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XAVIER
LePICHON (1987)
Xavier
LePichon, tenth recipient of the A.G. Huntsman Award, is recognized as one
of the leaders of the recent revolution in Earth Sciences. His formulation
of the principles of Plate Tectonics represented a major advance towards
the acceptance of this new paradigm of science. Using his great analytical
skills and expertise in the application of computers, he exploited the
vast treasury of data at Lamont Geological Observatory to produce the
first world models of plate motions. These models enabled him to
demonstrate that a half a dozen major plates could account for most of the
Continental drift in the last 100 million years. In a series of landmark
papers in the late 1960s, LePichon and colleagues from Lamont showed that
sea floor spreading occurred in all the oceans thus providing irrefutable
confirmation of the Continental Drift Hypothesis. Returning to France, he
took charge of the National Program in Marine Geophysics in 1969. His
energy, drive and enthusiasm for a rigorous approach to solving the puzzle
of the history and construction of the Earth's crust inspired a new
interest in sea floor geology in his native country and in other countries
in Europe. The publication of his book Plate Tectonics in 1973 was a
landmark event in the development of new ideas. Appreciating the need for
detailed studies of key areas of the ocean floor, he led the French
participation in project FAMOUS which investigated a one-degree segment of
the Mid-Atlantic Ridge near 37deg North. Besides numerous scientific
contributions, this research resulted in the publication of his second
book, which won a number of literary prizes. As an international
scientist, his work is characterized by a cooperative approach to solving
problems in Global Tectonics in the Mediterranean Region, Labrador Sea,
Japan Trench and Black Sea. An energetic participant in deep-sea
expeditions, a prolific writer, and a dedicated teacher, LePichon is in
the vanguard of research concerning the fundamental problems of the Earth. |