Walter D. Mooney

Walter D. Mooney (born November 17, 1951) is a research seismologist and geophysicist at the United States Geological Survey (USGS), Menlo Park, California (1978–present). He was Chief of the USGS Branch of Seismology from 1994 to 1997.

Walter D. Mooney
Born (1951-11-17) November 17, 1951
Long Island, New York, U.S.
Alma materCornell University
University of Wisconsin-Madison
AwardsGeorge P. Woollard Award
Scientific career
InstitutionsUnited States Geological Survey
University of Kiel
Stanford University
Pierre et Marie Curie University
ThesisSeismic refraction studies of the Western Cordillera, Colombia and an East Pacific-Caribbean Ridge during the Jurassic and Cretaceous and the evolution of western Colombia (1979)

Early life and education

Mooney was born in Floral Park (Long Island), New York and is the sixth of seven children. He attended Cornell University from 1969–1973 for his B.S in Physics. In 1976, he spent 6 months as a Graduate Fellow in Karlsruhe University, Germany.[1] He went on to complete his Ph.D. on the Deep Structure of the South American Andes in 1979 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.[2]

Research

Mooney's major interest is global Earth crustal structure and tectonics, with a focus on the continental lithosphere.[2] Mooney has led fieldwork throughout North and South America. According to Mooney his international research collaborations have "provided both a rich basis for my science, and a broad cultural understanding.’[3] He has co-authored more than 170 scientific papers.[4]

Mooney has also been a visiting professor of geophysics in many different universities over the years including, Stanford University (1984–2008; 2014–present), Pierre et Marie Curie University, France (1998) and University of Kiel, Germany (1985).[4]

With Claus Prodehl of Universität Karlsuhe, Germany, Mooney wrote Exploring the Earth's Crust - History and Results of Controlled-Source Seismology).[5]

Since 2011, he has been collaborating with the Saudi Geological Survey in a study of the crustal and upper mantle structure beneath western Saudi Arabia using data from the SGS broadband seismic network.[6]

Awards and professional associations

Mooney is considered a world leader in geophysical studies of the Earth's crust and upper mantle.[7] In 1995, he was awarded the Geological Society of America's (GSA) George P. Woollard Award. This award is given annually to recognize a person who has made outstanding contributions to geology using geophysical methods.[8][9] as well as being a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union (AGU), the Royal Astronomical Society and the Geological Society of London.[10] He received the Gold Medal Award in 2002 from the Indian Geophysical Union and was elected Foreign Fellow by the European Academy in 2004.[4]

Selected publications
  • Mooney, W.D., and Brocher, T.M., (1987), Coincident seismic reflection/refraction studies of the continental lithosphere: a global review, Geophysical Journal International, 89(1), 1–6.
  • Mooney, W.D., and Meissner, R., (1992), Multi-genetic origin of crustal reflectivity: a review of seismic reflection profiling of the continental lower crust and Moho, Continental Lower Crust: Elsevier Amsterdam, 23, 45–79.
  • Christensen, N.I and Mooney, W.D., (1995), Seismic Velocity Structure and Composition of the Continental Crust: A Global View, J. Geophys. Res., 100, 9761–9788.
  • Mooney, W.D., Laske, G., Masters, T.G., (1998), CRUST 5.1: A global crustal model at 5 degrees x 5 degrees, J. Geophys. Res., 103, 727–747.
  • Artemieva, I.M., and Mooney, W.D., (2001), Thermal thickness and evolution of Precambrian lithosphere: a global study, J. Geophys. Res., 106, 16,387–16,414.
  • Mooney, W.D. and Schulte, S., (2002), Earthquakes in continental interiors: A review of their possible causes, APEC Symposium on confronting urban earthquakes, Academica Sinica, 54, 53–60.
  • Bahan, S. and Mooney, W.D., (2008), First-hand observations of the M=7.9 Wenchuan, China earthquake, Earth Magazine, 17–21.
  • Hickman, S.H., Hsieh, P.A., Mooney, W.D., Enomoto, C., Nelson, P., Mayer, L., Weber, T., Moran, K., Flemings, P., McNutt, M., (2010), Scientific Basis for Safely Shutting in the Macondo Well Following the April 20, 2010, Deepwater Horizon Blowout, Proc. National Academy of Sciences 109(50), 20,268–20,273.
  • Prodehl, C. and Mooney, W.D., (2012), Exploring the Earth's Crust: History and Results of Controlled-Source Seismology, Geological Soc. America Memoir 208, 764pp. (with supplement DVD).
  • Pollitz, F.F. and Mooney, W.D., (2013), Seismic Structure of the Central US crust and shallow upper mantle: Uniqueness of the Reelfoot Rift, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, online July 2013.

References
  2. "Dr. Walter Mooney, USGS, Menlo Park — University of Leicester". .le.ac.uk. Retrieved 2015-11-03.
  3. "IRIS - Walter Mooney". Dev.iris.edu. Retrieved 2015-11-03.
  4. "Walter Mooney: Research Geophysicist". U.S. Geological Survey. U.S Department of the Interior. 24 January 2013. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  5. "GSA press release - GSA Memoir 208". Geosociety.org. 2012-03-21. Retrieved 2015-11-03.
  6. "Imaging And Active Tectonics Of The Red Sea Region". Kaust.edu.sa. Retrieved 2015-11-03.
  7. "In recognition of your distinguished contributions in seismology and understanding of the Earth's internal processes" (PDF). Geology.wisc.edu. Retrieved 2015-11-03.
  8. "George P. Woollard Award". The Geological Society of America. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  9. Robert H. Dott, Jr. "The archivist's Corner : The first thirty years of Geophysics at UW-Madison" (PDF). Geology.wisc.edu. Retrieved 2015-11-03.
  10. "Peninsula Geological Society March, 2005, Lecture". Diggles.com. Retrieved 2015-11-03.
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