Torell, Otto Martin

Born June 5, 1828, in Varberg, Sweden; died Sept. 11, 1900, in Stockholm. Swedish geologist. Active member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

Torell was a professor of zoology and geology at the University of Lund from 1866. He was an organizer and the first director of the Swedish geological service (1870–97). Torell’s main works are devoted to the Ice Age. During expeditions to Greenland, Iceland, the Swiss Alps, and Spitsbergen, Torell discovered and studied many manifestations of continental glaciation. Based on his studies of modern glaciers on Spitsbergen and Bear Island, Torell advanced a number of theoretical reasons for the appearance of continental glaciers. He demonstrated the scientific inconsistency of the drift hypothesis, and his works on continental glaciation were developed in subsequent detailed research of Anthropogenic deposits in Central Europe.