Hans Wilhelm Stille (8 October 1876 – 26 December 1966) was an influential Germany geologist working primarily on tectonics and the collation of tectonic events during the Phanerozoic.[Şengör (1982), p. 23] Stille's ideas emerged in the aftermath of Eduard Suess' book Das Antlitz der Erde (1883–1909). Stille's and Kober's school of thought was one of two that emerged in the post-Suess era (the other being headed by Alfred Wegener and Émile Argand.[) Their competing view rejected Earth contraction and argued for continental drift.][Şengör (1982), p. 24] As Stille opposed continental drift he came to be labelled a "fixist".[Şengör (1982), p. 30]
Part of Stille's work dealt with massifs and sedimentary basins in Central Europe; differing from Suess' interpretations for the same area showing that between the Bohemian Massif and Black Forest massifs Mesozoic rocks were folded.[
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A central tenet in Stille's geology was that geosynclines became depressions without any faulting with any fault found being the product of later processes like the final collapse of the geosyncline.[Şengör (1982), p. 25]
In 1933 Stille would shorten Leopold Kober's concept of kratogen, that was used to describe those portions of the continental crust that were old and stable, into craton ().
Awards and honours
The Hans-Stille-Medaille of German Geological Society, awarded annually, is named after him. Also named for him is the mineral stilleite (ZnSe) and the wrinkle ridge Dorsa Stille on the Moon.
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