Jan Mangerud har høstet nok en pris, denne gangen Nordic Geoscientist Award under den nordiske geologiske vinterkonferansen i Gøteborg. Foto: Halfdan Carstens
Prisen ble tildelt Jan Mangerud, professor emeritus ved Universitetet i Bergen, under den nordiske geologiske vinterkonferansen i Gøteborg 11. januar.
Gjennom et langt liv i naturfagets tjeneste har forskeren og formidleren utviklet en posisjon som nestoren blant norske kvartærgeologer.
Mangerud har gjort utallige undersøkelser og funn som har gitt ny kunnskap om naturhistorie både i og langt utenfor Norge. På Fjøsanger gjorde han det første funn i Norge av avsetninger fra den varme perioden (mellomistid) mellom de to siste istidene, for ca. 125 000 år siden.
Dette var et sensasjonelt funn fordi geologene den gang mente at alle slike avsetninger var erodert bort av isbreer under siste istid. Fjøsanger-funnet er fremdeles helt enestående i norsk naturhistorie.
Mangerud har gjennom sin åreslange karriere løftet kvartærstudiene og UiB gjennom å bygge et internasjonalt rettet forskningsmiljø, med særlig fokus på Arktis. Han har bidratt sterkt til opprettelsen av Bjerknessenteret for klimaforskning, og levert betydelig bidrag til forståelsen av klimasystemet.
Jan Mangerud og medarbeidere viste hvordan aske fra vulkanutbrudd fra Island kan brukes til å tidfeste geologiske hendelser, hvordan en voldsom tsunami herjet norskekysten for ca. 8.000 år siden, og at det under siste istid i Norge var en periode hvor store deler av kysten var isfri med et rikt dyreliv. Denne, som heter Ålesund interstadial, er den best daterte isfrie periode under siste istid i Nord-Europa.
Du kan lese et lengre intervju med Jan Mangerud her: I kjølvannet av istiden
Utmerkelsen i Gøteborg kommer kun noen få måneder etter at Mangerud i fjor høst ble utnevnt til Ridder 1. klasse av Den Kongelige Norske St. Olavs Orden. Han har også en lang rekke andre utmerkelser på CVen, deriblant Norsk Geologisk Forenings Brøggerprisen og Reuschmedaljen.
Utmerkelsen Nordic Geoscientist Award ble innført under samme konferanse i Oslo i 2010, og ble for første gang delt ut i 2012 til Haakon Fossen (UiB). Også i 2016 var det en UiB-professor (Rolf Birger Pedersen) som fikk prisen.
Nominasjonsteksten
Nomination for professor emeritus Jan Mangerud to be the recipient of the Nordic Geoscience Award in 2024.
Jan Mangerud has made outstanding research contributions in Quaternary geology during his career spanning more than 60 years . Throughout his research career, he has shown a unique ability to drive the subject forward, to adopt new methods and non traditional approaches, and to inspire students and colleagues both nationally and internationally. Among achievements Jan Mangerud and his co workers and students made, are the following:
- At Fjøsanger, they made the first discovery in Norway of deposits from the Eemian warm period, 125,000 years ago. This was a sensational discovery because the geologists at the time believed that all such deposits had been eroded away by glaciers during the last ice age. The Fjøsanger find is still unique in Norwegian natural history.
- They were instrumental in identifying that during the last glaciation there was a period when large parts of the coast of Norway were ice free with a rich wildlife, the Ålesund interstadial.
- They demonstrated how ash from volcanic eruptions from Iceland can be used to date geological events in far field and pioneered the use of the Vedde Ash and Saksunarvatn Tephra as chronological marker horizons.
- They pioneered research on the effects of the Storegga Slide tsunami, and how it affected the Norwegian coast approx. 8,000 years ago
- Jan Mangerud, together with his team of PhD students, conducted investigations on Svalbard that changed our understanding of the Svalbard Barents Sea Ice Sheet and the glacial and sea level history of Svalbard.
- Jan Mangerud and his team conducted important studies in northern Russia, better constraining the Late Quaternary Eurasian Ice Sheet. They were able to show the ice sheet early in the last glaciation had dammed the Pechora, Ob and Yenisei rivers (which today flow north to the Arctic Ocean). As a result, one of the world’s largest lakes was formed between the glacier in the north and the watershed of the CaspianSea and the Black Sea in the south.
Jan Mangerud has been the central driving force to develop research and teaching in Quaternary geology at the University of Bergen and thus to make the institute an international leader in this field. Jan Mangerud has always been very active in the Nordic Quaternary community, and has rarely missed participating in the Nordic Geological Winter Meetings!
Mangerud is a very active written and oral communicator of professional knowledge to the general public, and he is known for his ability to explain complicated relationships in a simple way. He has received a number of national and international awards and honors for his activities. Among these, he is the only non British citizen to have been awarded the prestigious James Croll medal for his contributions to the field of Quaternary geology.
It is time for us to honour him with the Nordic Geoscience Award of 2024.
Kilde: Norsk Geologisk Forening
