Professor
Terry A. Plank
Columbia University
Geochemist; Volcanologist; Educator
Area
Mathematical and Physical Sciences
Specialty
Astronomy, Astrophysics, and Earth Sciences
Elected
2016
Plank has illuminated the inner workings of the subduction zone using geochemical tracers. She has tracked the consumption of crust and sediments feeding the root zones of arcs by subduction of oceanic crust at deep sea trenches. She has measured the elusive water in magmas that drives melting and eruption at arc volcanoes. She has elucidated the roles of the crustal thickness and source input functions in the volcanic output of the world's arc complex. This is the principal nursery for continent growth and so is central to our understanding of continental evolution.
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