biography
| name: |
Murchison, Sir Roderick Impey
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1792–1871)
|
| biography:
| Geologist, born in Tarradale, Highland, N Scotland, UK. After leaving the army in 1816, he devoted himself to geology. He established the Silurian system (1835) and, with Adam Sedgwick, the Devonian system. From 1840 to 1845 he carried out a geological survey of the Russian empire. Struck with the resemblance between the Ural mountains and Australian chains, he predicted the discovery of gold in Australia (1844). Murchison Falls (Uganda) and Murchison R (Western Australia) are named after him. In 1855 he was made director-general of the Geological Survey, and director of the Royal School of Mines. |
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