Robert S. Dietz

Robert Sinclair Dietz (September 14, 1914 – May 19, 1995) was Professor of Geology at Arizona State University. Dietz was a geophysicist and oceanographer who conducted pioneering research along with Harry Hess concerning seafloor spreading as early as 1960 - 1961. While at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography he observed the nature of the Emperor chain of seamounts that extended from the northwest end of the Hawaiian Island-Midway chain and speculated over lunch with Robert Fisher in 1953 that something must be carrying these old volcanic mountains northward like a conveyor belt.ref|UCSD

In later work he became interested in meteorite impacts, was the first to recognize the Sudbury Basin as an ancient impact event, and discovered a number of other impact craters. He received the Barringer Medal in 1985.

elected publications

*Dietz, Robert S. "Earth, Sea, and Sky: Life and Times of a Journeyman Geologist." Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Science 22 (1994), 1-32.
*Dietz, Robert S., "In Defense of Drift," The Sciences, vol. 23, Nov.-Dec. 1983, p. 26.
*Dietz, Robert S., "Sudbury Structure as an Astrobleme", University of Chicago, 1964
*Dietz, Robert S. and scientific illustrator John C. Holden, "Creation/Evolution Satiricon: Creationism Bashed", Winthrop, WA: Bookmaker, 1987

References

# [http://scilib.ucsd.edu/sio/archives/siohstry/dietz-biog.html Biography from USCD]
# [http://geowords.com/histbooknetscape/g02.htm Dietz and Hess]
# [http://geology.asu.edu/resources/museum/museum.html Dietz Museum of Geology] at ASU
# [http://geology.asu.edu/resources/museum/dietz.html Biography] from ASU