John Tuzo Wilson

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J. Tuzo Wilson
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John 'Jock' Tuzo Wilson

EUG
  • Wollaston Medal, Geological Society
  • Vetlesen Prize, Columbia University
  • Canada Centennial Medal
  • 125th Anniversary Medal (Canada)
    John J. Carty Award (1975)
    • Scientific career
    FieldsGeophysics & geology
    InstitutionsUniversity of Toronto
    ThesisThe Geology of the Mill creek - Stillwater Area, Montana (1936)
    Doctoral advisorWilliam Taylor Thom, Jr
    Doctoral studentsHarold Williams
    Notes

    John Tuzo Wilson

    geophysicist and geologist who achieved worldwide acclaim for his contributions to the theory of plate tectonics
    .

    Plate tectonics is the

    upper mantle), the lithosphere, is broken up into around 13 pieces or "plates" that move independently over the weaker asthenosphere. Wilson maintained that the Hawaiian Islands were formed as a tectonic plate (extending across much of the Pacific Ocean) shifted to the northwest over a fixed hotspot, spawning a long series of volcanoes. He also conceived of the transform fault, a major plate boundary where two plates move past each other horizontally (e.g., the San Andreas Fault
    ).

    His name was given to two young Canadian

    Wilson cycle of seabed expansion and contraction (associated with the Supercontinent cycle
    ) bears his name.

    Early life and education

    Wilson was born in

    CBE, and his wife, Henrietta Tuzo.[4] Wilson's father was of Scottish
    descent and his mother was a third-generation Canadian of French descent.

    He became one of the first people in Canada to receive a degree in

    St. John's College, Cambridge in 1932 and then a doctorate (ScD). He then pursued further graduate studies as Princeton University, where he received a Ph.D. in geology in 1936 after completing a doctoral dissertation titled "The Geology of the Mill creek - Stillwater Area, Montana."[6]

    Career

    In 1936, Wilson joined the

    OBE
    .

    In 1946 he was appointed the first Professor of Geophysics at the University of Toronto.

    He made significant contributions to the theory of Plate tectonics, adding a concept of hot spots. Plate tectonics is the

    upper mantle), the lithosphere, is broken up into around 13 pieces or "plates" that move independently over the weaker asthenosphere. Wilson maintained that the Hawaiian Islands were created as a tectonic plate (extending across much of the Pacific Ocean) shifted to the northwest over a fixed hotspot, spawning a long series of volcanoes. He also conceived of the transform fault, a major plate boundary where two plates move past each other horizontally (e.g., the San Andreas Fault
    ).

    The

    Wilson cycle of seabed expansion and contraction (associated with the Supercontinent cycle) bears his name, in recognition of his iconic observation that the present-day Atlantic Ocean appears along a former suture zone[8] and his development in a classic 1968 paper[9] of what was later named the "Wilson cycle" in 1975 by Kevin C. A. Burke, a colleague and friend of Wilson.[10]

    His name was given to two young Canadian submarine volcanoes called the Tuzo Wilson Seamounts.[11]

    Wilson was president (1957–1960) of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG).

    In 1967 he became principal of

    York University, Toronto
    .

    He was the host of the television series The Planet of Man.

    Honours and awards

    For his service during the Second World War, Wilson was appointed an

    National Academy of Sciences, of which he was already a member, in 1975.[15][16] In 1978, he was awarded the Wollaston Medal of the Geological Society of London and a Gold Medal by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society. He also served as honorary vice president of the RCGS.[17] He was a Fellow of the Royal Society, the Royal Society of Canada, and of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.[18]

    He was elected president-elect (1978–1980) and president (1980–1982) of the American Geophysical Union. He also served as the director general of the Ontario Science Centre from 1974 to 1985.

    Wilson and his plate tectonic theory are commemorated on the grounds of the Centre by a giant "immovable" spike that records the amount of plate movement since Wilson's birth.

    The J. Tuzo Wilson Medal of the Canadian Geophysical Union recognizes achievements in geophysics. He is also commemorated by a named memorial professorship and an eponymous annual public lecture delivered at the University of Toronto.

    He is one of the 2016 inductees into Legends Row: Mississauga Walk of Fame.[19]

    Personal life

    Photography

    Wilson was an avid traveller and took a large number of photographs during his travels to many destinations, including European countries, parts of the then USSR, China, the southern Pacific, Africa, and to both polar regions. Although many of his photos are geological—details of rocks and their structures or panoramas of large formations—the bulk of his photos are of the places, activities and people that he saw on his travels: landscapes, city views, monuments, sites, instruments, vehicles, flora and fauna, occupations and people.

    Family

    In 1938 he married Isabel Jean Dickson.[1]

    He retired in 1986 and died in Toronto on April 15, 1993.

    Selected publications

    See also

    References

    1. ^
      doi:10.1098/rsbm.1995.0032
      .
    2. doi:10.1139/cjes-2013-0175
      .
    3. doi:10.1139/e85-170
      .
    4. ISBN 978-0-902198-84-5. Archived from the original
      (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
    5. ISBN 978-1-55041-860-6
      .
    6. ^ Wilson, John Tuzo (1936). The Geology of the Mill creek - Stillwater Area, Montana. Princeton, N.J.: Dept. of Geological and Geophysical Sciences.
    7. ISBN 978-0-902198-84-5. Archived from the original
      (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
    8. S2CID 4226266
      .
    9. JSTOR 986051
      .
    10. S2CID 199903646
      .
    11. doi:10.1139/e85-170
      .
    12. ^ "Order of Canada citation". Governor General of Canada.
    13. ^ "John Tuzo Wilson". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Retrieved August 30, 2022.
    14. ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved August 30, 2022.
    15. ^ "John J. Carty Award for the Advancement of Science". National Academy of Sciences. Archived from the original on February 28, 2015. Retrieved February 25, 2011.
    16. ^ "J. Tuzo Wilson". www.nasonline.org. Retrieved August 30, 2022.
    17. ^ "Gold Medal". Royal Canadian Geographical Society. Archived from the original on November 6, 2018. Retrieved December 10, 2010.
    18. ^ "John Tuzo Wilson" (PDF). obituary. Royal Society of Edinburgh. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 5, 2015. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
    19. ^ "Malton native and NHL legend Paul Coffey heads Legends Row Class of 2016". October 27, 2016.

    External links

    • "J. Tuzo Wilson". GSA Today, Rock Stars. September 2001. Retrieved October 14, 2013.


    Academic offices
    Preceded by Chancellor of York University
    1983–1986     		Succeeded by
    Professional and academic associations
    Preceded by
    President of the Royal Society of Canada

    1972–1973     		Succeeded by
    Professional and academic associations
    Preceded by
    Office established
    President of the Canadian Geophysical Union

    1974–1975     		Succeeded by
    Denis Ian Gough
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