TERMIER, HENRI-FRANOIS-MILE

born , Dec. 13, 1897, Lyon French geologist known for his studies of the stratigraphy (study of stratified rocks) and paleontology of North Africa and France. Termier was a geologist for the Morocco Mine Service from 1925 until 1940, when he became head of the Morocco Geological Service; in 1945 he became a professor at the University of Algiers and in 1955 joined the Sorbonne, where he became the chairman of the department of geology in 1961. Termier wrote a number of books on his observations and findings including tudes gologiques sur le Maroc central et le Moyen Atlas septentrional (1936; Geological Studies of Central Morocco and the Northern Middle Atlas Mountains), Palontologie marocaine (194750; Moroccan Paleontology), Trait de gologie (195256; Treatise on Geology), Trait de stratigraphie (1964; Treatise on Stratigraphy), Biologie des premiers fossiles (1968; Biology of the First Fossils), Les Animaux prhistoriques (1977; Prehistoric Animals), and Histoire de la Terre (1979; History of the Earth). For his fundamental research Termier was named a chevalier in the Legion of Honour and was awarded the Croix de Guerre in 1978.