G. Brent Dalrymple
Oregon State University
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Primary Section: 15, Geology Membership Type:
Member
(elected 1993)
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Biosketch
G. Brent Dalrymple has a A.B. in geology from Occidental College (1959) and a Ph.D. in geology from U.C. Berkeley (1963). He is a Professor Emeritus at Oregon State University where he served as dean of the College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences (1994-2001). Dalrymple’s primary research interests involved the development and application of isotopic dating techniques to a broad range of geological and geophysical problems. An early research effort to test the hypothesis of geomagnetic field reversal and to determine the time scale for the reversals led to the theory of plate tectonics. He is widely considered an authority on the age of Earth and has written two books on that subject. Dr. Dalrymple is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union, where he served as president and a member of the Board of Directors. He has also served on the Board of directors of the American Institute of Physics. He received the 2001 Public Service Award from the Geological Society of America and the 2003 National Medal of Science from the President of the United States.
Research Interests
My primary research interests involve the development and improvement of isotopic dating techniques, in particular the K-Ar and 40Ar/39Ar methods, and their application to a broad range of geological and geophysical problems. An early effort, with colleagues Allan Cox and Richard Doell, was to test the hypothesis of geomagnetic field reversal and determine the time scale for the reversals. This experiment was a key piece of information that led to the theory of plate tectonics. Subsequent studies were directed at testing the hypothesis that the Hawaiian-Emperor volcanic chain and other volcanic chains in the Pacific were formed by motion of the Pacific Plate over fixed sources of lava ("hot spots") in the Earth's mantle, studying the history of various volcanic centers, and determining the chronology of various aspects of the Pleistocene history of the western United States. I also have written two books, the latest of which is a definitive work titled "The Age of the Earth." My current research involves a series of experiments to determine the history of bombardment of the Moon by large impactors and of the resulting lunar basin formation.
