Friedrich Voltz (1828-1855)

Société Géologique de France - 27 februari 2023

The German geologist Friedrich Voltz was employed in 1853 by the Dutch government as a member of a commission to assess opportunities for German settlers in Suriname. He surveyed the geology of all major rivers in the Precambrian basement in dugout canoes rowed by local indigenous and Maroon people, and collected over 900 rock samples from cataracts and other outcrops. He also collected botanical, malacological and ethnographical material. He described his findings in letters to the Dutch geologist Winand Staring, who published parts of them in Dutch journals in 1854 and 1855. Before Voltz could return to Europe and write a full report, he died in Paramaribo of yellow fever, a week before his 28th birthday. Thirty years later, the Leiden professor of geology Karl Martin, on his return from his own expedition to Suriname, also published part of Voltz’s letters (Martin, 1888a) and drew the first geological map of Suriname, largely based on Voltz’s observations and samples, and a few of his own (Martin, 1888b).

In his letters, Voltz recognized a W-E belt of greenstones stretching from British Guiana, previously surveyed by Robert Schomburgk, across Suriname into French Guiana, which was drawn by Martin on his map. This is the first mention of the gold-rich Maronian greenstone belt that extends over 1500 km in the Guiana Shield from eastern Venezuela through the Guianas and the Amapá state in Brazil, and continues across the Atlantic into the Birimian of West Africa. Voltz’s letters were first published in full by the author (Kroonenberg, 2020), with extensive comments on the difficult social, political and logistical circumstances he faced. The letters themselves and the samples are stored at Naturalis National Biodiversity Centre in Leiden (Netherlands).

Kroonenberg, Salomon (2020). De man van de berg. Friedrich Voltz (1828-1855), jonggestorven natuuronderzoeker in Suriname. Walburgpers Zutphen, 319 p.
Martin, K. (1888a). Geologische Studien über Niederländisch West-Indien. E.J. Brill, Leiden, 238 p.
Martin, K. (1888b). Aanteekeningen bij eene geognostische overzichtskaart van Suriname. Tijdschrift Koninklijk Nederlands Aardrijkskundig Genootschap 5, p. 444-453.