Hans Henrik Reusch

Who was Hans Henrik Reusch?

Hans Henrik Reusch was a Norwegian geologist. Born in Bergen, he was educated in Christiania, Leipzig and Heidelberg, and graduated Ph.D. at Christiania in 1883.

He joined the Geological Survey of Norway in 1875, and was its Director from 1888 to 1921. He is distinguished for his research on the crystalline schists and the Palaeozoic rocks of Norway. He discovered Silurian fossils in the highly altered rocks of the Bergen region; and in 1891 he called attention to a Palaeozoic conglomerate of glacial origin in the Varanger Fjord, a view confirmed by Mr A. Strahan in 1896, who found glacial striations on the rocks beneath the ancient boulder-bed. Reusch has likewise thrown light on the later geological periods, on the Pleistocene glacial phenomena and on the sculpturing of the scenery of Norway. Among his separate publications were Silur fossiler og pressede Konglomerater and Det nordlige Norges Geologi. He chaired the Norwegian Geographical Society from 1898 to 1903, and from 1907 to 1909. Reusch died at Hvalstad Station while attempting to enter a train. His large private library of books encompassed 12 000 volumes, and he founded the Norwegian association of bibliophiles.