He took courses in volcanology at Naples and then worked with the geological survey in the Dutch East Indies, where he mapped parts of Java and Sumatra.

He was able to observe the 1930s activity of Mount Merapi from the volcanological post at Babadan on the north west slope.

When the Japanese occupied the Dutch East Indies in World War II Van Bemmelen and his wife spent three years in a prisoners camp.

The Dutch government assigned to Van Bemmelen the job to recollect all information on the geology of the Indonesian Archipelago.

Van Bemmelen then spent a year as assistant of S.G. Trooster at Utrecht University and then worked for Shell as a consultant.

Due to geochemical differentiation slight differences in density would lead to vertical flow in the mantle, resulting in orogeny.

In 1972 Van Bemmelen's book Geodynamic Models the Undation Theory was integrated in plate tectonics.