Jiří Březina

Jiří Březina

Jiří Březina, born April 6, 1933 in Prague, Czechoslovakia, is a German scientist of Czech origin, a professor of Geology, and an expert in Sand Texture Sedimentology.

Research

In 1976 he developed an equation for drag coefficient of a sedimenting irregular body as a function of Reynolds' number and Shape Factor, from which all involved quantities can be calculated, such as particle (grain) size, shape, density, and sedimentation velocity. He constructed an advanced Sand Sedimentation Analyzer (MacroGranometer) and Sand Sedimentation Separator. Dr. Brezina has been president of the company that manufactures these instruments since 1973, and has installed and trained personnel to operate them in various countries including Germany, Italy, France, South Africa, Denmark, Portugal, Albania, Poland and Austria.

He received his Ph.D. from Charles University in Prague, and worked 14 years with the Czechoslovak Geological Survey. After fleeing the communist state of Czechoslovakia in 1968, he held various positions in West Germany, including Mechanical Engineering at the University of Karlsruhe, 1968 – 1971 and geology at the University of Heidelberg 1971 - 1972, until joining the faculty at the University of Maryland in 1973.

Teaching

Dr. Brezina has taught on the faculty of the University of Maryland University College, based in Heidelberg, Germany, for the past thirty-seven years. His areas of academic specialization are geology, astronomy and physical science, and as a professor at the university, he has taught Physical Geology, Geology Laboratory, Environmental Geology, Astronomy, Astronomy Laboratory, Physical Science, and Physical Science Laboratory. Since the start of his teaching career at the University of Maryland, more than seven thousand students have benefited from his knowledge and expertise in these areas.

Biography

• 1939–1943: Grammar School at Libice nad Doubravou
• 1943–1945: Early Gymnasium years at Chotěboř (Junior High School)
• 1947–1951: Late Gymnasium years (Senior High School)
• 1951–1955: University Studies at Charles University, Prague, Czechoslovakia
• 1955–1968: Employed by the Central Geological Survey, Prague, Czechoslovakia
• 1968: Escaped from the Communist Nightmare
• 1968–1971: Postdoctoral Studies at Institute of Mechanical Engineering, University of Karlsruhe, Germany
• 1971–1972: Developing Thorium/Protactinium Dating Method at Geochronological Laboratory, Geological Institute, University of Heidelberg, Germany
• 1972 to present: President of GranoMetry developing technology for sand sedimentation analysis
• 1973 to present: Professor of Geology, University of Maryland University College, European Division;

Publications

1. Brezina, Jiri, 1956a, Report on geological mapping of the SE part of the south Moravian Lowland in the year 1955; petrographic evaluation of some Neogene sediments in the north and north-east part of the Inner-Alpine Vienna basin; Geofond, Praha.
2. Brezina, Jiri, 1956b, Petrographic evaluation of some sediments of the Vah river valley Neogene; Geofond, Praha.
3. Brezina, Jiri, 1956c, Inner-Alpine Miocene in south-east Moravia and western Slovakia; study in sedimentary petrography, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Charles' University, Praha; Geofond, Praha.
4. Brezina, Jiri, Tibor Buday & Ivan Cicha, 1956d, Report on geologic investigations in the South Moravian Lowland in the year 1955; Geofond, Praha.
5. Brezina, Jiri, 1957a, Report on sediment-petrographic investigations in the inner-Carpathian Miocene 1956, Turiec basin; Geofond, Praha.
6. Brezina, Jiri, 1957b, Report on the petrography of Neogene sediments of the Turiec basin (in Czech); Reports on Geological Investigations in the year 1956, Central Geological Survey, Praha.
7. Brezina, Jiri & Tibor Buday, 1957, Rhyolitic tuffites in the Upper Helvetian and Sarmatian of the Moravian Lowland; Vestnik of the Central Geological Survey, Praha, vol. 32, No. 3/March.
8. Brezina, Jiri, 1958a, Partial report on petrographic investigations in the year 1957; sedimentary-petrographic investigation of the Inner-Carpathian Miocene, South-Moravian Lowland; Geofond,
9. Brezina, Jiri, 1963, Kapteyn's transformation of grain size distribution; Jour. Sediment. Petrology, v. 33, No. 4/December, p. 931 - 7
10. Brezina, Jiri, 1969, Granulometer - a Woods Hole Rapid Sediment Analyzer directly writing grain size distribution curves: Jour. Sediment. Petrology, v. 39, No. 4/December.
11. Brezina, Jiri, 1971a, Settling methods for size analysis of sands: Abstracts of the 8th International Sedimentological Congress of the International Association of Sedimentology, University of Heidelberg, West Germany, 30 Aug. - 4 Sept. 1971.
12. Brezina, Jiri, 1971b, Investigations on an instrument for sedimentation analysis in the particle range above 60 µm: Report about research studies of the author at the Institute for Mechanical Engineering, University of Karlsruhe (1968–1971).
13. Brezina, Jiri, 1972a, Stratified sedimentation above the Stokes' range and its use for particle size analysis: in M. J. Groves & J. L. Wyatt-Sargent (editors), 2nd Particle Size Analysis Conference, University of Bradford (England), September 1970, paper 22, The Society of Analytical Chemistry, London.
14. Brezina, Jiri, 1972b, Leaf-spring precision balance (in German); German Patent Office (Deutsches Patentamt), No. 2251838, registered October 1972, effective 1974.
15. Brezina, Jiri, 1972c, Report about the thorium-protactinium method of dating marine sediments (development of chemical separation and chemical and physical quantitative determination of both elements) (in German); Laboratorium für Geochronologie, University of Heidelberg, March 1, 1971–February 28, 1972;
16. Brezina, Jiri, 1978a, Computer-controlled grain size analysis of sand-sized materials, MacroGranometer (in German); Chemie-Technik (Heidelberg), February 1978.
17. Brezina, Jiri, 1978b, And another grain! Grain size analysis of sand sized solids (in German); Labo, September 1978.
18. Brezina, Jiri, 1978c, MacroGranometer Standard 1978, Operation Program Manual: GranoMetry, D-6903 Neckargemünd-3, W. Germany, 3rd edition, 10 November 1978 (unpublished manual).
19. Brezina, Jiri, 1979a, MacroGranometer 1979, parts; GranoMetry, D-6903 Neckargemünd-3, W. Germany (unpublished technical documentation).
20. Brezina, Jiri, 1979b, Particle size and settling rate distributions of sand-sized materials: 2nd European Symposium on Particle Characterisation (PARTEC), Nürnberg, West Germany.
21. Brezina, Jiri, 1980a, GranoMetry: for grain size analyses (in German), GIT Labortechnik (Darmstadt), February 1980.
22. Brezina, Jiri, 1980b, Sedimentological interpretation of errors in size analysis of sands; 1st European Meeting of the International Association of Sedimentologists, Ruhr University at Bochum, Federal Republic of Germany, March 1980.
23. Brezina, Jiri, 1980c, Size distribution of sand - sedimentological interpretation; 26th International Geological Congress, Paris, July 1980, Abstracts, vol. 2.
24. Brezina, Jiri, 1980d, Grain size analysis of sand-sized materials (in German); Labor-Praxis, Vogel-Verlag, D-8700 Würzburg 1, Federal Republic of Germany, vol. 3.
25. Brezina, Jiri, 1981, Contribution to Sand Texture Sedimentology; Coastal Research (Florida State Univ., Tallahassee), vol. 5, No. 10, March.
26. Brezina, Jiri, 1986, MacroGranometer, Operation Manual; unpublished manuscript issued by Granometry, Dr. J. Brezina, D-6903 Neckargemünd-3, West Germany, 16 December 1986.
27. Brezina, Jiri, 1989, Sand sedimentation analysis and separation - 25 years of research and development (in German); Deutsche Geologische Gesellschaft Nachrichten, vol. 41, No. 10/October.
28. Brezina, Jiri, 1990, Grain size analyses of sand-sized solids upon contract (in German)Kontrolle (Stuttgart), No. 5/May 1990.
29. Brezina, Jiri, 1992, Principles, Methods, and Application of Particle Size Analysis: review of the book by James P. Syvitski (Ed.); Basin Research, vol. 4/1992, No. 2/June.
30. Brezina, Jiri, 1993, Geology in the Czech Republic; Geotimes, August 1993.
31. Brezina, Jiri, 1996, SedVar, version 6.2C, computer program for GRM data processing, enabling to convert PSI-laboratory distributions into those of any other sedimentational variable, such as PHI grain size specified by a grain shape, PSI-standard, PSI-local (to any physical terms, such as sea water salinity, temperature and local gravity acceleration), logarithmic Reynolds' number, logarithmic grain density, and logarithmic grain shape.
32. Brezina, Jiri, 2002: Grain Size and Grain Size Distribution (in German: Korngröße und Korngrößenverteilung), in: Wolfgang R. DACHROTH, 2002, Manual of Engineering Geology and Geotechnics (in German: Handbuch der Baugeologie und Geotechnik),Springer Verlag, Heidelberg, Germany, 3rd extended edition.

References

1. CLARK, Isobel, 1977, ROKE, a Computer Program for Non-Linear Least Squares Decomposition of Mixtures of Distributions; Computer & Geosciences (Pergamon Press), vol. 3, p. 245 - 256.
2. COLBY, B. C. and R. P. CHRISTENSEN, 1957, Some Fundamentals of Particle Size Analysis; St. Anthony Falls Hydraulic Laboratory, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, Report Nr. 12/Dec., 55 pages.
3. COREY, Arthur T., 1949, Influence of Shape on the Fall Velocity of Sand Grains; M. S. Thesis, Colorado Agricultural and Mechanical College, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA, December, 102 pages.
4. CURRAY, Joseph R., 1961, Tracing sediment masses by grain size modes; Proc. Internat. Association of Sedimentology, Report of the 21st Session Norden, Internat. Geol. Congress, p. 119 - 129.
5. FLEMMING, Burghard Walter & Karen ZIEGLER, 1995, High-resolution grain size distribution patterns and textural trends in the back-barrier environment of Spiekeroog Island (Southern North Sea); Senckenbergiana Maritima, vol. 26, No. 1+2, p. 1 - 24.
6. FOLK, Robert Louis, 1962, Of skewnesses and sands; Jour. Sediment. Petrol., vol. 8, No. 3/Sept., p. 105 - 111
7. FOLK, Robert Louis & William C. WARD, 1957: Brazos River bar: a study in the significance of grain size parameters; Jour. Sediment. Petrol., vol. 27, No. 1/March, p. 3 - 26
8. HERDAN, George, M. L. SMITH & W. H. HARDWICK (1960): Small Particle Statistics. 2nd revised edition, Butterworths (London, Toronto, etc.), 418 pp.
9. INMAN, Douglas Lamar, 1952: Measures for describing the size distribution of sediments. Jour. Sediment. Petrology, vol. 22, No. 3/Sept., p. 125 - 145
10. JONASZ, Miroslaw, 1991: Size, shape, composition, and structure of microparticles from light scattering; in SYVITSKI, James P. M., 1991, Principles, Methods, and Application of Particle Size Analysis; Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 368 pp., p. 147.
11. KRUMBEIN, William Christian, 1934: Size frequency distribution of sediments; Jour. Sediment. Petrol., vol. 4, No. 2/August, p. 65 - 77.
12. KRUMBEIN, William Christian & Francis J. PETTIJOHN, 1938: Manual of Sedimentary Petrography; Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., New York; 549 pp.
13. McNOWN, John S. & Pin-Nam LIN, 1952, Sediment concentration and fall velocity; Proc. of the 2nd Midwestern Conf. on Fluid Mechanics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio; State Univ. of Iowa Reprints in Engineering, Reprint No. 109/1952, p. 401 - 411.
14. McNOWN, John S. & J. MALAIKA, 1950, Effects of Particle Shape of Settling Velocity at Low Reynolds' Numbers; American Geophysical Union Transactions, vol. 31, No. 1/February, p. 74 - 82.
15. MIDDLETON, G. V., 1967, Experiments on density and turbidity currents, III; Deposition; Canadian Jour. of Earth Science, vol. 4, p. 475 - 505 (PSI definition: p. 483 - 485).
16. REYNOLDS, Osborne,1883: An experimental investigation of the circumstances which determine whether the motion of water shall be direct or sinuous, and of the law of resistance in parallel channels. Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 174, Papers, vol. 2, p. 935 - 982
17. SCHULZ, E. F., R. H. WILDE & M. L. ALBERTSON, 1954, Influence of Shape on the Fall Velocity of Sedimentary Particles; Colorado Agricultural & Mechanical College, Fort Collins, Colorado, MRD Sediment Series, No. 5/July (CER 54EFS6), 161 pages.
18. SKIDMORE, H. J., 1948, Development of a stratified-suspension technique for size-frequency analysis; Thesis, Department of Mechanics and Hydraulics, State Univ. of Iowa, p. 2 (? pages).
19. SYVITSKI, James P. M., 1991, Principles, Methods, and Application of Particle Size Analysis; Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 368 pp.