Born in Oita Prefecture, Japan, as a son of a Buddhist priest, he graduated from the physics department, Kyoto University, 1911. He became lecturer in 1913, associate professor in 1916, and then professor in the Department of Geology, Kyoto University, from 1922 to 1946. He studied at the University of Chicago between 1933 and 1935. After retirement from Kyoto University, he served as president of the Yamaguchi University, from 1949 to his death. For his contribution to paleomagnetism and gravity, Matuyama was elected to Member of Japan Academy in 1950.
In the 1920s, Matuyama conducted a systematic survey of the natural remanent magnetization (NRM) of Quaternary and late Tertiary volcanic rocks in Japan, Korea, and Northeast China (Manchuria at that time). The determination of the dipole moment was done by the method of Gauss (spherical harmonic analysis). In the results, he noted that the youngest rocks are always magnetized to directions similar to the present day field, while many...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsBibliography
Matuyama, M., 1929. On the direction of magnetization of basalt in Japan, Tyosen, and Manchuria. Proceedings of the Imperial Academy (Tokyo), 5: 203–205.
Matuyama, M., 1934. Measurement of gravity over the Nippon Trench on board the I.J. submarine Ro–57, Preliminary report. Proceedings of the Imperial Academy (Tokyo), 10: 626–628.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2007 Springer-Verlag
About this entry
Cite this entry
Kono, M. (2007). Matuyama, Motonori (1884–1958). In: Gubbins, D., Herrero-Bervera, E. (eds) Encyclopedia of Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4423-6_214
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4423-6_214
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-3992-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-4423-6
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Earth and Environmental Sciences