Robert P. Sharp

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Robert Phillip Sharp (24 June 1911 – 25 May 2004) was an American

geomorphologist and expert on the geological surfaces of the Earth and the planet Mars.[1][2][3] Sharp served as the chairman of the Division of Geological Sciences at California Institute of Technology (Caltech) from 1952 to 1968.[4] He built the modern department and especially recruited new faculty in geochemistry, tectonic geomorphology, planetary science
, and field geology.

Biography

Sharp specialized in

Sierra Nevada, Blue Glacier in the Olympic Peninsula, and Alaska), Mojave Desert terrain, and the Ruby-East Humboldt Range in north-central Nevada. Sharp retired in 1979 but continued leading geological field trips afterwards (with emphasis on the Grand Canyon geology using rubber rafts
).

Biography and education

Sharp was a native son of Oxnard, California. He attended Caltech as an undergraduate, beginning in 1930, earning a bachelor's degree (1934) in geology, and master's degree (1935) in geology. While at Caltech, he was quarterback on the football team.

He received a doctorate at Harvard University for a doctorate (1938) in geology under Professor Kirk Bryan.[5]

Career

Sharp served in the

Bulletin of the Geological Society of America
.

Sharp was briefly an instructor in geology at the

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign before World War II, and briefly an Assistant Professor of Geology at the University of Minnesota immediately after the war. As soon as possible, Caltech's Division Chairman Ian Campbell arranged for Sharp to return home to Caltech as a full professor in 1947. Sharp remained at Caltech for the next half-century, and was quickly promoted to the Chairman of the Division of Geological Sciences, later renamed to the Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences. At Caltech, Sharp mentored dozens of doctoral students in field geomorphology; these are now working at the United States Geological Survey facility in Menlo Park, California and in leading geology departments throughout North America
.

Research

Sharp became a published expert on the glacial geomorphology of the Sierra Nevada range, the Trinity Alps of northwestern California, the

Cima Dome, and the sliding stones on the Racetrack Playa in northern Death Valley
.

He was an expert on the physics of blown sand and the formation of sand dunes in the Mojave Desert and the Coachella Valley. He was awarded the Kirk Bryan Award by the Geological Society of America for his work on the geomorphology of sand dunes in desert terrain.

Sharp loved weekend field trips, and so he authored a number of field books in geology of southern California, published by Mountain Press. While in his sixties, Sharp continued to teach field geology to Caltech geology students during summer classes at Henry Mountain in Utah, where Grove Karl Gilbert discovered laccoliths.

After retiring from Caltech, Sharp and his wife Jean moved their home from Altadena to Santa Barbara. They had two children.

Awards and honors

See also

References

  1. ^ Nagourney, Eric (14 June 2004). "Robert Sharp Dies at 92; Linked Study of Planets". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  2. ^ Staff (28 May 2004). "Robert P. Sharp, 92; Expert on Surfaces of Earth and Mars". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
  3. ^ .
  4. .
  5. ^ Staff (2009). "Guide to the Papers of Robert P. Sharp, 1933-1996". California Institute of Technology. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
  6. ^ "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  7. ^ NASA Staff (6 Aug 2012). "NASA Lands Car-Size Rover Beside Martian Mountain". NASA. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  8. ^ USGS (16 May 2012). "Three New Names Approved for Features on Mars". United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 28 May 2012.

External links