Keith Runcorn

Stanley Keith Runcorn FRS (19 November 1922 – 5 December 1995) was a British physicist whose paleomagnetic reconstruction of the relative motions of Europe and America revived the theory of continental drift and was a major contribution to plate tectonics.

Biography

He was born in Southport, Lancashire and graduated in engineering from the University of Cambridge in 1942.

After a period in radar research during the World War II, he joined the Physics Department at the University of Manchester where he did research on aspects of the Earth's magnetic field, taking his Ph.D. under Patrick Blackett in 1949. This led to his interest in palaeomagnetism, the study of the magnetism of rocks, which he pursued first at the Geophysics Department at the University of Cambridge and later at Newcastle University, where he was appointed to the chair of Physics in 1956. At Newcastle Runcorn developed a strong research group in geophysics, and made substantial contributions to various fields, including convection in the Earth and Moon, the shape and magnetic fields of the Moon and planets, magnetohydrodynamics of the Earth's core, changes in the length of the day, polar wandering, continental drift and plate tectonics.

Runcorn

Coordinates: 53°19′41″N 2°42′43″W / 53.328°N 2.712°W / 53.328; -2.712

Runcorn is an industrial town and cargo port in Cheshire, England, located within the Metropolitan Borough of Halton. In 2011, Runcorn's population was recorded to be 70,000. In May 2014, it became a member of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. The town is on the southern bank of the River Mersey, where the estuary narrows to form the Runcorn Gap. Directly to the north across the River Mersey is the town of Widnes. Upstream and 8 miles (12.9 km) to the northeast is the town of Warrington, and downstream 16 miles (26 km) to the west is the city of Liverpool.

Runcorn railway station is on a branch of the West Coast Main Line and provides frequent services to the Liverpool Lime Street, Birmingham New Street, and London Euston stations. The A533 road passes through the town from the south, crossing the Runcorn Gap over the Silver Jubilee Bridge, the lowest bridge crossing of the River Mersey. The Manchester Ship Canal runs alongside the Runcorn bank of the River Mersey; the Bridgewater Canal terminates in the canal basin in the town centre, as the staircase of locks leading down to the ship canal was filled in many decades ago.

Runcorn (UK Parliament constituency)

Runcorn was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Runcorn in Cheshire. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system.

History

In 1983 it was abolished and replaced by Halton and Warrington South constituencies.

Boundaries

The Runcorn constituency covered Runcorn town and the southern parts of Warrington.

Members of Parliament

Elections

Elections in the 1950s

Elections in the 1960s

Elections in the 1970s

References

Runcorn (disambiguation)

Runcorn is a town in England.

Runcorn may also refer to:

See also