VENING MEINESZ, FELIX ANDRIES

born July 30, 1887, The Hague, Neth. died Aug. 10, 1966, Amersfoort Dutch geophysicist and geodesist who was known for his measurements of gravity. Participating in a gravimetric survey of The Netherlands soon after he graduated from Delft Technical University as a civil engineer in 1910, Vening Meinesz devised an apparatus based on pendulums swinging together in opposite phase for use on the unstable subsoil. He later modified this apparatus for use on submarines. His submarine device was used from 1923 until the late 1950s, when spring gravimeters on surface ships superseded it. During his early cruises he discovered striking gravity anomalies in the East Indies. Vening Meinesz was a professor of geodesy at Delft Technical University from 1938 to 1957. He is also noted for his investigations concerning convection currents within the Earth and for his study of the effect of solar movements on the deformation of the Earth's crust.