H. Jay Melosh

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H. Jay Melosh
Jay Melosh.jpg
Born(1947-06-23)June 23, 1947
Paterson, New Jersey
DiedSeptember 11, 2020(2020-09-11) (aged 73)
CitizenshipUnited States
EducationPrinceton
Caltech
Known forImpact Cratering Studies
Awards Barringer Medal (1999)
G K Gilbert Award
Scientific career
Fields Geophysics
Institutions Purdue University
Website eaps.purdue.edu/people/faculty-pages

H. Jay Melosh (June 23, 1947 – September 11, 2020) [1] was an American geophysicist specialising in impact cratering. He earned a degree in physics from Princeton University and a doctoral degree in physics and geology from Caltech in 1972. [2] His PhD thesis concerned quarks. [3] [4] Melosh's research interests include impact craters, planetary tectonics, and the physics of earthquakes and landslides. His recent research includes studies of the giant impact origin of the Moon, the Chicxulub impact that is thought to have extinguished most dinosaurs, and studies of ejection of rocks from their parent bodies. He was active in astrobiological studies that relate chiefly to the exchange of microorganisms between the terrestrial planets (a process known as panspermia or transpermia [5] ).

Contents

Melosh was a member of the American Geophysical Union, Geological Society of America, Meteoritical Society, American Astronomical Society (Division of Planetary Sciences,) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. [2] He was the recipient of the Barringer Medal of the Meteoritical Society for his work on the physics of impact, and of the G. K. Gilbert Award from the Geological Society of America. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2003. [6]

Career

H. Jay Melosh took his first faculty role at Caltech between 1976 and 1979, where he researched the Moon's orientation in relation to mass concentrations (mascons) and large impacts, and was also a member of the GRAIL science team. [7] He then went on to take a position with SUNY Stonybrook as an associate professor of geophysics until 1982 when he left to join the University of Arizona as a faculty member in the planetary sciences, [7] where he continued work on impact cratering until 2009. In 2009, Dr. Melosh moved to the Purdue University Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences to study impact cratering, planetary science, and geophysics until his retirement. [7]

Awards and honors

Publications

References

  1. ↑ "H. Jay Melosh".
  2. 1 2 "Curriculum Vitae" (PDF). Purdue University. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
  3. ↑ Melosh, H. Jay (1973). Quarks: currents and constituents (phd). California Institute of Technology. doi:10.7907/102C-A509 . Retrieved September 16, 2020.
  4. ↑ Melosh, H. J. (1974). "Quarks: Currents and constituents" (PDF). Physical Review D. 9 (4): 1095–1112. Bibcode:1974PhRvD...9.1095M. doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.9.1095 . Retrieved September 16, 2020.
  5. ↑ "Swapping Rocks - Exchange of Surface Material Among the Planets". Australian Spaceguard Survey. Archived from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved June 23, 2016.
  6. ↑ U A News [usurped]
  7. 1 2 3 "In memory of H. Jay Melosh: Department of Physics and Astronomy: Purdue University". www.physics.purdue.edu. Retrieved February 12, 2025.
  8. ↑ "2008 Harry H. Hess Medal Winner". American Geophysical Union. Retrieved June 23, 2016.
  9. ↑ "Planetary Names". planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov. Retrieved December 20, 2024.
  10. ↑ "A legacy etched in the red planet: Mars crater named for planetary expert Jay Melosh - Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences - Purdue University". www.eaps.purdue.edu. Retrieved December 20, 2024.
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