Xavier Le Pichon

Xavier Le Pichon ( born June 18, 1937 in Quy Nhon, Vietnam ) is a French geologist and pioneer of plate tectonics, for which he proposed in 1968 a model. Since 1986 he holds the Chair of Geodynamics at the Collège de France.

Life

Xavier Le Pichon received his Licentiate in physics at the University of Caen in 1959. Four years later he became a research assistant at Columbia University in New York, and three years later he gained his doctorate at the University of Strasbourg.

Le Pichon was known in the art world because of 1968 he has presented the model of plate tectonics. This model is based on the foundations that had Dan Peter McKenzie and Robert L. Parker previously developed a year, and describes the structure of the crust of the earth from six major tectonic plates and their movements over the last 120 million years. Thanks to this model it was possible to better understand the origin of earthquakes and their distribution on the earth, and to describe the history of the continents accurately. 1973 His written with Jean Bonnin and Jean Francheteau Book Plate Tectonics was released, which was a standard work in the field of plate tectonics for many years.

In 1969 he became head of the Geology Department at the Centre d' Océanologie in Brest and was one of the leaders of the "Project FAMOUS ". In 1978 he was appointed professor at the University Pierre and Marie Curie in Paris. In 1984 he was appointed Director of the Geology Department at the École Normale Supérieure in the Rue d' Ulm in Paris. Since 1986 he holds the Chair of Geodynamics at the Collège de France.

In addition to his research activities Xavier le Pichon is aggressively promoting the interests of the mentally handicapped. Since 1976 he lives with his family in a center of the Communauté de l' Arche.

Honours and Awards

Le Pichon received, among others, the following honors:

Works

  • With Francheteau J. and J. Bonnin: Plate Tectonics, Elsevier, 1973, 300 pp.
  • With G. Pautot: Le Fond of Océans, Que sais -je, 1976, 128 p?
  • With C. Riffaud: Expédition Famous, à sous l' Atlantique m 3000, Albin Michel, 1976, 300 pp.
  • Kaiko, voyage aux extrémités de la mer, Éditions Odile Jacob, Le Seuil, 1986, 255 pp.
  • Aux Racines de l' homme de la mort à l' amour, Presses de la Renaissance, 1997, 300 pp.
  • With Tang Yi Jie: La Mort, Desclée de Brouwer, 1999, 154 pp.
Centre national de la recherche scientifique Maurice Ewing American Geophysical Union Japan Prize Wollaston Medal National Academy of Sciences Balzan Prize
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