He studied the Himalayan strata, particularly the Krol Belt where he recognized rocks from the Peninsula thrusting north into the Himalayas.
In 1929 he visited his younger brother Wystan in Berlin and talked to him about K2 which served as inspiration for a play, The Ascent of F6.
In 1945–51, he was engaged in investigating all the major dam sites, hydro electric projects, irrigation works and water supply schemes of India.
[1] The Geological Survey of India offered the position of a director to Auden in 1953 but he declined it on the grounds of health and also pointed out that it would be only right for an Indian to lead (who would be M.S.
[1] The milieu of Auden and his generation of explorers forms the central narrative of The Last Englishmen: Love, War, and the End of Empire, a historical book by Deborah Baker.
John found Margaret domineering, unfaithful and a spendthrift and they separated in January 1932, divorcing in October 1933.
The family lived in London and Calcutta where he resigned from the Saturday and Tollygunge clubs as his wife would not be admitted.