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George Wetherill
George Wetherill (August 12, 1925 – July 19, 2006) was an American physicist and geologist. He was the director emeritus of the department of terrestrial magnetism at the Carnegie Institution of Washington.
In 2000, Wetherill received the J. Lawrence Smith Medal from the National Academy of Sciences "For his unique contributions to the cosmochronology of the planets and meteorites and to the orbital dynamics and formation of solar system bodies." In 2003, Wetherill received the Henry Norris Russell Lectureship, the highest honor bestowed by the American Astronomical Society, "For pioneering the application of modern physics and numerical simulations to the formation and evolution of terrestrial planets."
George Wetherill was born on August 12, 1925, in Philadelphia. Wetherill benefited from the G.I. Bill to receive four degrees, the Ph.B. (1948), S.B. (1949), S.M. (1951), and Ph.D., in physics (1953), all from the University of Chicago. He did his thesis research on the spontaneous fission of uranium, as well as nuclear processes in nature, as a U.S. Atomic Energy Commission Predoctoral Fellow.
After receiving his Ph.D., Wetherill became a staff member at Carnegie's Department of Terrestrial Magnetism (DTM) in Washington, D.C. There, he joined an interdepartmental group who were working to date rocks using geochemical methods that measured natural radioactive decay. This involved determining the concentration and isotopic composition of inert gases such as argon, as well as the isotopes of strontium and lead.
Wetherill originated the concept of the Concordia Diagram for the uranium-lead isotopic system; this diagram became the standard means for determining precise ages of rocks, and of detecting the possibility of metamorphism. It provides a basis for high-precision geochronology of rocks dating back through the history of the planet Earth.
Wetherill was also a member of the Carnegie group that accurately determined the decay constants of potassium and rubidium, an effort that has also become fundamental to the measurement of geological time.
Wetherill left DTM in 1960 to become a professor of geophysics and geology at the University of California, Los Angeles. There, he served as chairman of the interdepartmental curriculum in geochemistry (1964-1968), and as chairman of the Department of Planetary and Space Sciences (1968-1972).
At UCLA, Wetherill further explored techniques for age-dating, examining extraterrestrial material with radiometric chronology techniques to meteorite and lunar samples. At the same time, he began to theorize about the origin of meteorites. His studies concentrated on collisions between objects in the asteroid belt together with resonances between their motions and those of planets. He computed how these events could move material into Earth-crossing orbits to become meteorites or larger Earth-impacting bodies responsible for the devastating impacts that caused mass extinctions of the majority of living species, including the dinosaurs.
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George Wetherill
George Wetherill (August 12, 1925 – July 19, 2006) was an American physicist and geologist. He was the director emeritus of the department of terrestrial magnetism at the Carnegie Institution of Washington.
In 2000, Wetherill received the J. Lawrence Smith Medal from the National Academy of Sciences "For his unique contributions to the cosmochronology of the planets and meteorites and to the orbital dynamics and formation of solar system bodies." In 2003, Wetherill received the Henry Norris Russell Lectureship, the highest honor bestowed by the American Astronomical Society, "For pioneering the application of modern physics and numerical simulations to the formation and evolution of terrestrial planets."
George Wetherill was born on August 12, 1925, in Philadelphia. Wetherill benefited from the G.I. Bill to receive four degrees, the Ph.B. (1948), S.B. (1949), S.M. (1951), and Ph.D., in physics (1953), all from the University of Chicago. He did his thesis research on the spontaneous fission of uranium, as well as nuclear processes in nature, as a U.S. Atomic Energy Commission Predoctoral Fellow.
After receiving his Ph.D., Wetherill became a staff member at Carnegie's Department of Terrestrial Magnetism (DTM) in Washington, D.C. There, he joined an interdepartmental group who were working to date rocks using geochemical methods that measured natural radioactive decay. This involved determining the concentration and isotopic composition of inert gases such as argon, as well as the isotopes of strontium and lead.
Wetherill originated the concept of the Concordia Diagram for the uranium-lead isotopic system; this diagram became the standard means for determining precise ages of rocks, and of detecting the possibility of metamorphism. It provides a basis for high-precision geochronology of rocks dating back through the history of the planet Earth.
Wetherill was also a member of the Carnegie group that accurately determined the decay constants of potassium and rubidium, an effort that has also become fundamental to the measurement of geological time.
Wetherill left DTM in 1960 to become a professor of geophysics and geology at the University of California, Los Angeles. There, he served as chairman of the interdepartmental curriculum in geochemistry (1964-1968), and as chairman of the Department of Planetary and Space Sciences (1968-1972).
At UCLA, Wetherill further explored techniques for age-dating, examining extraterrestrial material with radiometric chronology techniques to meteorite and lunar samples. At the same time, he began to theorize about the origin of meteorites. His studies concentrated on collisions between objects in the asteroid belt together with resonances between their motions and those of planets. He computed how these events could move material into Earth-crossing orbits to become meteorites or larger Earth-impacting bodies responsible for the devastating impacts that caused mass extinctions of the majority of living species, including the dinosaurs.