Born: 6-Jan-1879
Birthplace: Geneva, Switzerland
Died: 14-Sep-1940
Location of death: Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Cause of death: Natural Causes

Gender: Male
Religion: Christian
Race or Ethnicity: White
Occupation: Geologist

Nationality: Switzerland
Executive summary: Theory of embryotectonics

Swiss geologist Emile Argand developed the theory of embryotectonics, the idea that prehistoric ridges and valleys guide the growth of fold mountains. A specialist in tectonics (the study of how mountains form), he was among the first to understand nappes (rocks sheets that are pressed to move sideways), explaining the complex structure of the Pennine and Western Alps. He coined the term "mobilism" to describe continental drift, the concept that present-day continents are fragments of a larger supercontinent from eons ago. His parents divorced when he was a young boy, and Argand never married.

Father: Gédéon-Louis (clerk)
Mother: Franceline Jeannette Taberlet (div. 1887)

    University: BS, Lausanne University (1902)
    Medical School: Lausanne University (attended, 1902-04)
    Professor: Geology, University of Neuchâtel (1911-40)

    Spendiarov Prize 1913
    Marcel Benoist Prize 1926
    Swiss Geological Society

Author of books:
L'exploration Geologique Alpes Pennines Centrales (Geological Exploration of the Central Pennine Alps) (1909)
Sur l'arc des Alpes occidentales (On the Arc of Western Alps) (1916)
La tectonique de l'Asie (Tectonics of Asia) (1924)

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