vided the springboard for two of his greatest some hint of the Earths’ dynamic inner life. scientific contributions: the systematic study of fossil fish from the Mesozoic limestones that were John Eiler laid down in the Tethys Ocean and were preserved Principal Editor in the nappes of the Helvetic Alps; and the revo­ HOW TO BECOME AN ELEMENTS lutionary theory, inspired by his studies of the REFERENCE PARTICIPATING SOCIETY? moraines of Alpine glaciers, that the Earth had Ampferer O (1941) Gedanken uber das Bewegungsbild Contact Daniel F. Frost previously been subject to a widespread, and long- des Atlantischen Raumes. Sitzungsberichte der Akademie der Wissenschaften Wien 150: 19-35 ([email protected]), lasting, ice age. Elements Executive Committee Chair

Elements 3 February 2021