Henry William Posamentier (born December 4, 1948) is an American geologist. He helped pioneer and develop the modern approach to sequence stratigraphy, blending the disciplines of

sedimentology Sedimentology encompasses the study of modern sediments such as sand, silt, and clay, and the processes that result in their formation (erosion and weathering), transport, deposition and diagenesis. Sedimentologists apply their understanding of mo ...

, stratigraphy, and depositional systems analysis, largely within the context of

oil and gas exploration Hydrocarbon exploration (or oil and gas exploration) is the search by petroleum geologists and geophysicists for deposits of hydrocarbons, particularly petroleum and natural gas, in the Earth using petroleum geology. Exploration methods Vis ...

. During the past decade he pioneered and popularized the discipline of seismic

geomorphology Geomorphology (from Ancient Greek: , ', "earth"; , ', "form"; and , ', "study") is the scientific study of the origin and evolution of topographic and bathymetric features created by physical, chemical or biological processes operating at or n ...

, which, when integrated with seismic

stratigraphy Stratigraphy is a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock (geology), rock layers (Stratum, strata) and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary rock, sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks. Stratigrap ...

, leverages both 2D and 3D seismic data to better understand the paleogeographic distribution of

lithologies The lithology of a rock unit is a description of its physical characteristics visible at outcrop, in hand or core samples, or with low magnification microscopy. Physical characteristics include colour, texture, grain size, and composition. Lit ...

. Posamentier is partially colorblind and prefers to view his seismic data in grayscale. Posamentier was born in Manhattan in New York City, the son of Austrian-Jewish immigrants. He received his Bachelor of Science in geology in 1970 at the

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...

. In 1973 he earned his Master of Arts in geology and in 1975 his Ph.D., both from

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

. After a brief career in academia at Rider University (Assistant Professor of Geology (1974–1979), Posamentier joined the

oil and gas industry The petroleum industry, also known as the oil industry or the oil patch, includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transportation (often by oil tankers and pipelines), and marketing of petroleum products. The largest ...

, working for assorted leading oil and gas firms. In early 2014 he retired from

Chevron Corporation Chevron Corporation is an American multinational energy corporation. The second-largest direct descendant of Standard Oil, and originally known as the Standard Oil Company of California (shortened to Socal or CalSo), it is headquartered in S ...

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, but he continues to consult for the industry. Among his accomplishments, he was a Fulbright Fellow to Austria (1971–1972); the AAPG Distinguished Lecturer to the United States (1992-1992), former Soviet Union (1996–1997), Middle East (1998–1999), and Europe (2005–2006); recipient of the Pettijohn Medal for excellence in sedimentology from the Society for Sedimentary geology ( SEPM)(2008); recipient of the William Smith Medal for contributions to applied and economic aspects of geology from the Geological Society of London (2010); and the Robert Berg Award for Outstanding Petroleum Research (2012). Posamentier has five children (Joshua, born 1976 and Jordan, born 1978, Michelle, born 1989, EP, born 1994, and Rebecca, born 1995). He is the brother of

Alfred S. Posamentier Alfred S. Posamentier (born October 18, 1942) is an American educator and a lead commentator on American math and science education, regularly contributing to ''The New York Times'' and other news publications. He has created original math and s ...

, a notable American educator, and Evelyn Posamentier, a well-known poet.Geological Society of London: http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/gsl/site/GSL/lang/en/page7875.html#ws He presently resides with his wife, Ceri, in Bodega Bay, California.

Books edited

*AAPG Memoir 58: Siliciclastic Sequence Stratigraphy: Recent Developments and Applications, 1993*Geological Society, London, Special Publication 277, Seismic Geomorphology: Applications to *Hydrocarbon Exploration and Production *IAS Special Publication 18: Sequence Stratigraphy and Facies Associations, 1993 *NUNA Conference on High Resolution Sequence Stratigraphy, Proceedings Volume, 1991 *Second High Resolution Sequence Stratigraphy, Proceedings Volume, 1994 *SEPM Special Publication 42: Sea Level Change - an Integrated Approach, 1988 *SEPM Special Publication 76, Tropical Deltas of Southeast Asia, 2003 *SEPM Special Publication 84, Facies Models Revisited, 2006 *SEPM Special Publication (in press) Mass Transport Deposits

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Posamentier, Henry William 1948 births American geologists Syracuse University alumni Living people