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OCR for page 249
CHESTER RAY LONGWELL
October 15, ISS7-December 15, 1975
BY3OHN RODGERS
CHESTER LONGWELL, the son of John Kilgore and Julia
(Megown) Longwell, was born in 1887 near the settle-
ment of Spalcling in northeastern Missouri, in the Mark
Twain country, an association that he lover! to recall and that
colored his speech, his many anecdotes, and perhaps even
this way of thinking about life. He did not go to college
immediately after high school but spent seven years working,
partly at various jobs in the Far West, partly on the farm or
teaching school at home in Missouri. He then went to the
University of Missouri (Columbia), completing a bachelor's
degree (with honors) in 1915 and a master's degree the fol-
lowing year. In 1940 the University honored its by then suc-
cessful alumnus with an LL.D. degree.
From Missouri he went to Yale as a graduate student in
geology, but the First World War interrupted his studies, and
he spent two years in the U.S. Army, part of it overseas,
emerging as a captain. At the time of his death, more than
fifty years later, one of his fellow regimental officers wrote:
"His composure under unusual circumstances made all of-
ficers of the regiment admire and respect him."* After
returning from the war, he completed his graduate work at
Yale and was awarded a Ph.D. degree in 1920.
* Henry Broyce to Mrs. Irene Longwell, 1976.
249
OCR for page 250
250
B I OGRAPH I CA L M E M OI RS
For his doctoral dissertation Longwell worked for five
months (summer and fall of 1919) in the Muddy Mountains
ant! vicinity, then a virtually unknown corner of southern
Nevada; indeed in his report on the region he mentions the
"strong appeal to the geologist" of an area "practically un-
mapped" (even topographically) and with "the lure of the
unknown." The area was primitive, travel was by mule or
horse, water was very scarce, and isolation was the rule. He
made his camp where he could, often with local hermits or
prospectors or with the Indians of the region; it is character-
istic of the man that decades later they would remember him
with affection.
During those five months he made major discoveries that
opened a new chapter in geological exploration of the Great
Basin. By subdividing the Cenozoic (reposits of the area, he
showed that strong tilting and other cleformation, some of it
contemporaneous with deposition, produced angular uncon-
formities within the Cenozoic sequence, a new result at the
time. Furthermore he showed that the Paleozoic ant! lower
Mesozoic stratigraphic sequence in the southern Great Basin,
while it can be matcher! to some degree with the welI-known
sequence on the adjacent Colorado Plateau, is much thicker
and more complete in other words, that it is geosynclinal.
Perhaps his most spectacular result was the demonstration of
large low-angle thrust faults involving this thick Paleozoic-
Mesozoic sequence; such faults were then known no nearer
than southeastern Tciaho anti adjacent Wyoming and Utah.
Subsequent work, much of which was inspirer! by Longwell,
has macle clear that the belt of such thrusting is continuous
from southeastern California, through the Mucicly Moun-
tains region to Idaho, and indeed far beyond! into Canada,
always associated, as in Longwell's area, with the zone of
westward thickening of the stratigraphic sequence into the
geosyncline.
OCR for page 251
CHESTER RAY LONGWELL
25
In 1920 Longwell was appointed to the faculty of Yale
University ancI also became a member ("when actually em-
ployocI") of the U.S. Geological Survey; he retained both
connections throughout his career. At Yale he acivancec3
steadily to a professorship in 1929 and was chairman of the
Department of Geology for eight years, including the cliffi-
cult perioc! of the Second World War when the university was
in continuous session and leaves were not taken thus he
taught and aciministerec! "around the clock" for several years.
Except during those years, however, he continued a very
active program of field work, mainly, though not entirely, in
southern Nevacia ant! vicinity, and he made many acIditional
major contributions to the geology of the region up to and
long after his official "retirement" in 1956. He mapped the
floor of the Boulder Dam reservoir (Lake Mead) and the
Davis Dam reservoir (Lake Mojave) before they were flooclec!
and restudied the Muddy Mountains anct other ranges near-
by, in particular the high Spring Mountains west of Las
Vegas, where the thrust belt he discovered is well displayed.
When he approaches] retirement, he chose to move to
California in order to be closer to his field area and to be able
to work there at all times of year, ant! he continued active
field work well into his eighties. Many former students and
other younger geologists have testifier! to their inability to
keep up with him during those years. In 1974 they organized
a symposium in his honor at a meeting in Las Vegas. Charac-
teristically, Longwell gave an outstanding research paper at
that symposium, consolidating the evidence for a major
strike-slip fault zone in the Las Vegas Valley, an Plea he
clevelopecT largely in his retirement years.
During his years in New Haven, Longwell clid not neglect
Connecticut geology. Picking up where his Yale predecessor,
Joseph Barrell, tract been interrupted by his early cleath, he
clemonstrated the contemporaneity and close genetic associa-
OCR for page 252
252
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
tion of faulting and deposition in the Newark (Triassic) basin
of Massachusetts and Connecticut and, by implication, in the
other Newark basins, an idea close to one he had demon-
stratect in his cloctoral dissertation for the Cenozoic deposits
in southern Nevacia. Furthermore, he was one of the first to
see the value to structural geologists of geophysical data,
especially gravity measurements, ant! he pursued this subject
through a series of related papers. Such work led on to the
subject of isostasy, and an article of his was in good part
responsible for the rehabilitation of Airy's "roots-of-
mountains" concept in crustal structure.
Teaching structural geology naturally led into erogenic
theory, and L.ongwell kept abreast of new syntheses and
hypotheses in this fielcl, especially in Europe, although he
never attempter! a synthesis of his own. He took an active part
in the long clebate over continental ctrift and was indeed
invited by S. Warren Carey to represent northern-hemi-
sphere skepticism at the Tasmania symposium (1956) that
prececled (and helpect to trigger) the turning of the ticle.
Longwell took an active part in the organizational side of
geology. Even before his election to the National Academy of
Sciences (1935), he was active in the National Research Coun-
cil, and he served as chairman of its Division of Geology and
Geography for three years. One of his activities as chairman
of the Tectonics Committee of this division was to urge and
organize the work on the first large tectonic map of the
Uniter! States, the execution of which was entrusted to Philip
B. King, whose small-scale tectonic map of 1932 had stimu-
lateci the project. Longwell was also active in the Geological
Society of America and was elected its president for 1949. In
1948 he agreed to take over the editorship of the American
Journal of Science "Silliman's journal," the oIclest scientific
periodical in America, but now clevoted to the geological
OCR for page 253
CHESTER RAY LONGWELL
253
sciences. He enlistecI the present writer as an assistant, leav-
ing him in charge on departing for California. His insistence
on improving standarcis for publication was influential in
maintaining the journal's position as a leading geological
journal.
Naturally Longwell taught and worked with a great many
graduate students; it is quite remarkable how many of those
students themselves came to eminent positions in geology.
Already, eight of them have followoct Longwell into the
National Academy of Sciences; five have been, like him,
president of the Geological Society of America; ant! five have
receives! the highest honor in North American geology, the
Penrose Mecial. He was also active in teaching elementary
geology at Yale, and after Pirsson's (leash he inherited the
"Yale" textbook of Physical Geology, which, as L.ongwell,
Knopf, and Flint, dominatecT the textbook field for a decade
or so. into another textbook, compilecT of quotations from
original sources by Agar, Flint, and Longwell, he inserted
several passages from his favorite Mark Twain. He also
edited a popular guide to the geology around Connecticut.
Professor Longwell was married in 1921 to Doris Smith
but was divorced in 1931. He was marries! again in 1935 to
Irene Moffat. When he and his family moved to California in
1955, he established himself, appropriately enough, on Mark
Twain Street in Palo Alto. in California he was welcomed into
the active Geological Survey group at Menio Park and the
faculty at the School of Earth Sciences of Stanford University,
which he served as research associate ant! consulting profes-
sor. He retained his activity and his ebullient spirits (and bad
puns) to the very end, and many of his California associates
celebratecl his eighty-eighth birthday with him on 15 October
1975. He diec! two months later. He is survives] by his wife,
three children, five grandchildren, and by innumerable
former students anti friencls.
OCR for page 254
254 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
~ AM DEEPLY APPRECIATIVE for the help I have received in prepar-
ing this memoir from Mrs. Irene Longwell. I have also made use of
material gathered by Ward C. Smith, Arthur D. Howard, and
Professor Longwell's brother, Dean Bohr Harwood Longwell; I am
grateful to them for permitting me to use it.
OCR for page 255
CHESTER RAY LONGWELL
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1921
255
Geology of the Muddy Mountains, Nevada, with a section to the
Grand Wash Cliffs in western Arizona. Am..~. Sci., 5th ser.
1:39-62.
With Everett O. Waters. A practical method for determining dip
and strike. Econ. Geol., 16:405-9.
1922
The Muddy Mountain overthrust in southeastern Nevada. I. Geol.,
30:63-72.
Notes on the structure of the Triassic rocks in southern Connecti-
cut. Am. }. Sci., 5th ser. 4:223-36.
With H. D. Miser, R. C. Moore, and Sidney Paige. Geology of the
Colorado River in southeastern Utah. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull.,
33: 122-23(A).
1923
With Hugh D. Miser, Raymond C. Moore, Kirk Bryan, and Sidney
Paige. Rock formations in the Colorado Plateau of southeastern
Utah and northern Arizona. US Geol. Surv. Prof. Pap., 132-A.
23 pp.
Kober's theory of orogeny. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull., 34:231~1.
1924
Thrust faults and flaws in southern Nevada. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull.,
35:64~65(A).
1925
Geological significance of isostasy and gravity measurements: a re-
view. Geogr. Rev., 15:123-29.
The pre-Triassic unconformity in southern Nevada. Am. I. Sci., 5th
ser. 10:93-106.
Complex structure in the Spring Mountains, Nevada. Geol. Soc.
Am. Bull., 36:150(A).
1926
Structural studies in southern Nevada and western Arizona. Geol.
Soc. Am. Bull., 37:551-83.
OCR for page 256
256
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
1927
Geophysical problems of general interest: a survey of recent litera-
ture. Geogr. Rev., 17:467-75.
1928
Three common types of desert mud-cracks. Am. I. Sci., 5th ser.
15: 136~5.
Geology of the Muddy Mountains, Nevada, with a section through
the Virgin Range to the Grand Wash Cliffs, Arizona. US Geol.
Surv. Bull., 798. 152 pp.
Some physical tests of the displacement hypothesis. In: Theory of
Continental Drift, pp. 14~57. Tulsa, Okla.: American Associa-
tion of Petroleum Geologists.
Lessons from the St. Francis Dam. Science, 68:36-37.
The Triassic of Connecticut. Am. l. Sci., 5th ser. 16:259-63.
Herschel's view of isostatic adjustment. Am. I. Sci., 5th ser.
16:451-53.
1929
William North Rice, 184~1928. Am. l. Sci., 5th ser. 17: 100.
Obituary: Thomas Chrowder Chamberlin. Geogr. Rev., l9: 164-65.
With William M. Agar and Richard F. Flint. Geology from Original
Sources. New York: Henry Holt. 527 pp.
With Louis V. Pirsson. ~4 Textbook of Geology, part I, Physical Geology,
3d rev. ed. New York: John Wiley & Sons. 488 pp.
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1930
Outlines of Physical Geology. New York: John Wiley & Sons. 376 pp.
Some problems of mountain structure and mountain history. Am.
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Faulted fans west of the Sheep Range, southern Nevada. Am. J.
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The "oscillation theory" of diastrophism. Am. J. Sci., Sth ser.
20:217-20.
1931
Bemerkungen zur Oszillationstheorie uber Diastrophismus. Dtsch.
Geol. Ges. Z., 83:332-36.
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CHESTER RAY LONGWELL
Meteor Crater is not a limestone sink. Science, 73:234-35.
1932
257
With Adolph Knopf and Richard F. Flint. A l extbook of Geology, part
I, Physical Geology. New York: John Wiley & Sons. 514 pp. (2d
ea., 543 pp., 1939; 3d ea., 602 pp., 1948.)
With Edward S. Dana. Walks and Rides in Central Connecticut and
Massachusetts. New Haven, Conn.: Tuttle, Morehouse, and Tay-
lor. 229 pp.
With Charles Schuchert. Paleozoic deformations of the Hudson
Valley region, New York. Am. J. Sci., 5th ser. 23:305-26.
The Muddy Mountain thrust in fact and in fiction. Science
76:99-100.
1933
With Rudolf Ruedemann, Robert Balk, Arthur Keith, and George
W. Bain. Eastern New York and Western New England, Guidebook
1, 16th Internat. Geol. Congress, Washington, D.C.: US Geo-
logical Survey. 118 pp.
Rotated faults in the Desert Range, Nevada. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull.,
44:93(A).
Thrust faults of peculiar type. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull., 44:93(A).
Memorial to John Walter Gregory, 1864-1922. Geol. Soc. Am.
Bull., 44:414-15.
Meaning of the term "roches moutonnees." Am. J. Sci., 5th ser.
25:503-4.
1934
With Adolph Knopf and Richard F. Flint. Outlines of Physical Geol-
ogy. New York: John Wiley & Sons. 356 pp. (2d ea., 381 pp.,
1941.)
Proposed tectonic map of the United States. Science, 80:427-28.
1935
Is the "roots-of-mountains" concept dead? Am. I. Sci., 5th ser.
29:81-92.
1936
With Carl O. Dunbar. Problems of Pennsylvanian-Permian boun-
OCR for page 258
258
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
dary in southern Nevada. Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol. Bull., 20:
1198-207.
Geology of the Boulder Reservoir floor, Arizona-Nevada. Geol.
Soc. Am. Bull., 47: 1393-476.
1937
Sedimentation in relation to faulting. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull.,
48:433-41.
Carbonation and carbonitization. Science, 85:333-34.
Geological interpretation of gravity anomalies. Geol. Soc. Am.
Proc., 1936:86-87(A).
With John F. Mason and John C. Hazzard. Sequence of Cambrian
faunas in the southern Great Basin. Geol. Soc. Am. Proc., 1936:
366-67(A).
1938
The Basin Range problem. Trans. N.Y. Acad. Sci.,2d ser. 1: 17-20.
Geologic interpretation of gravity-anomalies in the northeastern
United States. Trans. Am. Geophys. Union, 19th Ann. Mtg.,
part 1, p. 84.
1939
Origin of mountains, or how mountains rise. I n: Frontiers of Geology,
pp. 19-22. New York: Geological Society of America.
Thrust faults of southern Nevada photographed in color. Geol.
Soc. Am. Bull., 50: l 919(A).
With Charles H. Behre, Jr. New tectonic map of the United States:
progress report. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull., 50:2001(A).
1940
Relative roles of geology and geophysics in determination of crustal
structure. Trans. Am. Geophys. Union, 21st Ann. Mtg., pp.
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William Bowie, 1872-1940. Am. J. Sci., 238:889-90.
Problems of orogeny. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull., 51:2001(A).
1941
Geology. In: Development of the Sciences, pp. 147-96. New Haven.
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OCR for page 259
CHESTER RAY LONGWELL
259
Muddy Mountain, Nevada, belt of thrusting restudied. Geol. Soc.
Am. Bull., 52: 1920-21 (A).
1942
The dating of diastrophic events in southern Nevada. Trans. N.Y.
Acad. Sci., Ed ser. 5:21-22.
1943
Geologic interpretation of gravity anomalies in the southern New
England-Hudson Valley region. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull., 54:
555-90.
Classification of faults. Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol. Bull., 27: 1633- 40.
1944
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1945
The mechanics of orogeny. Am. I. Sci., 243-A:417-47.
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OCR for page 260
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BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
1949
Geology submarine. Un amplio campo de investigation: Cienc.
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Structure in the Arizona-Nevada boundary area. Geol. Soc. Am.
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1950
Tectonic theory viewed from the Basin Ranges. Geol. Soc. Am.
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Charles Hyde Warren (187~19501. Am. Philos. Soc. Year Book,
1950:328-33.
1951
Memorial to Edward Bayer Branson, 1877-1950. Geol. Soc. Am.
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249:343-55.
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1952
Basin and range geology west of the St. George Basin, Utah.
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Structure of the Muddy Mountains, Nevada. Guideb. Geol. Utah,
7: 109-14.
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1953
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27~81.
OCR for page 261
CHESTER RAY LONGWELL
1954
261
Memorial to Herbert Ernest Gregory (1869-1952~. Geol. Soc. Am.
Proc., 1953: 115-23.
Review of the tectogene concept. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull., 65: 1279(A).
Origin of the word Climate. Science, 120:355.
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1955
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683-87.
1956
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New York: Columbia Univ. Press for the National Academy of
~ -
~clences.
1957
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1958
Clarence Edward Dutton, 1841-1912. In: Biographical Memoirs,
32: 132-45. New York: Columbia Univ. Press for the National
Academy of Sciences.
My estimate of the continental drift concept. In: ContinentalDr~ft-
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1960
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1962
Restudy of the Arrowhead fault, Muddy Mountains, Nevada. US
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262
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
1963
Reconnaissance geology between Lake Mead and Davis Dam,
Arizona-Nevada. US Geol. Surv. Prof. Pap. 374-E. 51 pp.
1964
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1965
With George B. Maxey. Geology in vicinity of Las Vegas, Nevada:
Frenchman Mtn. and Spring Range. First Basin and Range
Geology Field Conference. Mackay School of Mines, Reno,
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Bull., 62. 218 pp.
1967
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dated by conodonts. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull., 78:405-11.
1971
Measure of lateral movement on Las Vegas shear zone, Nevada.
Geol. Soc. Am. Abstr., 3:152.
With R. E. Anderson, Richard L. Armstrong, and others. Signif~-
cance of K-Ar ages of Tertiary rocks from the Lake Mead
region, Nevada-Arizona. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull., 83:273-87.
1974
Large-scale lateral faulting in southern Nevada. Geol. Soc. Am.
Abstr., 6:209.
Measure and date of movement on Las Vegas Valley shear zone,
Clark County, Nevada. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull., 85:985-89.
OCR for page 263
