Scientists

Clarence Dutton

Geologist

Citation Formats

General Reference

Earth and Environment Atlas. "Clarence Dutton." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://dev-earth.interactiveatlas.org/scientists/clarence-dutton.

APA Style

Earth and Environment Atlas. (n.d.). Clarence Dutton. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://dev-earth.interactiveatlas.org/scientists/clarence-dutton

BibTeX

@misc{earthandenvironmentatlas-clarence-dutton,
  author = {Earth and Environment Atlas},
  title = {Clarence Dutton},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://dev-earth.interactiveatlas.org/scientists/clarence-dutton},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

American geologist and U.S. Army officer who spent a decade, beginning in 1875, exploring the plateaus of Utah, Arizona and New Mexico with John Wesley Powell's survey, producing classic reports on the region's volcanic and structural geology. In a footnote to an 1882 review in the American Journal of Science, he coined the term isostasy for the principle that the crust's elevation reflects its density, lighter material floating higher on a denser, plastic substratum. His study of the 1886 Charleston earthquake also pioneered a method for estimating an earthquake's focal depth.

Facts

Birth Date

1841-05-15 1

Birth Year

1841 1

Death Date

1912-01-04 1

Death Year

1912 1

Birthplace

Wallingford, Connecticut 1

Death Place

Englewood, New Jersey 1

Nationality

American 1

Defining Contribution

Coined the term isostasy in 1882 for the gravitational equilibrium of Earth's crust 1

Notable Work

Tertiary History of the Grand Canyon District (1882) 1

Cross-Tradition Connections

Associated With

Isostasy

Dutton coined the term isostasy in a footnote to his 1882 review in the American Journal of Science, describing the crust's flotation-like equilibrium on a denser substratum.

Source Clarence Dutton (Wikipedia)