Thomas H. Jordan | |
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Jordan at his desk in Zumberge Hall, Southern California Earthquake Center Headquarters
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Born |
Coco Solo, Panama Canal Zone |
October 8, 1948
Citizenship | American |
Nationality | American |
Fields | Seismology, Geology |
Institutions | University of Southern California, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton University |
Alma mater | California Institute of Technology |
Doctoral advisor | Don L. Anderson |
Known for | Plate Tectonics, Seismology, Imaging Techniques |
Thomas H. Jordan (born October 8, 1948) is an American seismologist, and current director of the Southern California Earthquake Center at The University of Southern California. He was formerly the head of the Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences Department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences.
Jordan has made significant contributions to plate tectonics concerning the structure of continents, the depth of lithospheric slab penetration, and the nature of mantle convection, for example determining the exact nature and processes involved in plate subduction. Jordan has also pioneered many seismic imaging techniques which he developed for his doctoral dissertation and are now used widely to understand the interior of the earth. Jordan has served on international committees concerning seismic hazard.
He has published over 190 articles in scientific journals. He has also published two textbooks, "Understanding Earth" and "The Essential Earth".