David Headley Green AM FAA FRS | |
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Born | Launceston, Tasmania | February 29, 1936
Died | September 6, 2024 88) Hobart, Australia | (aged
Alma mater | University of Tasmania (BSc (1957), MSc (1960), DSc (1988) University of Cambridge (PhD, 1962) |
Known for | Genesis of basaltic magmas |
Awards | Murchison Medal (2000) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Experimental petrology |
Institutions | Australian National University University of Tasmania |
Doctoral advisor | Cecil Edgar Tilley |
David Headley Green AM FAA FRS (29 February 1936 to 6 September 2024) was a geologist and experimental petrologist. He was director of the Australian National University research school of earth sciences from 1994 to 2001, and received many senior medals and awards for his work. [1] He was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 2006. [2] [3]
Green was born in Launceston, Tasmania on 29 February 1936. He went to school at Burnie and Hobart High School, before going to university at the University of Tasmania, in Hobart. [4]
Green completed a Bachelor of Science BSc at the University of Tasmania in 1957. He then began work as a geologist with the Australian Bureau of Mineral Resources (1957 – 1959). He was awarded an MSc from the University of Tasmania in 1960, and DSc in 1988. In 1958, he was awarded an 1851 Exhibition overseas scholarship, and he went to the University of Cambridge. There, he completed a PhD in 1962 with a study of the ultramafic rocks of the Lizard peninsula in Cornwall, under the supervision of petrologist C.E. Tilley. [3] [5]
Green took up a research fellowship at the Australian National University (ANU) in 1962, and was subsequently a fellow and senior fellow until 1976. He held the post of visiting professor at Caltech in 1975, and then moved to take up the post of professor of geology at the University of Tasmania (UTAS) in 1977. In 1994, he returned to the ANU Research School of Earth Sciences as director. He retired in 2001. [3]
Green was an experimental petrologist, and investigated the behaviour of rocks and minerals at high pressures and temperatures in the laboratory. For much of his early career he worked closely with geologist and geochemist Ted Ringwood, also at ANU, and they wrote a series of influential papers on the origins of basaltic magmas, [6] on the transformation of rocks from basalt to gabbro to eclogite, and on the nature of the upper mantle. [5]
In 2008, when Green was aged 72, a number of his former students, colleagues and collaborators published a collected volume of research papers 'in honour of the work of David Headley Green on the occasion of his 18th birthday, 29 February 2008'; a reference to his leap year birthday. [7]
Green published more than 220 papers over the course of his research career. [7] [5] Selected papers are listed below.
Green received many awards and medals over the course of his career, [3] including
Green was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1991, in recognition of his work on the 'origin of magmas and the nature of Earth and Moon interiors'. He was the third UTAS graduate to be elected to the Royal Society. [4]
He was appointed Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for ‘service to the earth sciences’ in 2006. Green was recognised with honorary fellowships from national and international academies and societies inclduing: Mineralogical Society, London (2004), American Geophysical Union (2004) and the Geological Society of Australia (2008). Green was awarded an honorary doctorate of letters, D Litt (Hons), by the university of Tasmania in 1994. [4]
Green was married to Helen for 65 years. Helen died in May 2024. Green died on 6 September 2024 in Hobart. He was survived by his brother, Trevor, who is also an academic geologist. Green had 6 children, 17 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren. [1] [9] [5]
A volcanologist, or volcano scientist, is a geologist who focuses on understanding the formation and eruptive activity of volcanoes. Volcanologists frequently visit volcanoes, sometimes active ones, to observe and monitor volcanic eruptions, collect eruptive products including tephra, rock and lava samples. One major focus of inquiry in recent times is the prediction of eruptions to alleviate the impact on surrounding populations and monitor natural hazards associated with volcanic activity. Geologists who research volcanic materials that make up the solid Earth are referred to as igneous petrologists.
Petrology is the branch of geology that studies rocks, their mineralogy, composition, texture, structure and the conditions under which they form. Petrology has three subdivisions: igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary petrology. Igneous and metamorphic petrology are commonly taught together because both make heavy use of chemistry, chemical methods, and phase diagrams. Sedimentary petrology is commonly taught together with stratigraphy because it deals with the processes that form sedimentary rock. Modern sedimentary petrology is making increasing use of chemistry.
Peridotite ( PERR-ih-doh-tyte, pə-RID-ə-) is a dense, coarse-grained igneous rock consisting mostly of the silicate minerals olivine and pyroxene. Peridotite is ultramafic, as the rock contains less than 45% silica. It is high in magnesium (Mg2+), reflecting the high proportions of magnesium-rich olivine, with appreciable iron. Peridotite is derived from Earth's mantle, either as solid blocks and fragments, or as crystals accumulated from magmas that formed in the mantle. The compositions of peridotites from these layered igneous complexes vary widely, reflecting the relative proportions of pyroxenes, chromite, plagioclase, and amphibole.
The rock cycle is a basic concept in geology that describes transitions through geologic time among the three main rock types: sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous. Each rock type is altered when it is forced out of its equilibrium conditions. For example, an igneous rock such as basalt may break down and dissolve when exposed to the atmosphere, or melt as it is subducted under a continent. Due to the driving forces of the rock cycle, plate tectonics and the water cycle, rocks do not remain in equilibrium and change as they encounter new environments. The rock cycle explains how the three rock types are related to each other, and how processes change from one type to another over time. This cyclical aspect makes rock change a geologic cycle and, on planets containing life, a biogeochemical cycle.
Cecil Edgar Tilley FRS, Hon FRSE, PGS was an Australian-British petrologist and geologist.
Alfred Edward "Ted" Ringwood FRS FAA was an Australian experimental geophysicist and geochemist, and the 1988 recipient of the Wollaston Medal.
Peter John Wyllie is a British petrologist and academic.
Pyrolite is a term used to characterize a model composition of the Earth's mantle. This model is based on that a pyrolite source can produce mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB) by partial melting. It was first proposed by Ted Ringwood (1962) as being 1 part basalt and 4 parts harzburgite, but later was revised to being 1 part tholeiitic basalt and 3 parts dunite. The term is derived from the mineral names PYR-oxene and OL-ivine. However, whether pyrolite is entirely representative of the Earth's mantle remains debated.
Jonathan David Blundy FRS is Royal Society Research Professor at the School of Earth Sciences at the University of Oxford and honorary professor at the University of Bristol.
Charles R. Bacon is an American geologist and volcanologist at the United States Geological Survey in the Volcano Hazards Team, and who is best known for his work on the volcanic history of Crater Lake National Park and Mount Mazama.
Igneous rock, or magmatic rock, is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic. Igneous rocks are formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava.
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Charles Whitman Cross was an American geologist. He was educated at Amherst College, the University of Göttingen, and Leipzig University. A petrologist, much of his field work concerned rocks in Colorado. He and three other geologists proposed the CIPW norm that is still used in normative mineralogy. He was also active in scientific societies and institutions.
Timothy John Barrington Holland is a British petrologist who is Emeritus Professor in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Cambridge.
John Francis Lovering was an Australian geologist. He was Professor of Geology at the University of Melbourne from 1969 to 1987 and Vice-Chancellor of Flinders University from 1987 to 1995.
Thomas George Vallance was an Australian geologist, specializing in petrology, and a historian of geology. The Geological Society of London awarded him the 1993 Sue Tyler Friedman Medal.
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