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David L. Kohlstedt (born 1943) is an American geologist and geophysicist, known for his experimental studies of the chemical and physical properties of minerals and rocks at high-temperatures and high-pressures. He was awarded the Murchison Medal in 2009 and the Vetlesen Prize in 2023.

Early life

Kohlstedt was born in 1943, the son of a Lutheran minister and an elementary school teacher. He grew up in South Dakota, with an older sister, Pat.

Education

Kohlstedt received a bachelor's degree in physics and mathematics from Valparaiso University, Indiana in 1965. He was awarded a Ph.D. in solid-state physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1970, for a thesis on the diffusion of carbon in titanium carbide (TiC).

Career

He spent a year at the Cavendish Laboratories at the University of Cambridge from 1970 to 1971, and then moved to MIT where he conducted post-doctoral research with Chris Goetze and Bill Brace from 1971 to 1975. While at MIT Kohlstedt first began working on the deformation of silicate minerals and rocks from the Earth's mantle. He joined the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Cornell University in 1975, and in 1989 moved to the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, at University of Minnesota, where he worked for the remainder of his career.

He was awarded the Harry Hess medal of the American Geophysical Union in 2003 "for his fundamental contributions to understanding the Earth’s upper mantle rheology" and in 2009 was awarded the Murchison Medal of the Geological Society of London for his studies of the mechanical properties of rocks on Earth and other planets, and the way that they influence geodynamic processes.

Personal life

Kohlstedt is married to historian of science Sally Gregory Kohlstedt. They met at Valparaiso University.

Selected works

• Kohlstedt, D.L.; Goetze, C. (1974). "Low-stress high-temperature creep in olivine single crystals". Journal of Geophysical Research. 79 (14): 2045–2051. Bibcode:1974JGR....79.2045K. doi:10.1029/JB079i014p02045.
• Brace, W.F.; Kohlstedt, D.L. (1980). "Limits on lithospheric stress imposed by laboratory experiments". Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth. 85 (B11): 6248–6252. Bibcode:1980JGR....85.6248B. doi:10.1029/JB085iB11p06248.
• Hirth, G.; Kohlstedt, David L. (1996). "Water in the oceanic upper mantle: implications for rheology, melt extraction and the evolution of the lithosphere". Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 144 (1–2): 93–108. Bibcode:1996E&PSL.144...93H. doi:10.1016/0012-821X(96)00154-9.

Prizes and fellowships

• 1982 Guggenheim Fellowship
• 2000 Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
• 2003 Harry Hess medal
• 2005 Louis Néel Medal, European Geosciences Union
• 2009 Fellow, National Academy of Sciences
• 2009 Murchison Medal
• 2023 Vetlesen Prize

References

1. ^ "Professor Emeritus David Kohlstedt receives Vetlesen Prize, the 'Nobel Prize of Earth Sciences'". 1 February 2023.
2. ^ "Members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1780-2019 – K" (PDF). p. 340.
3. Krajick, Kevin (24 January 2023). "Explorer of Deep Earth Wins Vetlesen Prize" – via Columbia Climate School.
4. ^ "Rising to Challenges Beneath the Earth". 2023 – via Valpo Stories, Valparaiso University.
5. Kohlstedt, David Lee (1970). Electromigration and chemical diffusion in titanium carbide (Thesis). doi:10.2172/4751961. OSTI 4751961 – via U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Scientific and Technical Information.
6. ^ "David L. Kohlstedt" – via American Geophysical Union members.
7. "Geological Society Awards 2009".
8. "Guggenheim Fellows, David L Kohlstedt".
9. "Louis Neel medal, 2005" – via European Geosciences Union.
10. "David L. Kohlstedt" – via NAS online.

• 1943 births
• Living people
• American geologists
• American geophysicists
• Cornell University faculty
• Murchison Medal winners
• Petrologists
• University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni
• University of Minnesota faculty
• Valparaiso University alumni
• Vetlesen Prize winners