Terry Ann Plank is an American geochemist,
volcanologist
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, col ...
and professor of earth science at
Columbia College, Columbia University
Columbia College is the oldest undergraduate college of Columbia University, situated on the university's main campus in Morningside Heights in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded by the Church of England in 1754 as King' ...
, and the
Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory Lamont or LaMont may refer to:
People
*Lamont (name), people with the surname or given name ''Lamont'' or ''LaMont''
* Clan Lamont, a Scottish clan
Places Canada
*Lamont, Alberta, a town in Canada
*Lamont County, a municipal district in Alberta ...
. She is a
2012 MacArthur Fellow and member of the
National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...
.
Her most prominent work involves the crystal chemistry of lava minerals (mostly olivines) in order to determine magma ages and movement, giving clues to how quickly magma can surface as lava in volcanoes. Most notably, Plank is known for her work establishing a stronger link between the subduction of ocean sediments and volcanism at ocean arcs. Her current work can be seen at her website.
Plank states that her interest in volcanoes began when her Dartmouth professor took her and other students to Arenal volcano in Costa Rica. He had them sit and have lunch while on top of a slow-moving lava flow and while watching bright red goops of lava crack out from their black casings. "It was totally cool, how could you not like that?" Plank recalled the event to State of the Planet, an Earth Institute News source at Columbia University.
Education
Plank was born in
Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington ( Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...
.
As a child, she grew up in a schist quarry and was the youngest member of the
Delaware Mineralogical Society in third grade.
She graduated from Tatnall High School in 1981 and then graduated summa cum laude in Earth Sciences from Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...
in 1985 with her thesis ''Magmatic Garnets from the Cardigan Pluton, NH'' under the supervision of John B. Lyons. She received her Ph.D. in Geosciences with distinction in 1993 from Columbia University, Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory with her thesis ''Mantle Melting and Crustal Recycling at Subduction Zones'' under the advising of Charles H. Langmuir.
Career
Beginning a postdoctoral career at Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
, Plank worked under the supervision of W.M. White from 1993 to 1995. From there, Plank became an assistant Professor at the University of Kansas
The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...
from 1995 to 1999. There, she collaborated with her PhD advisor from Columbia (Langmuir) to work on her most cited publication, ''The chemical composition of subducting sediment and its consequences for the crust and mantle'' (see below). From 1999 to 2007, Plank was a professor of Earth Sciences at Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...
(Associate Professor from 1999 to 2005 and Professor from 2005 to 2007). Since 2008, Plank has been at Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
in New York, New York, appointed as an Arthur D. Storke Memorial Professor in their Earth and Environmental Science Department. Plank has held two visiting Professor positions in France: summer 1998 at the University of Rennes
The University of Rennes is a public research university which will be officially reconstituted on 1 January 2023 and located in the city of Rennes, in Upper Brittany, France. The University of Rennes has been divided for almost 50 years, before ...
in Rennes and summer 2002 at the Universite Joseph Fourier in Grenoble.[
]
Research focus
She has spent her career researching magma
Magma () is the molten or semi-molten natural material from which all igneous rocks are formed. Magma is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and evidence of magmatism has also been discovered on other terrestrial planets and some natural sa ...
and volcanoes
A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface.
On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are ...
. One specific area of her research is how the chemical composition of magma and crystals that form during eruption can provide information about the amount of water present during the eruption and explain how explosive it was. She uses microanalysis and modeling of volatile diffusion along small melt tubes and embayments, found in olivine crystals. She has done field work around the ring of fire
The Ring of Fire (also known as the Pacific Ring of Fire, the Rim of Fire, the Girdle of Fire or the Circum-Pacific belt) is a region around much of the rim of the Pacific Ocean where many volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur. The Ring o ...
, Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
, Nicaragua
Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...
, Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
, and across the southwest United States as well as the Aleutian Islands
The Aleutian Islands (; ; ale, Unangam Tanangin,”Land of the Aleuts", possibly from Chukchi language, Chukchi ''aliat'', "island"), also called the Aleut Islands or Aleutic Islands and known before 1867 as the Catherine Archipelago, are a cha ...
.[ Plank serves on the executive committee of the ]Deep Carbon Observatory
The Deep Carbon Observatory (DCO) is a global research program designed to transform understanding of carbon's role in Earth. DCO is a community of scientists, including biologists, physicists, geoscientists and chemists, whose work crosses sever ...
.
Two of her other main research contributions have been to the understanding of magma generation and crustal recycling at subduction zones. This is accomplished by geochemical observation of olivine minerals present in lavas. Her research focuses on magmas that evolve due to the plate tectonic
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 te ...
cycle, namely subduction zones. More specifically, Plank has published notable papers tracing sediments from sea floors to their ultimate end as lava from arc volcanoes. This 'creation' of magma from sediments, how sediments decompress and at what temperature and water content, has remained the research in which she is most invested and interested.
One of Planks most notable works came from a collaboration with Langmuir in 1998. Not only did The chemical composition and its consequences for the crust and mantle provided a linkage in chemical composition between subducting ocean sediment and the composition of lava from arc volcanoes, but also it called for a development of a global subducting sediment (GLOSS) composition and flux similar to upper continental crust (UCC). Plank has since updated GLOSS to GLOSS-II in her 2014 publication, ''Chemical composition of subducting sediments.''
In one of her most recent papers, ''Thermal structure and melting conditions in the mantle beneath the Basin and Range province from seismology and petrology,'' a collaboration with D.W. Forsyth, Plank revised a mantle-melt thermobarometer. They did this revision to show more precise pressure and temperature equilibrium estimates of mantle melt in the Basin and Range region of the United States.
Awards
Plank was presented with the John Ebers Geology Award while at Dartmouth College. In 1998, Plank received the Houtermans Medal from the European Association for Geochemistry as well as the Donath Medal from the Geological Society of America.[ In 2012, Plank was awarded the ]MacArthur Genius Grant
The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to between 20 and 30 ind ...
and the following year was elected to the National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...
. She received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Dartmouth in 2015, and in 2016 was elected into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...
. She received the Wollaston Medal
The Wollaston Medal is a scientific award for geology, the highest award granted by the Geological Society of London.
The medal is named after William Hyde Wollaston, and was first awarded in 1831. It was originally made of gold (1831–1845), t ...
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 2018.
Fellowships
Source:
* Fellow of the Geochemical Society, 2011
* Fellow of the Mineralogical Society of America, 2009
* Fellow of the American Geophysical Union, 2008
* Fellow of the Geological Society of America, 1998
* National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship, 1993–1994
* National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship, 1985–1988
* JOI/USSAC Ocean Drilling Program Fellowship, 1988–1990
* Summer Undergraduate Research Fellow, GSO University Rhode Island, 1984
Selected publications
* ''Thermal Structure and Melting Conditions in the Mantle beneath the Basin and Range Province from Seismology and Petrology.'' Plank, T.; D. W. Forsyth. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, vol. 17, no. 4, 2016, pp. 1312–1338. (2016)
*''The Chemical Composition of Subducting Sediments.'' Plank, T. in: H.D. Holland, K.K. Turekian (Eds.), The Crust, Treatise on Geochemistry (second ed.)4, Elsevier, Oxford (2014), pp. 607–629.
* ''NanoSIMS results from olivine-hosted melt embayments: Magma ascent rate during explosive basaltic eruptions.'' Lloyd, A.S; Plank, T; Ruprecht, P; Hauri, E.H., Rose, W; Gonnermann, H.M. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research
''Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research'' is a scientific journal that publishes recent research on the fields of volcanology and geothermal activity, as well as the societal and environmental impact of these phenomenon.
Abstracting an ...
Volume: 283 p.: 1-18 (2014).
* ''Melting during late-stage rifting in Afar is hot and deep Ferguson'', D. J.; Maclennan, J.; Bastow, I. D.; Pyle, D. M.; Jones, S. M., Keir; D., Blundy, J. D.; Plank, T.; Yirgu, G. ''Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...
'' 07/2013 Volume: 499 p.: 70-73 (2013) 0.1038/nature12292
* ''Why do mafic arc magmas contain ~4 wt% water on average?'' Plank, T., Kelley, K.A., †Zimmer, M.M., Hauri, E.H. and Wallace, P.J. Earth and Planetary Science Letters
''Earth and Planetary Science Letters'' (EPSL) is a bimonthly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering research on physical, chemical and mechanical processes of the Earth and other planets, including extrasolar ones. Topics covered range from dee ...
, Frontiers Article Volume: 364 p.: 168-179 (2013)
* ''Feeding andesitic eruptions with a high-speed connection from the mantle.'' Ruprecht, P. and Plank, T. Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...
Volume: 50 p.: 68-72 (2013) doi:10.1038/nature12342
* ''The Hf-Nd isotopic composition of marine sediments''. Vervoort, Jeff D.; Plank, Terry; Prytulak, Julie Geochimica Et Cosmochimica Acta
''Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta'' (GCA, for, , Latin, Geochemical and Cosmochemical Journal) is a biweekly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Elsevier. It was established in 1950 and is sponsored by the Geochemical Society and the ...
10/2011 Volume: 75 p.: 5903-5926 (2011)
* ''New geothermometers for estimating slab surface temperatures.'' Plank, T.; Cooper, L.; Manning; C.E. Nature Geoscience
''Nature Geoscience'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the Nature Publishing Group. The Chief Editor is Tamara Goldin, who took over from Heike Langenberg in February 2020. It was established in January 2008.
Scope
The ...
Volume: 2 p.: 611-615 (2009)
References
External links
Terry Plank home page
Terry Plank at Lamont Doherty
*
MacArthur Foundation bio of Terry Plank
Plank discussing her work and the MacArthur Fellow award
Thermal Structure and Melting Conditions in the Mantle beneath the Basin and Range Province from Seismology and Petrology
The Chemical Composition of Subducting Sediments
NanoSIMS results from olivine-hosted melt embayments: Magma ascent rate during explosive basaltic eruptions
Melting during late-stage rifting in Afar is hot and deep
Why do mafic arc magmas contain ~4wt% water on average?
Feeding andesitic eruptions with a high-speed connection from the mantle
The Hf-Nd isotopic composition of marine sediments
New geothermometers for estimating slab surface temperatures
Terry Plank: Volcano Maven
{{DEFAULTSORT:Plank, Terry Ann
1963 births
Living people
American volcanologists
American women geologists
MacArthur Fellows
Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory people
Columbia University alumni
Columbia University faculty
20th-century American geologists
21st-century American geologists
21st-century American scientists
20th-century American women scientists
21st-century American women scientists
Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
American women academics