Nieuwenkamp was born in Lunteren to artist and scholar Wijnand Otto Jan and Ann Wilbrink.
Educated at Lunteren, Edam, and Hoorn he then joined the University of Utrecht where he studied geology from 1919 although he was also interested in astronomy.
Vening Meinesz obtained by submarine surveys and hoped to examine continental drift ideas.
Among Nieuwenkamp's works was an examination of sodium in the oceans and rocks and ideas on the cycling of elements and denudation of continents.
[1][2] His later works were on the history of petrogenesis theories, including and examination of ideas from James Hutton[3] and Leopold von Buch.