Christopher R. Scotese (born 4 May 1953) is an American geologist and paleogeographer. He received his

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper ''Piled Higher and Deeper'' (also known as ''PhD Comics''), is a newsp ...

from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

in 1985. He is the creator of the Paleomap Project, which aims to map

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surf ...

over the last billion years, and is credited with predicting

Pangaea Ultima Pangaea Proxima (also called Pangaea Ultima, Neopangaea, and Pangaea II) is a possible future supercontinent configuration. Consistent with the supercontinent cycle, Pangaea Proxima could occur within the next 200 million years. This potential co ...

, a possible future

supercontinent In geology, a supercontinent is the assembly of most or all of Earth's continental blocks or cratons to form a single large landmass. However, some geologists use a different definition, "a grouping of formerly dispersed continents", which lea ...

configuration. Later Dr. Scotese changed ''Pangaea Ultima'' to ''Pangaea Proxima'' to alleviate confusion about the name ''Pangaea Ultima'', which would imply that it would be the last supercontinent. Professor Scotese retired from teaching at the

University of Texas, Arlington The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA or UT Arlington) is a public research university in Arlington, Texas. The university was founded in 1895 and was in the Texas A&M University System for several decades until joining the University of Te ...

, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences in 2013. He is now a research associate at the

Field Museum of Natural History The Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH), also known as The Field Museum, is a natural history museum in Chicago, Illinois, and is one of the largest such museums in the world. The museum is popular for the size and quality of its educational ...

and an adjunct professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences,

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Chart ...

. He continues to collaborate with several research groups on topics concerning the history of the Earth System, but his main focus is a book entitled: "Earth History, the Evolution of the Earth System". He is the coauthor of more than 100 scientific publications, and his maps and animations have been used in numerous geological textbooks, scientific research papers, and are on display in museums worldwide.

Selected publications

* * Chatterjee, S., Scotese, C.R., Bajpai, S., 2017. The Restless Indian Plate and Its Epic Voyage from Gondwana to Asia: Its Tectonic, Paleoclimate, and Paleobiogeographic Evolution, Geological Society of America, Special Paper 529, 147 pp. * * * Scotese, C.R., and Schettino, A., 2017.

Late Permian Late may refer to: * LATE, an acronym which could stand for: ** Limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy, a proposed form of dementia ** Local-authority trading enterprise, a New Zealand business law ** Local average treatment effect, ...

– Early Jurassic Paleogeography of Western Tethys and the World, Chapter 3, in Permo-Triassic Salt Provinces of Europe, North Africa and the Atlantic Margins, Elsevier, p. 57 – 95,

* * * *

References

External links

The Paleomap Project
*
CR Scotese profile in ResearchGate Global Geology website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scotese, Christopher American geologists American paleogeographers Living people 1953 births People associated with the Field Museum of Natural History Scientists from Chicago University of Chicago alumni University of Texas at Arlington faculty