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Frederick John Vine
FRS (born 17 June 1939) is an English
marine geologist
Marine geology or geological oceanography is the study of the history and structure of the ocean floor. It involves geophysical, geochemical, sedimentological and paleontological investigations of the ocean floor and coastal zone. Marine geology ...
and
geophysicist
Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and physical properties of the Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. The term ''geophysics'' som ...
. He made key contributions to the theory of
plate tectonics
Plate tectonics (from the la, label=Late Latin, tectonicus, from the grc, τεκτονικός, lit=pertaining to building) is the generally accepted scientific theory that considers the Earth's lithosphere to comprise a number of large ...
, helping to show that the
seafloor spreads from
mid-ocean ridge
A mid-ocean ridge (MOR) is a seafloor mountain system formed by plate tectonics. It typically has a depth of about and rises about above the deepest portion of an ocean basin. This feature is where seafloor spreading takes place along a diverge ...
s with a symmetrical pattern of
magnetic reversal
A geomagnetic reversal is a change in a planet's magnetic field such that the positions of magnetic north and magnetic south are interchanged (not to be confused with geographic north and geographic south). The Earth's field has alternated b ...
s in the
basalt
Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...
rocks on either side.
Early life
Vine was born in
Chiswick
Chiswick ( ) is a district of west London, England. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist William Hogarth; Chiswick House, a neo-Palladian villa regarded as one of the finest in England; and Full ...
, London, and educated at
Latymer Upper School
(Slowly Therefore Surely)
, established =
, closed =
, sister_school = Godolphin and Latymer School
, type = Public schoolIndependent day school
, head_label = H ...
and
St John's College, Cambridge
St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...
[Profile at Bookrags.com](_blank)
/ref> where he studied Natural Sciences
Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...
(BA, 1962) and marine geophysics Marine geophysics is the scientific discipline that employs methods of geophysics to study the world's ocean basins and continental margins, particularly the solid earth beneath the ocean. It shares objectives with marine geology, which uses sedime ...
(PhD, 1965). He married Susan 'Sue' Vine (née McCall), who worked as a research assistant for Drummond Matthews in the Department of Geodesy and Geophysics, University of Cambridge, contributing to the development of the sea-floor spreading hypothesis associated with Matthews and her husband.
Plate Tectonics
Vine's PhD thesis was on 'Magnetism in the Seafloor' and supervised by Drummond Matthews
Drummond Hoyle Matthews FRS (5 February 1931 – 20 July 1997), known as "Drum", was a British marine geologist and geophysicist and a key contributor to the theory of plate tectonics. His work, along with that of fellow Briton Fred Vine an ...
. Having met Harry Hess
Harry Hess (born July 5, 1968) is a Canadian record producer, singer and guitarist best known as the frontman for the Canadian hard rock band Harem Scarem.
Hess has used his recording studio (Vespa Music Group) to work with many famous acts, ...
he was aware of sea floor spreading
Seafloor spreading or Seafloor spread is a process that occurs at mid-ocean ridges, where new oceanic crust is formed through volcanic activity and then gradually moves away from the ridge.
History of study
Earlier theories by Alfred Wegener an ...
, where the ocean bed acts as a 'conveyor belt' moving away from the central ridge.BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
/
Open University
The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...
broadcast series ''Earth Story'', Vine interviewed by Professor
Aubrey Manning
Aubrey William George Manning, OBE, FRSE, FRSB, (24 April 1930 – 20 October 2018)[Drummond Matthews
Drummond Hoyle Matthews FRS (5 February 1931 – 20 July 1997), known as "Drum", was a British marine geologist and geophysicist and a key contributor to the theory of plate tectonics. His work, along with that of fellow Briton Fred Vine an ...]
and
Lawrence Morley
Lawrence Whitaker Morley (February 19, 1920 – April 22, 2013) was a Canadian geophysicist and remote sensing pioneer. He was best known for his studies on the magnetic properties of the oceanic crust and their effect on plate tectonics and for ...
of the
Geological Survey of Canada
The Geological Survey of Canada (GSC; french: Commission géologique du Canada (CGC)) is a Canadian federal government agency responsible for performing geological surveys of the country, developing Canada's natural resources and protecting the en ...
, helped put the variations in the magnetic properties of the
ocean crust into context in what is now known as the
Vine–Matthews–Morley hypothesis
The Vine–Matthews–Morley hypothesis, also known as the Morley–Vine–Matthews hypothesis, was the first key scientific test of the seafloor spreading theory of continental drift and plate tectonics. Its key impact was that it allowed the r ...
. Specifically they supported
Dietz's (''Nature'' 1961) idea that sea floor spreading was occurring at
mid-ocean ridge
A mid-ocean ridge (MOR) is a seafloor mountain system formed by plate tectonics. It typically has a depth of about and rises about above the deepest portion of an ocean basin. This feature is where seafloor spreading takes place along a diverge ...
s. Vine and Matthews showed that
basalt
Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...
created at a mid-ocean ridge records earth's current magnetic field polarity (and strength), thus turning Hess's theoretical 'conveyor belt' into a 'tape recorder'.
Furthermore, they showed that
magnetic reversal
A geomagnetic reversal is a change in a planet's magnetic field such that the positions of magnetic north and magnetic south are interchanged (not to be confused with geographic north and geographic south). The Earth's field has alternated b ...
s 'frozen' into these rocks, as suggested by
Allan Cox (''Nature'' 1963), can be seen as parallel strips as you travel perpendicularly away from the ridge crest.
Academic career
Vine worked with E. M. Moores on the
Ophiolite
An ophiolite is a section of Earth's oceanic crust and the underlying upper mantle that has been uplifted and exposed above sea level and often emplaced onto continental crustal rocks.
The Greek word ὄφις, ''ophis'' (''snake'') is found i ...
in the
Troodos mountains
Troodos (sometimes spelled Troödos; el, Τρόοδος ; tr, Trodos Dağları) is the largest mountain range in Cyprus, located in roughly the center of the island. Its highest peak is Mount Olympus ( el, Όλυμπος), also known as Chion ...
of southern
Cyprus
Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...
. He worked with R. A. Livermore and A. G. Smith on the history of the Earth's magnetic field.
He worked on the electrical conductivity of rocks from the lower continental crust with R. G. Ross and P. W. J. Glover, which culminated in 1992 with measurements of the
electrical conductivity
Electrical resistivity (also called specific electrical resistance or volume resistivity) is a fundamental property of a material that measures how strongly it resists electric current. A low resistivity indicates a material that readily allow ...
of
graphite
Graphite () is a crystalline form of the element carbon. It consists of stacked layers of graphene. Graphite occurs naturally and is the most stable form of carbon under standard conditions. Synthetic and natural graphite are consumed on large ...
-rich
amphibolite
Amphibolite () is a metamorphic rock that contains amphibole, especially hornblende and actinolite, as well as plagioclase feldspar, but with little or no quartz. It is typically dark-colored and dense, with a weakly foliated or schistose (flaky ...
s and
granulite
Granulites are a class of high-grade metamorphic rocks of the granulite facies that have experienced high-temperature and moderate-pressure metamorphism. They are medium to coarse–grained and mainly composed of feldspars sometimes associated w ...
s at lower crustal temperatures and pressures with a full water saturation and pore fluid pressure
and graphite-free
In 1967, Vine became assistant professor of geology and geophysics at
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
. In 1970 he moved to the School of Environmental Sciences at the
University of East Anglia
The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and 26 schools of study. The annual income of the institution f ...
, becoming professor there in 1974. He served as
dean
Dean may refer to:
People
* Dean (given name)
* Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin
* Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk
* Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean
Titles
* ...
from 1977 to 1980, and again from 1993 to 1998. After 1998, he was a professorial fellow of the University of East Anglia.
and then in 2008 he became an
emeritus professor
''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...
there.
Honours
Vine's honours include:
*
Day Medal in 1968
*
Bigelow Medal
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI, acronym pronounced ) is a private, nonprofit research and higher education facility dedicated to the study of marine science and engineering
Engineering is the use of scientific principl ...
of
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI, acronym pronounced ) is a private, nonprofit research and higher education facility dedicated to the study of marine science and engineering.
Established in 1930 in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, it i ...
in 1970
*
Bigsby Medal
The Bigsby Medal is a medal of the Geological Society of London established by John Jeremiah Bigsby. It is awarded for the study of American geology.
Recipients
SourcThe Geological Society
See also
* List of geology awards
* Prizes named after ...
of the
Geological Society of London
The Geological Society of London, known commonly as the Geological Society, is a learned society based in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe with more than 12,000 Fellows.
Fe ...
in 1971
*
Chapman Medal of the
Royal Astronomical Society
(Whatever shines should be observed)
, predecessor =
, successor =
, formation =
, founder =
, extinction =
, merger =
, merged =
, type = NGO ...
(1973)
* Fellowship of the
Royal Society
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
in March 1974
*
The Chree Medal and Prize of the
Institute of Physics
The Institute of Physics (IOP) is a UK-based learned society and professional body that works to advance physics education, research and application.
It was founded in 1874 and has a worldwide membership of over 20,000. The IOP is the Physica ...
(1977)
*
Hughes Medal
The Hughes Medal is awarded by the Royal Society of London "in recognition of an original discovery in the physical sciences, particularly electricity and magnetism or their applications". Named after David E. Hughes, the medal is awarded with ...
of the
Royal Society
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
(1982)
* International
Balzan Prize
The International Balzan Prize Foundation awards four annual monetary prizes to people or organizations who have made outstanding achievements in the fields of humanities, natural sciences, culture, as well as for endeavours for peace and the br ...
(1981)
*
Prestwich Medal The Prestwich Medal is a medal of the Geological Society of London established in the will of Joseph Prestwich "to apply the accumulated annual proceeds...at the end of every three years, in providing a Gold Medal to the value of Twenty Pounds which ...
of the
Geological Society of London
The Geological Society of London, known commonly as the Geological Society, is a learned society based in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe with more than 12,000 Fellows.
Fe ...
in 2007
Publications
*
[University of East Angliea – Fred Vine profile](_blank)
/ref>
*
*
*
*
* First edition: 1990, second edition: 1996.
See also
*List of geophysicists
This is a list of geophysicists, people who made notable contributions to geophysics, whether or not geophysics was their primary field. These include historical figures who laid the foundations for the field of geophysics. More recently, some of ...
References
External links
Faculty page
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vine, Fred
1939 births
Living people
People educated at Latymer Upper School
Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge
Princeton University faculty
Academics of the University of East Anglia
British geologists
British geophysicists
Fellows of the Royal Society
People from Chiswick
Marine geologists
Tectonicists
Marine geophysicists