Vincent E. Courtillot (born 6 March 1948) is an emeritus French
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 ...
, prominent among the researchers who are critical of the hypothesis that
impact events
An impact event is a collision between astronomical objects causing measurable effects. Impact events have physical consequences and have been found to regularly occur in planetary systems, though the most frequent involve asteroids, comets or me ...
are a primary cause of
mass extinction
An extinction event (also known as a mass extinction or biotic crisis) is a widespread and rapid decrease in the biodiversity on Earth. Such an event is identified by a sharp change in the diversity and abundance of multicellular organisms. It ...
of life forms on the Earth. He is known for his book "''La Vie en catastrophes''" (Paris, Fayard, 1995), translated into English as "''Evolutionary catastrophes''" (1999).
Biography
Courtillot is an engineer from the
École nationale supérieure des Mines de Paris
Mines Paris - PSL, officially École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris (until May 2022 Mines ParisTech, also known as École des mines de Paris, ENSMP, Mines de Paris, les Mines, or Paris School of Mines), is a French grande école and a c ...
. He then studied at
Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
. In 1974, he was awarded a doctorate by
University Paris 6 and in 1977 a state doctorate by
University Paris 7.
He has pursued an academic career in France and the United States, including teaching stints at
Caltech
The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...
and the
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...
, and work with the
Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris
The Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris - Université de Paris (IPGP, University of Paris; French for "Paris Institute of Earth Physics") is a French governmental, non-profit research and higher education establishment located in Paris, dedica ...
(where he has been director since 2004), and the Ministry of National Education in France. (From 1998 to 2001 Courtillot served under
Claude Allègre
Claude Allègre (; born 31 March 1937) is a French politician and scientist.
Scientific work
The main scientific area of Claude Allègre was geochemistry. Allègre co-authored an ''Introduction to geochemistry'' in 1974. Since the 1980s, he m ...
as director of research when Allègre was
Minister for National Education, Research and Technology.) Courtillot is currently Professor of Geophysics at the
Paris Diderot University
Paris Diderot University, also known as Paris 7 (french: Université Paris Diderot), was a French university located in Paris, France. It was one of the inheritors of the historic University of Paris, which was split into 13 universities in 197 ...
. He has published in excess of 150 papers in scientific journals, with some emphasis on the specialty of
paleomagnetism
Paleomagnetism (or palaeomagnetismsee ), is the study of magnetic fields recorded in rocks, sediment, or archeological materials. Geophysicists who specialize in paleomagnetism are called ''paleomagnetists.''
Certain magnetic minerals in rock ...
; he has served as editorial advisor to the French journal ''
La Recherche
''La Recherche'' is a monthly French language popular science magazine covering recent scientific news. It is published by the Société d'éditions scientifiques (the ''Scientific Publishing Group''), a subsidiary of Financière Tallandier. Tallan ...
.''
Vincent Courtillot was elected to membership in the
French Academy of Sciences
The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des sciences'') is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV of France, Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific me ...
in November 2003. He is also a member of the ''Fondation Ecologie d'Avenir'' since 2011.
Research
Courtillot favors the hypothesis that major
mass extinctions
An extinction event (also known as a mass extinction or biotic crisis) is a widespread and rapid decrease in the biodiversity on Earth. Such an event is identified by a sharp change in the diversity and abundance of multicellular organisms. It ...
are caused by massive episodes of vulcanism: that the
Permian-Triassic (P/T) extinction that ended the
Paleozoic Era
The Paleozoic (or Palaeozoic) Era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic Eon.
The name ''Paleozoic'' ( ;) was coined by the British geologist Adam Sedgwick in 1838
by combining the Greek words ''palaiós'' (, "old") and ' ...
was caused by the
Siberian Traps
The Siberian Traps (russian: Сибирские траппы, Sibirskiye trappy) is a large region of volcanic rock, known as a large igneous province, in Siberia, Russia. The massive eruptive event that formed the trap rock, traps is one of th ...
eruption, and the
Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event
The Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) extinction event (also known as the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction) was a sudden mass extinction of three-quarters of the plant and animal species on Earth, approximately 66 million years ago. With the ...
that ended the
Mesozoic Era
The Mesozoic Era ( ), also called the Age of Reptiles, the Age of Conifers, and colloquially as the Age of the Dinosaurs is the second-to-last Era (geology), era of Earth's Geologic time scale, geological history, lasting from about , comprising ...
was caused by the
Deccan Traps
The Deccan Traps is a large igneous province of west-central India (17–24°N, 73–74°E). It is one of the largest volcanic features on Earth, taking the form of a large shield volcano. It consists of numerous layers of solidified flood ...
vulcanism in India. His position is generally in opposition to the hypothesis famously championed by
Luis Alvarez and
Walter Alvarez
Walter Alvarez (born October 3, 1940) is a professor in the Earth and Planetary Science department at the University of California, Berkeley. He is most widely known for the theory that dinosaurs were killed by an asteroid impact, developed in ...
, that the K/T extinction that saw the end of the
dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...
s was primarily due to the
asteroid
An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere.
...
impact at
Chicxulub
The Chicxulub crater () is an impact crater buried underneath the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. Its center is offshore near the community of Chicxulub, after which it is named. It was formed slightly over 66 million years ago when a large a ...
on the
Yucatan Peninsula. However, Courtillot does not dispute the scientifically-determined facts of the
Chicxulub impact
The Chicxulub crater () is an impact crater buried underneath the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. Its center is offshore near the community of Chicxulub, after which it is named. It was formed slightly over 66 million years ago when a large a ...
; rather, he argues that the totality of the available evidence supports a thesis that
mass extinctions
An extinction event (also known as a mass extinction or biotic crisis) is a widespread and rapid decrease in the biodiversity on Earth. Such an event is identified by a sharp change in the diversity and abundance of multicellular organisms. It ...
are generally caused by volcanic action.
Magnetic field and climate
He is currently at the centre of scientific controversy regarding the publication of one of his papers in the journal ''
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 ...
(EPSL)'' entitled “Are there connections between the Earth's magnetic field and climate?” by V. Courtillot, Y. Gallet, J.-L. Le Mouël, F. Fluteau, A. Genevey (2007) EPSL 253, 328. There have been articles in ''
Le Monde
''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...
'' on 15 January 2008, and in ''
Science
Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.
Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...
'' on 11 January 2008 concerning the debate over this paper.
He is usually considered to be a
global warming denier
Climate change denial, or global warming denial, is denial, dismissal, or doubt that contradicts the scientific consensus on climate change, including the extent to which it is caused by humans, its effects on nature and human society, or th ...
, often associated with
Claude Allègre
Claude Allègre (; born 31 March 1937) is a French politician and scientist.
Scientific work
The main scientific area of Claude Allègre was geochemistry. Allègre co-authored an ''Introduction to geochemistry'' in 1974. Since the 1980s, he m ...
. Vincent Courtillot asserted that his collaboration with oil companies
Total and
Schlumberger
Schlumberger Limited (), doing business as SLB, is an oilfield services company. Schlumberger has four principal executive offices located in Paris, Houston, London, and The Hague.
Schlumberger is the world's largest offshore drilling compa ...
on CO
2 sequestration (
CCS)
[ ] has no influence on his research and results.
See also
*
Scientific opinion on climate change
There is a strong scientific consensus that the Earth is warming and that this warming is mainly caused by human activities. This consensus is supported by various studies of scientists' opinions and by position statements of scientific org ...
*
Solar variation and its geomagnetic effects
*
Henrik Svensmark
Henrik Svensmark (born 1958) is a physicist and professor in the Division of Solar System Physics at the Danish National Space Institute (DTU Space) in Copenhagen. He is known for his work on the hypothesis that fewer cosmic rays are an indirect c ...
: effect of cosmic rays on cloud cover
Selected publications
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Books in French
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References
External links
Courtillot's ''Academie'' biography (in French).Curriculum vitae (Institut de France, Académie des Sciences, Sciences de l'univers)Vincent Courtillot's Publications
{{DEFAULTSORT:Courtillot, Vincent
1948 births
Living people
Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur
Foreign members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
French geophysicists
Members of the French Academy of Sciences
Mines ParisTech alumni
Stanford University alumni