H. Jay Melosh | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1947-06-23)June 23, 1947 |
| Died | September 11, 2020(2020-09-11) (aged 73) |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Education | Princeton Caltech |
| Known for | Impact Cratering Studies |
| Awards | Barringer Medal(1999) G K Gilbert Award |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Geophysics |
| Institutions | Purdue University |
| Website | eaps.purdue.edu/people/faculty-pages |
H. Jay Melosh (June 23, 1947 – September 11, 2020)[1] was an Americangeophysicist specialising inimpact cratering. He earned a degree in physics fromPrinceton University and a doctoral degree in physics and geology fromCaltech in 1972.[2] His PhD thesis concerned quarks.[3][4] Melosh's research interests includeimpact craters,planetary tectonics, and the physics ofearthquakes andlandslides. His recent research includes studies of thegiant impact origin of the Moon, theChicxulub impact that is thought to have extinguished mostdinosaurs, and studies of ejection of rocks from their parent bodies. He was active inastrobiological studies that relate chiefly to the exchange ofmicroorganisms between the terrestrial planets (a process known aspanspermia or transpermia[5]).
Melosh was a member of theAmerican Geophysical Union,Geological Society of America,Meteoritical Society,American Astronomical Society (Division of Planetary Sciences,) and theAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science.[2] He was the recipient of theBarringer Medal of theMeteoritical Society for his work on the physics of impact, and of theG. K. Gilbert Award from theGeological Society of America. He was elected to theNational Academy of Sciences in 2003.[6]
H. Jay Melosh took his first faculty role atCaltech between 1976 and 1979, where he researched the Moon's orientation in relation to mass concentrations (mascons) and large impacts, and was also a member of theGRAIL science team.[7] He then went on to take a position withSUNY Stonybrook as an associate professor of geophysics until 1982 when he left to join theUniversity of Arizona as a faculty member in the planetary sciences,[7] where he continued work on impact cratering until 2009. In 2009, Dr. Melosh moved to thePurdue University Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences to study impact cratering,planetary science, and geophysics until his retirement.[7]
