W. Jason Morgan (* 10th October 1935 in Savannah, Georgia, USA) is a US geophysicist who has made seminal contributions to the theory of plate tectonics and geodynamics. He is Knox Taylor Professor emeritus of geology and professor of geosciences at Princeton University. (Redirected from 10th October) October 10 is the 283rd day of the year (284th in Leap years). ... 1935(MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Plate tectonics (from the Greek word for one who constructs, τεκτων, tekton) is a theory of geology developed to explain the phenomenon of continental drift, and is currently the theory accepted by the vast majority of scientists working in this area. ... For other Princetons, see Princeton. ...

Life and main scientific contributions

After having received his BSc in physics from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1957, he went to Princeton University, where he completed his PhD in 1964 under the supervision of Bob Dicke. He joined the faculty of the university immediately afterwards.

His first major contribution, made in the late 1960s, was to relate the magnetic anomalies of alternating polarity, which occur on the ocean bottom at both sides of a mid-ocean ridge, to sea-floor spreading and plate tectonics. A mid-ocean ridge or mid-oceanic ridge is an uplifting of the ocean floor that occurs when convection currents beneath the ocean bed force magma up where two tectonic plates meet at a divergent boundary. ...

From 1971 on he worked on the further development of the plume theory of Tuzo Wilson, which postulates the existence of roughly cylindrical convective upwellings in the Earth's mantle as an explanation of hotspots. Morgan originally applied the concept only to Hawaii and explained the increase in age of the seamounts of the Hawaii-Emperor chain with increasing distance from the current hotspot location; however, the concept was subsequently applied to many other hotspots by Morgan himself and several other scientists. John Tuzo Wilson (October 24, 1908-April 15, 1993) was a Canadian geophysicist and geologist who achieved worldwide acclaim for his theory of plate tectonics, the assumption that the Earths crust is comprised of plates floating on magma. ... In geology, a hotspot is a location on the Earths surface that has experienced active volcanism for a long period of time. ... State nickname: The Aloha State Other U.S. States Capital Honolulu Largest city Honolulu Monarch Akahi Nui Governor Linda Lingle (R) Senators Daniel Inouye (D) Daniel Akaka (D) Official language(s) Hawaiian and English Area 28,337 km² (43rd)  - Land 16,649 km²  - Water 11,672 km² (41. ... A seamount is a mountain rising from the seafloor that does not reach to the surface of the ocean. ...

Morgan received several honours and awards for his work, among them the Alfred Wegener Medal of the European Union of Geosciences (1983), the Maurice Ewing Award of the American Geophysical Union (1987), the Wollaston Medal of the Geological Society of London (1994) and the National Medal of Science of the USA (2002).

Important publications

• W. J. Morgan: Rises, Trenches, Great Faults, and Crustal Blocks. Journal of Geophysical Research 73, S.1959 (1968)
• W. J. Morgan, W. J.: Convection plumes in the lower mantle. Nature 230, S.42–43 (1971)