John Hainsworth Mercer, 1922-1987
From 1951 until 1954, Mercer studied at McGill University. His Ph.D. thesis, . was based on field work carried out in the vicinity of the Grinnell and Terra Nivea ice caps on southern Baffin Island. . Mercer was highly motivated by field work and literally thrived on it. Typically, and often to the...
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1988
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ftunivcalgaryojs:oai:journalhosting.ucalgary.ca:article/64766 2023-05-15T14:19:13+02:00 John Hainsworth Mercer, 1922-1987 Holdsworth, Gerald Blake, Jr., Weston 1988-01-01 application/pdf https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/64766 eng eng The Arctic Institute of North America https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/64766/48680 https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/64766 ARCTIC; Vol. 41 No. 2 (1988): June: 91–166; 164-165 1923-1245 0004-0843 Biographies Mercer John Hainsworth 1922-1987 Glaciology Ice caps Ice sheets Climate change Scientists Mathematical models Baffin Island Nunavut Polar regions Grinnell Glacier Terra Nivea Ice Cap info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion obituary 1988 ftunivcalgaryojs 2022-03-22T21:21:53Z From 1951 until 1954, Mercer studied at McGill University. His Ph.D. thesis, . was based on field work carried out in the vicinity of the Grinnell and Terra Nivea ice caps on southern Baffin Island. . Mercer was highly motivated by field work and literally thrived on it. Typically, and often to the chagrin of at least one of his contemporaries, Mercer did not unnecessarily burden himself (or others) with loads of data. Many of his papers seemed to be largely based on his unusual synthesizing and perceptive powers, supported, where necessary, by a few, but key, radioisotope dates. Mercer was not a compulsive lecturer - in fact, he shunned such "duties" - but for those of us at the institute as graduate students (of which G.H. was one) Mercer was frequently a source of both private inspiration and considerable amusement. An important paper in 1968 set in motion his and others' ideas on the dynamics of "marine ice sheets" (Mercer, 1968). . His realistic thinking through the ice sheet dynamics scenarios and the associated sea level changes inspired the numerical modellers to dedicate their paper to him. . The results of his field work are of great importance in synthesizing the spatial variations of global climate change, which was one of the underlying themes of Mercer's research. . His stimulating presence will be widely missed, especially by those at the Byrd Polar Research Center in Columbus, Ohio. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Baffin Island Baffin Byrd Polar Research Byrd Polar Research Center Ice cap Ice Sheet Nunavut University of Calgary Journal Hosting Nunavut Baffin Island Byrd Nivea ENVELOPE(-45.479,-45.479,-60.580,-60.580) Mercer ENVELOPE(65.647,65.647,-70.227,-70.227) Grinnell Glacier ENVELOPE(-66.750,-66.750,62.559,62.559) Terra Nivea ENVELOPE(-66.514,-66.514,62.275,62.275) ARCTIC 41 2 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Calgary Journal Hosting |
op_collection_id |
ftunivcalgaryojs |
language |
English |
topic |
Biographies Mercer John Hainsworth 1922-1987 Glaciology Ice caps Ice sheets Climate change Scientists Mathematical models Baffin Island Nunavut Polar regions Grinnell Glacier Terra Nivea Ice Cap |
spellingShingle |
Biographies Mercer John Hainsworth 1922-1987 Glaciology Ice caps Ice sheets Climate change Scientists Mathematical models Baffin Island Nunavut Polar regions Grinnell Glacier Terra Nivea Ice Cap Holdsworth, Gerald Blake, Jr., Weston John Hainsworth Mercer, 1922-1987 |
topic_facet |
Biographies Mercer John Hainsworth 1922-1987 Glaciology Ice caps Ice sheets Climate change Scientists Mathematical models Baffin Island Nunavut Polar regions Grinnell Glacier Terra Nivea Ice Cap |
description |
From 1951 until 1954, Mercer studied at McGill University. His Ph.D. thesis, . was based on field work carried out in the vicinity of the Grinnell and Terra Nivea ice caps on southern Baffin Island. . Mercer was highly motivated by field work and literally thrived on it. Typically, and often to the chagrin of at least one of his contemporaries, Mercer did not unnecessarily burden himself (or others) with loads of data. Many of his papers seemed to be largely based on his unusual synthesizing and perceptive powers, supported, where necessary, by a few, but key, radioisotope dates. Mercer was not a compulsive lecturer - in fact, he shunned such "duties" - but for those of us at the institute as graduate students (of which G.H. was one) Mercer was frequently a source of both private inspiration and considerable amusement. An important paper in 1968 set in motion his and others' ideas on the dynamics of "marine ice sheets" (Mercer, 1968). . His realistic thinking through the ice sheet dynamics scenarios and the associated sea level changes inspired the numerical modellers to dedicate their paper to him. . The results of his field work are of great importance in synthesizing the spatial variations of global climate change, which was one of the underlying themes of Mercer's research. . His stimulating presence will be widely missed, especially by those at the Byrd Polar Research Center in Columbus, Ohio. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Holdsworth, Gerald Blake, Jr., Weston |
author_facet |
Holdsworth, Gerald Blake, Jr., Weston |
author_sort |
Holdsworth, Gerald |
title |
John Hainsworth Mercer, 1922-1987 |
title_short |
John Hainsworth Mercer, 1922-1987 |
title_full |
John Hainsworth Mercer, 1922-1987 |
title_fullStr |
John Hainsworth Mercer, 1922-1987 |
title_full_unstemmed |
John Hainsworth Mercer, 1922-1987 |
title_sort |
john hainsworth mercer, 1922-1987 |
publisher |
The Arctic Institute of North America |
publishDate |
1988 |
url |
https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/64766 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-45.479,-45.479,-60.580,-60.580) ENVELOPE(65.647,65.647,-70.227,-70.227) ENVELOPE(-66.750,-66.750,62.559,62.559) ENVELOPE(-66.514,-66.514,62.275,62.275) |
geographic |
Nunavut Baffin Island Byrd Nivea Mercer Grinnell Glacier Terra Nivea |
geographic_facet |
Nunavut Baffin Island Byrd Nivea Mercer Grinnell Glacier Terra Nivea |
genre |
Arctic Baffin Island Baffin Byrd Polar Research Byrd Polar Research Center Ice cap Ice Sheet Nunavut |
genre_facet |
Arctic Baffin Island Baffin Byrd Polar Research Byrd Polar Research Center Ice cap Ice Sheet Nunavut |
op_source |
ARCTIC; Vol. 41 No. 2 (1988): June: 91–166; 164-165 1923-1245 0004-0843 |
op_relation |
https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/64766/48680 https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/64766 |
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ARCTIC |
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