Richard Doell (1923 – March 6, 2008) was a distinguished American scientist known for developing the time scale for

geomagnetic reversal A geomagnetic reversal is a change in a planet's magnetic field such that the positions of magnetic north and magnetic south are interchanged (not to be confused with geographic north and geographic south). The Earth's field has alternated be ...

s with Allan V. Cox and

Brent Dalrymple G. Brent Dalrymple (born May 9, 1937) is an American geologist, author of ''The Age of the Earth'' and ''Ancient Earth, Ancient Skies'', and National Medal of Science winner. He was born in Alhambra, California. After receiving a Ph.D. from Unive ...

. This work was a major step in the development of

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 t ...

. Doell shared the

Vetlesen Prize The Vetlesen Prize is a prize in geology awarded jointly by Columbia University's Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory and the G. Unger Vetlesen Foundation. The prize is generally regarded as the highest distinction in geologic studies, and the " Nobe ...

with Cox and Dalrymple.

Life and career

Doell was born in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

in 1923 and grew up in

Carpinteria, California Carpinteria (; es, Carpintería, meaning " Carpentry") is a small seaside city in southeastern Santa Barbara County, California. Located on the Central Coast of California, it had a population of 13,264 at the 2020 census. Carpinteria is a ...

. After serving for 2 years as a combat infantryman during World War II, he resumed his studies at

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of Californi ...

, where he earned his doctorate 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 ...

in 1955. Following graduation, Richard held teaching positions at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institu ...

and

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

. Richard joined the

U.S. Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and ...

Geophysics Branch in

Menlo Park, California Menlo Park is a city at the eastern edge of San Mateo County within the San Francisco Bay Area of California in the United States. It is bordered by San Francisco Bay on the north and east; East Palo Alto, Palo Alto, and Stanford to the so ...

, in 1955 where he specialized in research on the Earth’s

magnetic field A magnetic field is a vector field that describes the magnetic influence on moving electric charges, electric currents, and magnetic materials. A moving charge in a magnetic field experiences a force perpendicular to its own velocity and t ...

and

remanent magnetization Remanence or remanent magnetization or residual magnetism is the magnetization left behind in a ferromagnetic material (such as iron) after an external magnetic field is removed. Colloquially, when a magnet is "magnetized", it has remanence. The ...

in rocks. He was an integral member of a team that presented convincing evidence of periodic polarity reversals of earth’s main magnetic field by analyzing magnetization of rock samples collected from widely separated, geologically young, volcanic sequences. Furthermore, isotopic dating of the rock samples provided the first time scale of polarity epochs for the last 3.2 million years. The timed sequence of reversals, with subsequent refinements by this

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

team and others, proved to be a major component of the plate tectonics revolution in the mid-to late 1960s. It not only provided the basis for confirming the hypothesis of sea floor spreading, but it also was a technique for quantifying rates and amounts of crustal plate movements on a global scale. For his numerous unique pioneering scientific contributions and leadership, Richard Doell was elected to the

United States 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 Nat ...

in 1969 and he shared the prestigious

with Allan V. Cox and G. Brent Dalrymple of the USGS and S. Keith Runcorn in 1971. Richard served as President 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 ...

’s section on Geomagnetism and

Paleomagnetism Paleomagnetism (or palaeomagnetismsee ), is the study of magnetic fields recorded in rocks, sediment, or archeological materials. Geophysicists who specialize in paleomagnetism are called ''paleomagnetists.'' Certain magnetic minerals in roc ...

from 1968 to 1970 and as Chief of the Geological Survey’s Branch of Theoretical Geophysics from 1967 to 1971. In 1978, Richard retired from the USGS to pursue his passions for the new field of environmental studies, sailing, exploration, and photography. Having built a 38-foot sailboat, Muav, he began a series of long sailing cruises to

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S ...

French Polynesia )Territorial motto: ( en, "Great Tahiti of the Golden Haze") , anthem = , song_type = Regional anthem , song = "Ia Ora 'O Tahiti Nui" , image_map = French Polynesia on the globe (French Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of French ...

, and northern Europe. In 1984 he married Janet Hoare who joined him on those voyages. Doell died in his sleep on March 6, 2008, at his home in

Point Richmond, California Point Richmond, also sometimes referred to locally as The Point, is a neighborhood in Richmond, California, United States, near the eastern end of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, between Interstate 580 and the San Francisco Bay. History Or ...

, following a series of grave illnesses.http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/13/MNDOELLRIC12.DTL

Publications

* ''"Measurement of the remanent magnetization of igneous rocks"'' with Allan V. Cox
U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin No. 1203-A
(1965) *''"Computer program for a generic western coal region simulated model developed to investigate potential applications of system dynamics modeling to the EIS process,"'
U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report No. 78-321
(1978)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doell, Richard 1923 births 2008 deaths Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences American geophysicists United States Geological Survey personnel University of California, Berkeley alumni Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty People from Oakland, California Tectonicists American military personnel of World War II