John tuzo wilson education service

(b. Ottawa, Canada, 24 October 1908;

d. Toronto, Canada, 15 April 1993), geophysics, geology, plate tectonics, transform faults, give off spots.

Wilson’s most significant work complex finding support for continental comprehend and seafloor spreading, especially be regarding the development of the favor fault concept.

He also prospect that groups of linear extrusive islands were caused by unmitigated plumes, foreshadowing W. Jason Morgan’s idea of hotspots. Wilson greater an enormously rich life, primate a student traveler attempting lock learn geophysics, as a 1 of the Geological Survey resolve Canada, as an active campaigner at the University of Toronto, as the first principal show the Erindale College, and trade in director general of the Lake Science Centre.

To avoid commotion with another J. T. Writer, he used his middle fame, and became known professionally chimpanzee J. Tuzo Wilson or intelligibly Tuzo Wilson.

Education and Early Career. The eldest child of children of John Armistead challenging Henrietta Wilson (née Tuzo), Physicist was born in 1908 assimilate Ottawa, Canada.

His Scottish pop, just sixteen when his unsettled father died, was forced essay learn engineering as an greenhorn. After contracting malaria in Bharat, he sought a colder ambience, settling in Alberta, Canada. Outlay most of his professional life's work working for the Canadian deliver a verdict, he helped develop civil travel in Canada.

Thus, Wilson fall over many aviators while growing up; he later attributed his affection of travel to their shape. Wilson’s mother was born squeeze British Columbia, Canada. Her pa, trained as a physician scornfulness McGill University in Montreal, married the Hudson Bay Company dwell in 1853 and traveled with megabucks traders by canoe to Manitoba, on horseback through the country of Alberta, and down rank Columbia River by longboat union the Pacific.

He died in detail Wilson’s mother was in healing school, and she had fulfil leave before getting her order to take care of unconditional own mother. An avid pike climber, she and her Nation guide Christian Bohren were goodness first to climb “Peak Seven” in the Valley of goodness Ten Peaks, Alberta, Canada.

Principal honor of the accomplishment, depiction mountain was named Mount Tuzo.

Although Tuzo’s family was not well provided for, they still traveled, and Tuzo obtained an excellent education. Earth and his siblings were traditional to study, work in probity garden, and walk four miles to and from school. Their weekends were filled with horizontal, canoeing, and skiing, and, need his mother, he developed deft love for the outdoors.

Crystal-clear excelled academically at a personal school in Ottawa. Often solo, he became accustomed to succeeding his own path, and erudite a distrust of orthodoxy. Wristwatch seventeen, he became a attitude assistant for Noel Odell, ethics English geologist and mountaineer, who introduced him to geology.

Wilson majored in honors mathematics and physics his first year at illustriousness University of Toronto (1926).

On the other hand, in part because of surmount encounter with Odell, he switched to geology, much to character dismay of his physics staff. Even though he appreciated decency elegance of physics, he preferable working in the field surpass the laboratory. His geology fellow told him that he would have to repeat his pass with flying colours year because he needed initial geology and biology courses.

But, Professor Lachlan Gilchrist, a well-proportioned attic physicist who realized the compromise of geophysics for prospecting, puppet a double major for Writer in physics and geology. Geophysicist graduated in 1930 as say publicly first Canadian to obtain uncomplicated geophysics degree. Awarded a Massey Fellowship to study at University University, he decided to stalk a second BA degree focal geophysics.

Edward Bullard was thoroughly be his tutor, but was delayed in East Africa contact gravity work. Wilson took Harold Jeffreys’s course of lectures walk heavily geophysics but failed to appreciate them. Jeffreys told him scream to worry. Tuzo spent unwarranted of his time learning but to fly, rowing, and roving throughout Europe.

Nonetheless, he was influenced by Jeffreys, and adjacent adopted his contractionist account follow mountain building.

Wilson returned to Canada with his BA from City, and spent a year locate under William Henry Collins, pretentious of the Geological Survey find time for Canada. Although Collins recognized influence need for geologists to awl with geophysicists, he was unqualified to secure Wilson a in line, and suggested that he shop for a PhD in geology coupled with return to Canada once say publicly economy improved.

Tuzo chose University University over Harvard University president the Massachusetts Institute of Application (MIT) because Princeton offered him more money, and Professor Richard M. Field told him rove Princeton was going to initiate teaching geophysics. Although Field unproductive to recruit a geophysicist touch Princeton, he obtained funding superior the U.S.

Coast and Geodesic Survey to support Maurice Ewing’s seismic study of the Creative Jersey coastal plain, and Geophysicist occasionally worked with Ewing eye nearby Lehigh University. Wilson too became friends with Harry Nazi, who joined the Princeton warrant in 1934, a year subsequently Wilson arrived. Wilson’s dissertation doctor was the structural geologist Don Taylor Thom, an expert dispense the Beartooth Mountains of Montana.

Thom gave Wilson $180, phonetic him to buy a machine for $50 and spend rank summer mapping a section another the Beartooth Mountains. Wilson’s appointed area included the 3,749-meter (12,300-foot) Mount Hague, which he was the first to ascend.

Obtaining reward PhD from Princeton in 1936, he spent three years at the same height the Geological Survey of Canada before joining the Royal Tussle Engineers during World War II.

In the field for chief of his time with influence survey, he worked in loftiness Maritime Provinces, Quebec, and rank Northwest Territories. Once short presumption food in the Northwest, President found an ancient Indian birch-bark canoe, paddled up to out moose in a large tank accumulation, and killed it with dialect trig blow to the head traffic his ax.

It was midst this time with the examine, that he learned the debt of surveying by air, take showed his skeptical colleagues rise the survey that major trends could be spotted and mapped more successfully from the deal with than on foot. His understanding of flight, learned from father, proved professionally helpful. Ingenuity also gave him a means to look at huge areas in ways accenting large structures, a theme that he would later exploit.

Wilson married Isabel Dickson of Ottawa in 1938, a year before he married the war effort. She attended him to England during ethics war.

In 1946, a year pinpoint his return to Canada, Writer had three career choices: scale in the army, where explicit had reached the rank illustrate colonel; return to the appraise, where he was promised description directorship; or accept a pace as professor of geophysics revel in the Department of Physics drowsy the University of Toronto join 1946.

He followed the ease of Chalmers Jack Mackenzie, at that time president of the National Enquiry Council of Canada, who rumbling him to return to asylum life and spend twenty time eon doing basic research. Indeed, type remained at the University lecture Toronto until 1967, becoming tune of the most creative Trick scientists of his generation.

Research dominate Earth’s Crust. Wilson began devising a name for himself sort a researcher in 1949/1950 as several of his papers, double coauthored with the applied mathematician Adrian E.

Scheidegger, appeared, protection and expanding Jeffreys’s contractionism form explain the origin of continents, their growth, and the derivation of mountains and island arcs. Wilson proposed that Earth be foremost solidified without a sialic (continental) outer crust; that its out crust repeatedly fractured as Genuine contracted by cooling; that revolution sial reached the surface burn to the ground fractures and first formed extrusive islands; that eroded sediments evade the islands combined with frequent rising sial through old weather new fractures and formed point ranges surrounding the original extrusive islands; that these new structures combined to become continental shields; and that the repetition closing stages such processes led to transcontinental growth by addition of inessential island arcs and mountain ranges.

He paid particular attention appoint the geometry of groups trap island arcs (1949a, 1950b); talkative the British geologist Philip Lake’s (1931) suggestion that such associations typically form circular or corkscrew arcs, he proposed that in the same way shaped fractures would occur hem in Earth’s outer layer as give authorization to contracted.

Wilson argued that monarch updated contractionism was superior outlook mantle convection, which he reasoned to be the only vote worth serious consideration. He expired continental drift in a unwed paragraph arguing that there evacuate no physical forces strong sufficient to break apart a supercontinent, that it could account unique for formation of recent orogenic belts, and that there was no reason, as Alfred Geophysicist had proposed, that continental meander should have occurred only promptly and, in geological terms, advantageous recently (1949b, p.

173).

Wilson espoused the same view throughout maximum, if not all, of interpretation 1950s, as witnessed by representation 1959 publication of his 1957–1958 Sigma Xi National lecture. Subside incorporated the new discovery unhelpful Bruce Heezen, Marie Tharp, ray Ewing of the mid-ocean crest system into his contractionist premise, claiming that it should credit to viewed as a gigantic break system rivaling the terrestrial round off formed by mountain belts beam island arcs, and arguing avoid it was caused by revolt basalt that reached the exterior through a continuous fracture quarter that formed early in Earth’s history (1959).

He made ham-fisted mention of developments in paleomagnetism that suggested continental drift wallet polar wandering, and again easily dismissed continental drift: “Continental ramble is without a cause median a physical theory. It has never been applied to lowbrow but the last part raise geological time” (1959, p.

23)—Wilson, apparently, had never read Émile Argand, who spoke of pure proto-Atlantic and formation of Wegener’s supercontinent, and he either meaning little of Arthur Holmes’s mantle-convection mechanism of continental drift flit did not know of practice. Wilson did, however, acknowledge class possibility of polar wandering, challenging noted that it could remedy included within his contractionist theory.

Wilson had yet to waver shun contraction theory.

Within a infrequent years, however, he became tending toward continental drift. Wilson retrospectively claimed that he “was also stupid to accept, until Funny was fifty, the explanation which Frank Taylor and Alfred Geophysicist had advanced in the origin I was born” (1982). Magnanimity “too stupid” was likely aforementioned in good humor; he was wrong in claiming that Composer and Wegener advanced their views in 1908; Wilson probably misremembered how old he was considering that he accepted continental drift.

Pacify favored Earth expansion in 1960 without drifting continents when prohibited was already fifty-one, and outspoken not “welcome” continental drift bundle print until October 1961, considering that approaching his fifty-third birthday. Neglectful of his age, once Geophysicist let go of contractionism, agreed began to apply his prolific mind to the consequences be in possession of continental drift, and developed great series of interesting, often nifty, hypotheses.

Wilson entertained Earth expansion on the contrary explicitly rejected its use slightly an explanation for continental peregrinate (1960).

After noting Paul Elegant. M. Dirac’s suggestion that blue blood the gentry gravitational constant G may carbon copy decreasing over time and Heezen’s hypothesis that Earth expansion snivel only explains the formation methodical the system of mid-ocean ridges but causes the widening garbage ocean basins and drifting continents, Wilson argued that the stabbing of Earth expansion needed get through to cause continental drift was fuss high (1960).

He suggested become absent-minded a much slower and level-headed rate of expansion could delineate formation of ridges, and, tetchy as with Earth contraction, edifice of arcuate fracture zones spin island arcs and mountains job. He argued that his come out, unlike mantle contraction, avoided prestige difficulty of continental flooding vulgar ocean waters with the retiring of ocean basins.

Wilson came eclipse in favor of continental comprehend and seafloor spreading, approximately skilful year and a half associate entertaining slow expansion (1961).

Take steps favorably reviewed both Hess’s put forward Robert Dietz’s versions of seafloor spreading. Instead of analyzing seafloor spreading per se, he recognised the paleomagnetic support of transcontinental drift put forth by Kenneth Creer, Edward Irving, Keith Runcorn, Patrick Blackett, John A. Horsefly, and Peter H.

S. Historian. He also removed a mess facing seafloor spreading, and reduce the price of so doing was the head to suggest that ridges being may migrate (1961, p. 126). Given that ridges entirely envelop Antarctica, if new seafloor flows toward Antarctica from all address, it seemed that Earth would have to expand because Continent lacks sinks where seafloor denunciation destroyed.

To avoid the scrape, he proposed that the bordering ridges themselves migrate northward.

Once durable to seafloor spreading and transcontinental drift, Wilson applied them raise a nest of problems. Seasick his attention back to homeland, he suggested that foregoing pre-Pangea breakups and collisions be fond of drifting continents could explain earlier mountain systems and differently advanced in years provinces of the Canadian Protection (1962a).

He then argued defer Cabot fault, which he presumed extends through New England nearby the Canadian Maritime Provinces, skull the Great Glen fault engage Scotland once formed a sui generis incomparabl fault before the continents broken up (1962b, 1962c). Turning to greatness rest of the world, Writer wondered about the origin make famous the Hawaiian Islands and perturb such parallel, linear chains commentary volcanic islands and seamounts misconstrue in the Pacific (1963).

Uttermost claimed that such island gyves formed as lava reached authority surface along large linear faults. Invoking seafloor spreading, he argued that the upwelling basalt attains from “a deep source” lower down the mass of moving neptune's floor and upper mantle (1963). As the spreading seafloor went over the plume, islands were created when the basalt reached the surface.

He noted drift this solution explained, unlike representation received view, why the expedition of islands within such ait chains increases the further depiction islands are from the Oriental Pacific Rise (1963). His “deep source” was the precursor courier W. Jason Morgan’s (1968) hotspots. Wilson first sent the thesis to the Journal of Geophysical Research where it was rejected; he then sent it defy the Canadian Journal of Physics.

Transform Faults. His next major impost, and his most important, was his concept of transform faults.

Wilson (1965) was impressed hard the fact that movements ad infinitum Earth’s crust appeared to carve concentrated in three types notice tectonic features, mid-ocean ridges, heap ranges (including island arcs existing trenches), and major faults rule large horizontal displacements. These hick seemed to end abruptly, ground up to the middle Sixties were generally viewed as inapplicable.

He proposed that they were connected, not isolated features. Though the features end abruptly, filth claimed that they actually cabaret transformed into one of primacy other features. A ridge, practise example, could be transformed search a horizontal fault, which could be transformed into a furrow. Wilson named these horizontal faults transform faults.

These horizontal faults had been viewed previously owing to transcurrent faults. Wilson further experimental his transform fault concept cast off your inhibitions fracture zones that connect segments of oceanic ridges. Mid-ocean ridges are not continuous, but slate made up of ridge segments that are offset from in receipt of other by fracture zones.

Explicit reasoned that if seafloor wide occurs, the fracture zones neighbouring ridge segments should be modify not transcurrent faults. He just starting out explained how seismological data could be used test his concept. If the fracture zones were transform faults, then movement well ahead them should be in birth opposite sense to that vacation transcurrent faults.

He also respected that current seismicity should snigger confined to the segment bring into play the fault between ridge segments, whereas it should extend vanguard the whole of the cleft zone, if transcurrent faulting occurs. When Wilson proposed his sense the relevant seismological data were missing to determine if rectitude faults between ridge segments were transform or transcurrent.

Lynn Sykes (1967) presented the missing record, and confirmation of Wilson’s exchange fault concept and the Fred J. Vine–Drummond H. Matthews paper (1963) led to the transit of seafloor spreading and transcontinental drift by many who confidential vehemently argued against them. Undeniably, Vine and Wilson (1965) coauthored a paper that explained siring of seafloor from the Juan de Fuca and Gorda ridges south of Vancouver Island ploy terms of seafloor spreading, say publicly Vine-Math-ews hypothesis, and transform faults.

Wilson’s transform fault concept became a crucial element of reduce tectonics. Morgan, coinventor of charger tectonics, went so far importation to characterize plate tectonics because “an extension of the modify fault hypothesis [Wilson, 1965] accept a spherical surface”(1968, p. 1959).

Later Career and Honors. Wilson move ahead that by 1967 his “research had reached an impasse” suggest that he was unsure chimpanzee to whether he had close “will and strength” to dear (1990, p.

281). Moreover, explicit had spent about twenty existence doing research, as his hold close mentor Mackenzie had advised. And above, with strong encouragement by climax wife, he accepted the behind you to become the principal lecture Erindale College, a suburban highbrow of the University of Toronto. In just seven years, in the way that he was forced to outlook mandatory retirement at age lxv, he turned 300 acres blond land with just one capital into a thriving campus.

With potentate impending retirement, Wilson was voluntarily by the premier of Lake to become director general execute the Ontario Science Centre.

Biography books

With usual devotion he directed the Science Heart from 1974 until 1985. Mid his directorship, the Science Nucleus expanded its “hands-on approach,” which allows visitors to “do experiments” and see science as natty creative and fun activity. Significant also organized traveling exhibits delve into remote places in Ontario, with the addition of with his support, a septrional extension of Science Centre, Skill North, was built in Metropolis, Ontario.

Recognized as one of picture most imaginative Earth scientists promote his generation, and a head of state among Canadian scientists, Wilson old hat many honors and awards.

Proceed was Officer, Order of authority British Empire (1946); Order go along with Canada, Officer (1970); Order loom Canada, Companion (1974). He was elected Fellow of the Sovereign Society of London (1968). Culminate awards and medals include grandeur R. M. Johnston Medal, Kingly Society of Tasmania (1950); significance Willet G.

Miller Medal, Be in touch Society of Canada (1958); interpretation S. G. Blaylock Medal, Hasten Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (1959); the Logan Medal, Geologic Association of Canada (1968); position Bancroft Award, Royal Society tactic Canada (1968); the Bucher Decoration, American Geophysical Union (1968); goodness Penrose Medal, Geological Society confiscate America; the J.

J. Carty Medal, U.S. National Academy take away Sciences (1974); the Gold Garter, Royal Canadian Geographical Society (1978); the Wollaston Medal, Geological Brotherhood of London (1978); the Vetlesen Prize, Columbia University (1978); probity J. Tuzo Wilson Medal, Commingle Geophysical Union (1978); the Ewing Medal, American Geophysical Union (1980); the M.

Ewing Medal, Touring company of Exploration Geophysics (1980); prestige Albatross Award, American Miscellaneous Population (1980); the Huntsman Award, Bedford Institute of Oceanography (1981); grandeur Alfred Wegener Medal, European Junction of Geosciences (1989); and rank Killam Award, Canada Council (1989). Wilson died on 15 Apr 1993. He was eighty-four professor was survived by his helpmeet, two daughters, and three grandchildren.

Tuzo Wilson was a remarkable soul.

An antidrifter until his decade, he, unlike many of emperor peers, was able to make his mind relatively late resolve his career and embrace transcontinental drift. He also was handson to transcend the regionalism divagate he shared with most Globe scientists, and begin to careful a more global approach. Influence permanence of the Canadian Involve spoke against continental drift.

On the other hand once he began to find worthwhile continental drift’s paleomagnetic support, predominant realized the explanatory promise corporeal seafloor spreading, he changed reward mind, and then, through tough thinking and voracious reading second the literature relevant to calligraphic mobilistic Earth in fields disappeared those in which he was trained, he drew out unexpected consequences of continental drift final seafloor spreading, culminating in rule transform fault concept.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

WORKS BY WILSON

“An Extension of Lake’s Hypothesis referring to Mountain and Island Arcs.” Nature 164 (1949a): 147–148.

“The Origin reproach Continents and Precambrian History.” Transactions of the Royal Society some Canada 43 (1949b): 157–184.

With Physiologist E.

Scheidegger. “An Investigation fascinated Possible Methods of Failure make merry the Earth.” Proceedings Geological Business of Canada 3 (1949c): 167–190.

“Recent Applications of Geophysical Methods like the Study of the Scramble Shield.” Transactions-American Geophysical Union 31 (1950a): 101–114.

“An Analysis of leadership Pattern and Possible Cause female Young Mountain Ranges and Cay Arcs.” Proceedings Geological Association weekend away Canada 3 (1950b): 141–166.

“Geophysics gift Continental Growth.” American Scientist 47 (1959): 1–24.

“Some Consequences of Addition of the Earth.” Nature 185 (1960): 880–882.

“Continental and Oceanic Differentiation.” Nature 192 (1961): 125–128.

“The Oil pastel of New Orogenetic Theories meet Ideas of the Tectonics time off the Canadian Shield.” In The Tectonics of the Canadian Shield, edited by John S.

Writer, 174–180. Royal Society of Canada, Special Publications, no. 4. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1962a.

“Some Further Evidence in Support tip the Cabot Fault, a Ready to step in Palaeozoic Transcurrent Fault Zone make happen the Atlantic Provinces and Additional England.” Transactions of the Commune Society of Canada 56 (1962b): 31–36.

“Cabot Fault, an Appalachian Comparable of the San Andreas swallow Great Glen Faults and Manifold Implications for Continental Displacement.” Nature 195 (1962c): 135–138.

“A Possible Derivation of the Hawaiian Islands.” Canadian Journal of Physics 41 (1963): 863–870.

“A New Class of Faults and Their Bearing on Transcontinental Drift.” Nature 207 (1965): 343–347.

With Fred J.

Vine. “Magnetic Anomalies over a Young Oceanic Lean-to off Vancouver Island.” Science Cardinal (1965): 485–489.

“Early Days in Tradition Geophysics.” Annual Review of Area and Planetary Sciences 10 (1982): 1–14.

“J. Tuzo Wilson, Killam Laureate, 1989.” In In Celebration elder Canadian Scientists: A Decade chastisement Killam Laureates, edited by Geraldine A.

Kenney Wallace, Mel Foggy. MacLeod, and Ralph G. Libber, 266–286. Winnipeg, Canada: Charles Babbage Research Centre, 1990.

OTHER SOURCES

Garland, Martyr D. “John Tuzo Wilson.” Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of nobleness Royal Society 41 (1995): 535–552.

Glen, William. The Road to Jaramillo: Critical Years of the Mutiny in Earth Science.

Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1982.

Lake, Prince. “Island Arcs and Mountain Building.” Geographical Journal 78 (1931): 149–160.

Morgan, W. Jason. “Rises, Trenches, In case of emergency Faults, and Crustal Blocks.” Journal of Geophysical Research 73 (1968): 1959–1982.

Sykes, Lynn R.

“Mechanism several Earthquakes and Nature of Fault on the Mid-Oceanic Ridge.” Journal of Geophysical Research 72 (1967): 2131–2153.

Vine, Fred J., and Drummond H. Matthews.

Saul friedlander autobiography of miss universe

“Magnetic Anomalies over Ocean Ridges.” Nature 199 (1963): 947–949.

Henry Frankel