Mathilde Cannat is a French geologist known for her research on the formation of

oceanic crust Oceanic crust is the uppermost layer of the oceanic portion of the tectonic plates. It is composed of the upper oceanic crust, with pillow lavas and a dike complex, and the lower oceanic crust, composed of troctolite, gabbro and ultramaf ...

and the tectonic and magmatic changes of mid-ocean ridges.

Education and career

Cannat earned her Ph.D. in 1983 from

University of Nantes Nantes University () is a public university located in the city of Nantes, France. In addition to the several campuses scattered in the city of Nantes, there are two satellite campuses located in Saint-Nazaire and La Roche-sur-Yon. The university ...

where she worked on

ophiolites An ophiolite is a section of Earth's oceanic crust and the underlying upper mantle (Earth), upper mantle that has been uplifted and exposed, and often emplaced onto continental crustal rocks. The Greek word ὄφις, ''ophis'' (''snake'') is ...

and tectonic processes. Following her Ph.D., she was a postdoc at

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

and then she joined the

French National Centre for Scientific Research The French National Centre for Scientific Research (, , CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,637 staff, including 11,137 tenured researchers, 13,415 engi ...

(CNRS) in 1986. In 1992 she obtained a position at the

Pierre and Marie Curie University Pierre and Marie Curie University ( , UPMC), also known as Paris VI, was a public research university in Paris, France, from 1971 to 2017. The university was located on the Jussieu Campus in the Latin Quarter of the 5th arrondissement of Paris, ...

(University of Paris 6) where she remained until she moved to a position at the

Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris The Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (, ; abbr. IPGP) is a French governmental, non-profit research and higher education establishment located in Paris, dedicated to the study of earth and planetary sciences by combining observations, labora ...

in 2001. In 2014, Cannat was elected a fellow of the

American Geophysical Union The American Geophysical Union (AGU) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of Earth, Atmospheric science, atmospheric, Oceanography, ocean, Hydrology, hydrologic, Astronomy, space, and Planetary science, planetary scientists and enthusiasts that ...

who cited her "for fundamental contributions to understanding the accretion of the oceanic

lithosphere A lithosphere () is the rigid, outermost rocky shell of a terrestrial planet or natural satellite. On Earth, it is composed of the crust and the lithospheric mantle, the topmost portion of the upper mantle that behaves elastically on time ...

and crust".

Research

Cannat's research centers on

magmatism Magmatism is the emplacement of magma within and at the surface of the outer layers of a terrestrial planet, which solidifies as igneous rocks. It does so through magmatic activity or igneous activity, the production, intrusion and extrusion of ...

, changes in the oceanic crust, particularly at mid-ocean ridges. Her early research was on ophiolites in California and western Alps, and she used her research on ophiolotes to understand processes on the seafloor. In the mid-1990s, Cannat described the formation of the seafloor at slow-spreading mid-ocean ridges, a model posing that new seafloor is formed from rocks that have been tectonically uplifted from the mantle. This idea differed from the processes described for fast-spreading mid-ocean ridges and, in a 2018 interview, she described this as her greatest achievement. Cannat's research can rely on in situ observations, and she has made seventeen deep-sea dives aboard the

Nautile ''Nautile'' is a crewed submersible owned by Ifremer, the French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea. Commissioned in 1984, the submersible can be operated at depths of up to . Features ''Nautile'' is capable of housing three peopl ...

Selected publications

* * * *

Awards and honors

*Silver Medal, French National Centre for Scientific Research (Médaille d'Argent du CNRS) (2009) *Fellow, American Geophysical Union (2014) *

Stephan Mueller Medal The Stephan Mueller Medal is an annual award in geophysics established in 1997 by the Tectonics and Structural Geology (TS) Division of the European Geophysical Society (EGS). Since the merger of the EGS into the European Geosciences Union (EGU) i ...

European Geosciences Union The European Geosciences Union (EGU) is a non-profit international union in the fields of Earth, planetary, and space sciences whose vision is to "realise a sustainable and just future for humanity and for the planet". The organisation has headq ...

(2020) *

Murchison Medal The Murchison Medal is an academic award established by Roderick Murchison, who died in 1871. First awarded in 1873, it is normally given to people who have made a significant contribution to geology by means of a substantial body of research an ...

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 ...

(2023)

References

External links

* *2018 interview with Cannat o
European Geosciences Union blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cannat, Mathilde Fellows of the American Geophysical Union Nantes University alumni French National Centre for Scientific Research scientists Women geologists Place of birth missing (living people) 1962 births Living people Murchison Medal winners Academics of Durham University