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Tanya Atwater (born 1942) is an American
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 ...
and marine geologist who specializes in
plate tectonics Plate tectonics (from the la, label=Late Latin, tectonicus, from the grc, τεκτονικός, lit=pertaining to building) is the generally accepted scientific theory that considers the Earth's lithosphere to comprise a number of large te ...
. She is particularly renowned for her early research on the
plate tectonic Plate tectonics (from the la, label= Late Latin, tectonicus, from the grc, τεκτονικός, lit=pertaining to building) is the generally accepted scientific theory that considers the Earth's lithosphere to comprise a number of large ...
history of western North America.


Early life and education

Atwater was born in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
,
California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the mo ...
in 1942. Her father was an engineer and her mother was a botanist. Atwater was one of the first women to research the
ocean floor The seabed (also known as the seafloor, sea floor, ocean floor, and ocean bottom) is the bottom of the ocean. All floors of the ocean are known as 'seabeds'. The structure of the seabed of the global ocean is governed by plate tectonics. Most ...
in terms of its
geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ear ...
. Atwater began her education in 1960 at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern t ...
, then received her B.A. in
geophysics 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 ...
from the
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
in 1965. She earned a Ph.D. (1972) in marine geophysics from
Scripps Institution of Oceanography The Scripps Institution of Oceanography (sometimes referred to as SIO, Scripps Oceanography, or Scripps) in San Diego, California, US founded in 1903, is one of the oldest and largest centers for ocean and Earth science research, public se ...
,
University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Insti ...
. She is director of the
University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the U ...
Educational Multimedia Visualization Center where she is an emerita professor of geological sciences. She was a professor at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern t ...
before joining the faculty at UCSB in 1980. Atwater retired from UCSB in 2007.


Career

Atwater was a professor of
tectonics Tectonics (; ) are the processes that control the structure and properties of the Earth's crust and its evolution through time. These include the processes of mountain building, the growth and behavior of the strong, old cores of continents ...
, in the Department of Geological Sciences, now the Department of Earth science, at the University of California, Santa Barbara before retiring. She authored and co-authored 50 articles in international journals, professional volumes, and major reports. Seven of these papers were published in the journals ''
Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans ar ...
'' or ''
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 ...
''. In 1975, she became a Fellow of the
American Geophysical Union The American Geophysical Union (AGU) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of Earth, atmospheric, ocean, hydrologic, space, and planetary scientists and enthusiasts that according to their website includes 130,000 people (not members). AGU's a ...
for her work in
tectonophysics Tectonophysics, a branch of geophysics, is the study of the physical processes that underlie tectonic deformation. The field encompasses the spatial patterns of stress, strain, and differing rheologies in the lithosphere and asthenosphere of th ...
. From 1975 to 1977, Atwater was a Sloan Postdoctoral Fellowship Recipient in Physics. In 1984, she won the Encouragement Award from the Association for Women Geoscientists. Atwater is a member of the U.S.
National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Na ...
elected for her contributions to marine geophysics and tectonics. In 2019 she received the highest award of the
Geological Society of America The Geological Society of America (GSA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of the geosciences. History The society was founded in Ithaca, New York, in 1888 by Alexander Winchell, John J. Stevenson, Charles H. Hitch ...
, the Penrose Medal. In 2022 she received the Wollaston medal from the Geological Society of London, its highest award.


Scientific discoveries

Atwater was involved in oceanographic expeditions using deep towed instruments to explore the ocean floor. To date, she has participated in 12 deep water dives in the deep-ocean submersible '' Alvin''. She researched the volcano-tectonic processes responsible for creating new oceanic crust at seafloor spreading centers. In 1968, she co-authored a research paper featuring groundbreaking work into the faulted nature of spreading centers. With Jack Corliss, Fred Spiess, and Kenneth Macdonald, she played key roles in expeditions that uncovered the distinct biology of ocean floor warm springs, which led to the discovery during the RISE project of the high temperature black smokers, undersea
hydrothermal vent A hydrothermal vent is a fissure on the seabed from which geothermally heated water discharges. They are commonly found near volcanically active places, areas where tectonic plates are moving apart at mid-ocean ridges, ocean basins, and hotspo ...
s. In Atwater's research on propagating rifts near the Galapagos Islands, she discovered that propagating rifts were created when spreading centers along the seafloor were disturbed by tectonic movement or
magma Magma () is the molten or semi-molten natural material from which all igneous rocks are formed. Magma is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and evidence of magmatism has also been discovered on other terrestrial planets and some natural s ...
and therefore had to change direction to realign. This helped to explain the complex pattern of the seafloor. Atwater is perhaps best known for her work on the plate tectonic history of western North America. She wrote two major research papers outlining the history of plate tectonic evolution of North America and tectonic problems of the
San Andreas Fault The San Andreas Fault is a continental transform fault that extends roughly through California. It forms the tectonic boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate, and its motion is right-lateral strike-slip (horizontal) ...
, which assisted in documenting the history of the San Andreas Fault. She also studied geometric evolution, integrating and comparing the global plate motion records with the regional continental geologic records. She found emerging relationships that revealed the origins of many large-scale geologic features (e.g.
Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...
,
Yellowstone Yellowstone National Park is an American national park located in the western United States, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress with the Yellowstone ...
,
Death Valley Death Valley is a desert valley in Eastern California, in the northern Mojave Desert, bordering the Great Basin Desert. During summer, it is the hottest place on Earth. Death Valley's Badwater Basin is the point of lowest elevation in North A ...
,
Cascade Cascade, Cascades or Cascading may refer to: Science and technology Science * Cascade waterfalls, or series of waterfalls * Cascade, the CRISPR-associated complex for antiviral defense (a protein complex) * Cascade (grape), a type of fruit * Bi ...
volcanoes,
California Coast Ranges The Coast Ranges of California span from Del Norte or Humboldt County, California, south to Santa Barbara County. The other three coastal California mountain ranges are the Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges and the Klamath Mountains. ...
). Atwater's research paper, "Implications of Plate Tectonics for the Cenozoic Tectonic Evolution of Western North America", established the essential framework for the plate tectonics of western North America. In her work, she explains that approximately 40 million years ago, the
Farallon Plate The Farallon Plate was an ancient oceanic plate. It formed one of the three main plates of Panthalassa, alongside the Phoenix Plate and Izanagi Plate, which were connected by a triple junction. The Farallon Plate began subducting under the west ...
was subducting underneath the
North American Plate The North American Plate is a tectonic plate covering most of North America, Cuba, the Bahamas, extreme northeastern Asia, and parts of Iceland and the Azores. With an area of , it is the Earth's second largest tectonic plate, behind the Pacific ...
and the
Pacific Plate The Pacific Plate is an oceanic tectonic plate that lies beneath the Pacific Ocean. At , it is the largest tectonic plate. The plate first came into existence 190 million years ago, at the triple junction between the Farallon, Phoenix, and Iz ...
. The lower half of the Farallon plate was entirely subducted under Southern California and the upper half did not sink, which eventually became known as the Juan de Fuca Plate. Since the southern section of Farallon completely disappeared, the boundary of southern California was now between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate. The San Andreas Fault is unique because it acts as a major fault line as well as a border between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate. She updated this work in 1989. Atwater is interested in communication and education at all levels. She has developed electronic multi-media (Educational Multimedia Visualization Center at UCSB) to enhance geologic visualization and understanding, particularly related to the histories of tectonic plates.


Awards and honors

* 1975, Fellow,
American Geophysical Union The American Geophysical Union (AGU) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of Earth, atmospheric, ocean, hydrologic, space, and planetary scientists and enthusiasts that according to their website includes 130,000 people (not members). AGU's a ...
* 1980, AAAS Newcomb Cleveland Prize for top research article in the journa
''Science''
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* 1997, elected to the
National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Na ...
* 2002,
National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...
Director's Award for Distinguished Teaching Scholars. This award, of $300,000 over four years, is given to help and honor distinguished scientists who are working out ways to translate research into education. The money is meant to provide teaching scholars the opportunity to expand their work beyond their home institutions. * Leopold von Buch Medal, German Geosciences Society *2005 Gold Medal,
Society of Woman Geographers The Society of Woman Geographers was established in 1925 at a time when women were excluded from membership in most professional organizations, such as the Explorers Club, who would not admit women until 1981. It is based in Washington, D.C., and h ...
*2019 Penrose Medal of the Geological Society of America. *2022
Wollaston Medal The Wollaston Medal is a scientific award for geology, the highest award granted by the Geological Society of London. The medal is named after William Hyde Wollaston, and was first awarded in 1831. It was originally made of gold (1831–1845), ...
of the
Geological Society of London The Geological Society of London, known commonly as the Geological Society, is a learned society based in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe with more than 12,000 Fellows. Fe ...
.


Selected works

* * * Atwater, Tanya, and P. Molnar, 1973, ''Relative motion of the Pacific and North American plates deduced from seafloor spreading in the Atlantic, Indian and South Pacific Oceans''. R. L. Kovach and A. Nur, eds., Proc. of the Conf. on Tectonic Problems of the San Andreas Fault, Geological Sciences, v. XIII, Stanford Univ., p. 136-148. Reprinted in U.C.S.D., Scripps Inst. Oceanography., Contributions, Vol. 44, Part 2, p. 1362–1374, 1974. * * * Atwater, T., 1991, ''Tectonics of the Northeast Pacific'', Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada, Series I, v. I, pp. 295–318. * Atwater, T., 1998, ''Plate Tectonic History of Southern California with emphasis on the Western Transverse Ranges and Santa Rosa Island'', in Weigand, P. W., ed., Contributions to the geology of the Northern Channel Islands, Southern California: American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Pacific Section, MP 45, p. 1-8.


See also

*
Triple junction A triple junction is the point where the boundaries of three tectonic plates meet. At the triple junction each of the three boundaries will be one of three types – a ridge (R), trench (T) or transform fault (F) – and triple junctions can b ...
* Project FAMOUS


References


Further reading

* * * * * *


External links


Faculty homepageEducational Multimedia Visualization CenterWomen at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, 1940-1965
NY Times, October 12, 1999 {{DEFAULTSORT:Atwater, Tanya 1942 births Living people American geophysicists Marine geologists American women geologists Scientists from California Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty Scripps Institution of Oceanography alumni UC Berkeley College of Letters and Science alumni University of California, San Diego alumni University of California, Santa Barbara faculty 20th-century American geologists 21st-century American geologists 20th-century American women scientists 21st-century American women scientists Women geophysicists Members of the Society of Woman Geographers American women academics Marine geophysicists