John Tuzo Wilson

John Tuzo WilsonCCOBEFRSFRSEFRSC(October 24, 1908 – April 15, 1993) was a Canadiangeophysicistandgeologistwho achieved worldwide acclaim for his contributions to the theory ofplate tectonics.

John 'Jock' Tuzo Wilson CCOBEFRSFRSEFRSC
John Tuzo Wilson in 1992
Born	(1908-10-24)October 24, 1908 Ottawa,Ontario, Canada
Died	April 15, 1993(1993-04-15)(aged 84) Toronto,Ontario, Canada
Alma mater	University of Toronto University of Cambridge Princeton University
Known for	Theory ofPlate tectonics
Awards	Officer,Order of Canada Companion, Order of Canada Fellow,Royal Society of Canada Fellow,Royal Societyof London Fellow,Royal Society of Edinburgh Legion of Merit Order of the British Empire Maurice Ewing Medal,AGU Maurice Ewing Medal,SEG Bucher Medal,SEG Penrose Medal,GSA Wegener Medal,EUG Wollaston Medal,Geological Society Vetlesen Prize,Columbia University Canada Centennial Medal 125th Anniversary Medal (Canada) John J. Carty Award(1975)
Scientific career
Fields	Geophysics&geology
Institutions	University of Toronto
Thesis	The Geology of the Mill creek - Stillwater Area, Montana(1936)
Doctoral advisor	William Taylor Thom, Jr
Doctoral students	Harold Williams
Notes

Plate tectonicsis thescientific theorythat the rigid outer layers of the Earth (crustand part of theupper mantle), thelithosphere,is broken up into around 13 pieces or "plates" that move independently over the weakerasthenosphere.Wilson maintained that theHawaiian Islandswere formed as a tectonic plate (extending across much of thePacific Ocean) shifted to the northwest over a fixedhotspot,spawning a long series ofvolcanoes.He also conceived of thetransform fault,a major plate boundary where two plates move past each other horizontally (e.g.,theSan Andreas Fault).

His name was given to two young Canadiansubmarine volcanoescalled theTuzo Wilson Seamounts.TheWilson cycleof seabed expansion and contraction (associated with theSupercontinent cycle) bears his name. One of the twolarge low-shear-velocity provinceswas given the name Tuzo after him, the other being named Jason afterW. Jason Morgan,who furthered Wilson's work intoplume theory.

Early life and education

Wilson was born inOttawaon October 24, 1908, the son ofJohn Armistead WilsonCBE,and his wife, Henrietta Tuzo.Wilson's father was ofScottishdescent and his mother was a third-generation Canadian of French descent.

He became one of the first people in Canada to receive a degree ingeophysics,graduating fromTrinity Collegeat theUniversity of Torontoin 1930.He obtained a second (BA) degree fromSt. John's College, Cambridgein 1932 and then a doctorate (ScD). He then pursued further graduate studies asPrinceton University,where he received aPh.D.in geology in 1936 after completing a doctoral dissertation titled "The Geology of the Mill creek - Stillwater Area,Montana."

Career

In 1936, Wilson joined theGeological Survey of Canadaas a government geologist. This was interrupted by theSecond World Warduring which he served with theRoyal Canadian Engineers,serving in Europe and reaching the rank of Colonel. He was involved inOperation Musk Ox.For his wartime service, he was appointed anOBE.

In 1946 he was appointed the first Professor of Geophysics at theUniversity of Toronto.

He made significant contributions to the theory of Plate tectonics, adding a concept of hot spots. Plate tectonics is thescientific theorythat the rigid outer layers of the Earth (crustand part of theupper mantle), thelithosphere,is broken up into around 13 pieces or "plates" that move independently over the weakerasthenosphere.Wilson maintained that theHawaiian Islandswere created as a tectonic plate (extending across much of thePacific Ocean) shifted to the northwest over a fixedhotspot,spawning a long series ofvolcanoes.He also conceived of thetransform fault,a major plate boundary where two plates move past each other horizontally (e.g.,theSan Andreas Fault).

TheWilson cycleof seabed expansion and contraction (associated with theSupercontinent cycle) bears his name, in recognition of his iconic observation that the present-dayAtlantic Oceanappears along a former suture zoneand his development in a classic 1968 paperof what was later named the "Wilson cycle" in 1975 byKevin C. A. Burke,a colleague and friend of Wilson.

His name was given to two young Canadiansubmarine volcanoescalled theTuzo Wilson Seamounts.

Wilson was president (1957–1960) of theInternational Union of Geodesy and Geophysics(IUGG).

In 1967 he became principal ofErindale College,now known as University of Toronto Mississauga. In 1974 he left to become the Director General of theOntario Science Centre.In 1983 he became Chancellor ofYork University, Toronto.

He was the host of the television seriesThe Planet of Man.

Honours and awards

For his service during the Second World War, Wilson was appointed anOfficer of the Order of the British Empirein 1946. In 1969, he was made an Officer of theOrder of Canadaand was promoted to the rank of Companion of that order in 1974.He was elected to theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciencesin 1971 and theAmerican Philosophical Societyin 1971.Wilson was awarded theJohn J. Carty Awardfrom theNational Academy of Sciences,of which he was already a member, in 1975.In 1978, he was awarded theWollaston Medalof theGeological Society of Londonand a Gold Medal by theRoyal Canadian Geographical Society.He also served as honorary vice president of the RCGS.He was a Fellow of theRoyal Society,theRoyal Society of Canada,and of theRoyal Society of Edinburgh.

He was elected president-elect (1978–1980) and president (1980–1982) of the American Geophysical Union. He also served as the director general of theOntario Science Centrefrom 1974 to 1985.

Wilson and his plate tectonic theory are commemorated on the grounds of the Centre by a giant "immovable" spike that records the amount of plate movement since Wilson's birth.

TheJ. Tuzo Wilson Medalof theCanadian Geophysical Unionrecognizes achievements in geophysics. He is also commemorated by a named memorial professorship and an eponymous annual public lecture delivered at theUniversity of Toronto.

He is one of the 2016 inductees intoLegends Row: Mississauga Walk of Fame.

Personal life

Photography

Wilson was an avid traveller and took a large number of photographs during his travels to many destinations, including European countries, parts of the then USSR, China, the southern Pacific, Africa, and to both polar regions. Although many of his photos are geological—details of rocks and their structures or panoramas of large formations—the bulk of his photos are of the places, activities and people that he saw on his travels: landscapes, city views, monuments, sites, instruments, vehicles, flora and fauna, occupations and people.

Family

In 1938 he married Isabel Jean Dickson.

He retired in 1986 and died inTorontoon April 15, 1993.

Selected publications

• One Chinese Moon(1959)
• Wilson, Tuzo (July 14, 1962). "Cabot Fault, An Appalachian Equivalent of the San Andreas and Great Glen Faults and some Implications for Continental Displacement".Nature.195(4837): 135–138.Bibcode:1962Natur.195..135W.doi:10.1038/195135a0.S2CID4289725.
• Wilson, J. Tuzo (February 9, 1963). "Evidence from Islands on the Spreading of Ocean Floors".Nature.197(4867): 536–538.Bibcode:1963Natur.197..536W.doi:10.1038/197536a0.S2CID4255932.
• Wilson, J. Tuzo (1963)."A Possible Origin of the Hawaiian Islands"(PDF).Canadian Journal of Physics.41(6): 863–870.Bibcode:1963CaJPh..41..863W.doi:10.1139/p63-094.
• Wilson, J. Tuzo (July 24, 1965). "A new Class of Faults and their Bearing on Continental Drift".Nature.207(4995): 343–347.Bibcode:1965Natur.207..343W.doi:10.1038/207343a0.S2CID4294401.
• Vine, F. J.; Wilson, J. Tuzo (October 22, 1965). "Magnetic Anomalies over a Young Oceanic Ridge off Vancouver Island".Science.150(3695): 485–9.Bibcode:1965Sci...150..485V.CiteSeerX10.1.1.473.7395.doi:10.1126/science.150.3695.485.PMID17842754.S2CID41107379.
• Wilson, J. Tuzo (August 13, 1966)."Did the Atlantic close and then re-open?".Nature.211(5050): 676–681.Bibcode:1966Natur.211..676W.doi:10.1038/211676a0.S2CID4226266.
• Wilson, J. Tuzo (1966). "Are the structures of the Caribbean and Scotia arc regions analogous to ice rafting?".Earth and Planetary Science Letters.1(5): 335–338.Bibcode:1966E&PSL...1..335T.doi:10.1016/0012-821X(66)90019-7.
• Wilson, J. Tuzo (December 1968). "A Revolution in Earth Science".Geotimes.13(10). Washington DC: 10–16.
• Wilson, J. Tuzo (1971). "Du Toit, Alexander Logie".Dictionary of Scientific Biography.Vol. 4. pp. 261–263.

See also

• List of geophysicists
• Science and technology in Canada

External links

• "J. Tuzo Wilson".GSA Today, Rock Stars.September 2001.RetrievedOctober 14,2013.

• West, Gordon F.; Farquhar, Ron M.; Garland, George D.; Halls, Henry C.; Morley, Lawrence W.; Russell, R. Don (January 2014)."John Tuzo Wilson: a man who moved mountains".Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences.51(3): xvii–xxxi.Bibcode:2014CaJES..51D..17W.doi:10.1139/cjes-2013-0175.
• The life of John Tuzo WilsonArchivedJanuary 1, 2017, at theWayback Machine,history pages, Department of Physics, University of Toronto.
• The Tuzo Wilson Lecture,an annual public lecture given at the University of Toronto.
• The J. Tuzo Wilson ProfessorshipArchivedJuly 12, 2020, at theWayback Machine,a named memorial professorship at the University of Toronto.
• Travel Photographs of J. Tuzo Wilson
• John Tuzo Wilson archival papersheld at theUniversity of Toronto Archives and Records Management Services
• Watch Tuzo Wilson in the1975 educational TV showPlanet of manonYouTube