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{{Short description|Swedish explorer, geologist, and paleobotanist (1850–1921)}}
[[File:Alfred Gabriel Nathorst.jpg|thumb|upright|Alfred Gabriel Nathorst]]
'''Alfred Gabriel Nathorst''' (7 November 1850&nbsp;– 20 January 1921) was a Swedish [[Arctic explorer]], [[geologist]], and [[palaeobotanist]]. He travelled to Spitzbergen, Svalbard and Greenland where he took an interest in the Arctic floras from the Paleozoic and Mesozoic periods.

==Life==
Nathorst was born in [[Väderbrunn]] in Sweden to Hjalmar Otto and Maria Charlotta born Georgii, who had moved to Alnarp where Hjalmar served as a professor at the institute of agriculture. Nathorst studied at Malmö before joining the University of Lund in 1868. He spent some time in the University of Uppsala and returned to Lund for his doctorate in 1874. His interest in botany were influenced by [[Nils Peter Angelin|N. P. Angelin]]. Nathorst's interest in [[geology]] was awakened by [[Charles Lyell]]'s ''Principles of Geology'' and, at the age of 21, Nathorst visited Lyell in England in 1872.<ref>[https://www.jstor.org/stable/2470173 Seward, A. C. (1921) Alfred Gabriel Nathorst. Botanical Gazette 71 (6): 462-465.]</ref>

Nathorst was employed at the [[Geological Survey of Sweden]] in 1873–84. He was then appointed professor, by royal decree on the 5 December 1884, and was simultaneously made curator of the new "Department of Archegoniates and Fossil Plants" at the [[Swedish Museum of Natural History]]. He remained at this post until his retirement in 1917.

Nathorst visited [[Spitsbergen]] in 1870 and in 1882–83 he participated in the ''Second Dickson expedition'' ("Den andra Dicksonska Expeditionen till Grönland"<ref>{{cite book | last = Nordenskiöld | first= A.E. | year=1885 | title = Den andra Dicksonska Expeditionen till Grönland, dess inre isöken och dess Ostkust utförd år 1883 under befäl af A. E. Nordenskiöld |trans-title=The second Dickson Expedition to Greenland, its inner Ice Desert and its East Coast conducted 1883 under command of A. E. Nordenskiöld | language = Swedish | place = Stockholm | publisher = F. & G. Beijers Förlag | url = https://runeberg.org/polexp1883/}}</ref>) led by [[Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld]]. He led an expedition on the ship ''[[Antarctic (ship)|Antarctic]]'' to [[Bear Island (Norway)|Bear Island]] and [[Svalbard]] including the isolated [[Kong Karls Land]] in 1898. The following year (1899), Nathorst led an expedition to [[Greenland]]. This second expedition had the dual purpose of geographical mapping and of searching for survivors of [[S. A. Andrée's Arctic balloon expedition of 1897]]. The Andreé expedition was not found, however Nathorst found and mapped the [[Antarctic Sound, Greenland|Antarctic Sound]], a fjord branch connecting [[Kaiser Franz Joseph Fjord]] to the north with the head of [[King Oscar Fjord]] to the south.<ref>Spencer Apollonio, ''Lands That Hold One Spellbound: A Story of East Greenland'', 2008, p. 81</ref> The two expeditions are described in two volumes ''Två somrar i Norra Ishavet'' (in [[Swedish language|Swedish]]).

Starting with macrofossil deposited in [[Weichselian|glacial]] clay found in [[Scania]] in 1871, Nathorst investigated postglacial development in plants. He also researched plant remains from older [[geological era]]s, such as the [[palaeozoic]] and [[mesozoic]] from the [[Arctic]] and [[Tertiary period|tertiary]] from Japan. These investigations made him an internationally acknowledged authority on [[palaeobotany]].

Nathorst had a scientific dispute with [[Eugen Warming]] over the history of the [[flora of Greenland]]. Warming hypothesised that part of the flora had survived the last [[Weichselian|glaciation]]<ref>Warming, E. (1888) Über Grönlands Vegetation. Englers Botanische Jahrbücher, 10.</ref> – the [[nunatak hypothesis]], while Nathorst considered that the entire flora had immigrated anew after the glaciation<ref>Nathorst, A. G. (1892) Kritische Bemerkungen über die Geschichte der Vegetation Grönlands. Englers Botanische Jahrbücher, 14: 183-221.</ref><ref>Warming, E. (1891) Geschichte der Flora Grönlands: Antikritische Bemerkungen zu A.G. Nathorsts Aufsatz. Englers Botanische Jahrbücher, 14.</ref> – the [[tabula rasa#Biogeography|tabula rasa hypothesis]]. 

He was an elected member of many learned societies, including the [[Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences]] (1885). He died on 20 January 1921.


==Legacy==
A number of plant, animal and fungal species have been named to his honour, e.g. ''[[Saxifraga nathorstii]]'' ([[Per Karl Hjalmar Dusén|Dusén]]) [[August von Hayek|Hayek]] (East Greenland saxifrage) and a suite of fossil plant species, ''[[Williamsonia nathorstii]]'' Carruthers (a fossil [[dragonfly]]) and ''[[Laestadites]] nathorstii'' [[Aloysius Luigi Meschinelli|Mesch.]] (a fossil fungus).

[[Nathorst Land (Greenland)|Nathorst Land]] in East Central [[Greenland]] is named after him.
On [[Spitsbergen]], [[Svalbard]], [[Nathorst Land]] and [[Nathorstbreen]] are named after him.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://placenames.npolar.no/stadnamn/Nathorst_Land |title=Nathorst Land (Svalbard) |publisher=[[Norwegian Polar Institute]] |access-date=28 May 2014 |archive-date=December 8, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208092604/http://placenames.npolar.no/stadnamn/Nathorst_Land |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://placenames.npolar.no/stadnamn/Nathorstbreen |title=Nathorstbreen (Svalbard) |publisher=[[Norwegian Polar Institute]] |access-date=28 May 2014 |archive-date=May 29, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140529051246/http://placenames.npolar.no/stadnamn/Nathorstbreen |url-status=dead }}</ref> Also [[Alfredfjellet]], a mountain at the island of [[Bear Island (Norway)|Bjørnøya]], is named after him.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://placenames.npolar.no/stadnamn/Alfredfjellet |title=Alfredfjellet (Svalbard) |publisher=[[Norwegian Polar Institute]] |access-date=28 May 2014}}</ref>
{{botanist|Nath.|Nathorst, Alfred Gabriel}}

==See also==
*[[Cartographic expeditions to Greenland]]

==Sources==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|2=Alfred&nbsp;Gabriel&nbsp;Nathorst}}
{{Wikispecies|2=Alfred&nbsp;Gabriel&nbsp;Nathorst}}
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* {{Gutenberg author|id=33447}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Nathorst, Alfred Gabriel}}
[[Category:1850 births]]
[[Category:1921 deaths]]
[[Category:Explorers of the Arctic]]
[[Category:Geological Survey of Sweden personnel]]
[[Category:Lyell Medal winners]]
[[Category:Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Paleobotanists]]
[[Category:Swedish polar explorers]]
[[Category:20th-century Swedish geologists]]
[[Category:Swedish paleontologists]]
[[Category:19th-century Swedish geologists]]
[[Category:Members of the Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala]]
[[Category:People from Nyköping Municipality]]