Geophysics applies the principles and methods of physics to the study of the Earth, covering its magnetic field, gravity, internal heat, and the seismic waves generated by earthquakes.
Facts
Founded YearCarl Friedrich Gauss and Wilhelm Weber founded the Gottinger Magnetischer Verein in 1836 with Alexander von Humboldt's support, coordinating the first systematic worldwide measurements of Earth's magnetic field from up to fifty-three observatories, an early landmark of organized geophysical research. Central QuestionWhat do the physical fields measurable at Earth's surface, gravity, magnetism, seismic waves, reveal about the composition and dynamics of a planetary interior no instrument can directly reach? 2 ScopeGeophysics applies the methods and quantitative techniques of physics to study the Earth, including its gravitational, magnetic, electrical and seismic fields, its internal structure, and near-Earth space. 2 SignificanceCarl Friedrich Gauss's 1830s mathematical treatment of the Earth's magnetic field, including the invention of the magnetometer to measure it with precision, gave geophysics one of its first rigorously quantitative branches, geomagnetism, decades before seismology or gravimetry matured to the same standard. 2 Connections
Founded By
Founder of the geomagnetism branch specifically, not of geophysics as a whole, which also includes seismology, gravimetry and other later branches.
Source Geophysics (Wikipedia)
Has Scientist
Source Abhijit Mukherjee (earth scientist) (Wikipedia)
Source Barbara Romanowicz, Wikipedia
Source Geophysics (Britannica)
Source Felix Andries Vening Meinesz, Wikipedia
Source Wikipedia: Francis Birch (geophysicist)
Source George Graham (Wikipedia)
Source Harry Hess (Britannica)
Source Wikipedia: Hatten Yoder
Source Inge Lehmann (Wikipedia)
Source Wikipedia: John Tuzo Wilson
Source James Van Allen (Wikipedia)
Source John Milne (Britannica)
Source Kathryn Whaler (Wikipedia)
Source Wikipedia: Kurt Lambeck
Source Wikipedia: M. King Hubbert
Source Norman Sleep (Wikipedia)
Source Osmond Fisher - Wikipedia
Source Peter Vail (Wikipedia)
Source Robert Mallet - Wikipedia
Source Robert S. Dietz - Wikipedia
Source Tanya Atwater, Wikipedia
Source Edward A. Irving (Wikipedia)
Source Thure E. Cerling (Wikipedia)
Source Trond Helge Torsvik, Wikipedia
Source Walter Munk (Wikipedia)
Source Wikipedia: Maurice Ewing
Source Xavier Le Pichon - Wikipedia
Has Theory
Source Harry Hess (Britannica)
Source Vine-Matthews-Morley hypothesis (Wikipedia)
Studies
Source Magnetosphere (Wikipedia)
Uses
Gravimeter, Instruments The gravimeter measures small local variations in gravitational acceleration, used in geophysics for subsurface density mapping and geodesy.
Magnetometers are widely used for measuring the Earth's magnetic field in geophysical surveys.
Source Magnetometer (Wikipedia)
Source Magnetosphere (Wikipedia)
Source Geophysics (Britannica)
Sources
1. Gottinger Magnetischer Verein (Wiechert Seismological Observatory Gottingen)
Wiechert'sche Erdbebenwarte GottingenGauss house and earth magnetism sectionQuote, Gauss house and earth magnetism section
Gauss, with the support of Alexander von Humboldt, founded the Gottingen Magnetic Society, the center of which was the Earth Magnetic Observatory from 1836 to 1941.
2. Geophysics (Wikipedia)
WikipediaLead section
Geophysics is a physical science concerned with the processes and properties of Earth and its surrounding space environment, studied using quantitative and observational methods. It focuses primarily on Earth's shape and its gravitational, magnetic, and electromagnetic fields.
- Founded By: Carl Friedrich Gauss
In Group: Solid Earth Sciences, Lead
is a physical science concerned with the processes and properties of Earth and its surrounding space environment, studied using quantitative and observational methods
View the Source Geophysics (Britannica)
Magnetosphere (Wikipedia)
Harry Hess (Britannica)
Encyclopaedia Britannica- Has Theory: Plate Tectonics
- Has Scientist: Harry Hess
View the Source John Milne (Britannica)
Magnetometer (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia- Uses: Magnetometer, Lead section
Uses: Magnetometer, Applications section
Magnetometers are widely used for measuring the Earth's magnetic field, in geophysical surveys, to detect magnetic anomalies of various types.
View the Source James Van Allen (Wikipedia)
What Is Geophysics? (EarthScope Consortium)
EarthScope ConsortiumEncompasses: Seismology, What is geophysics? pageQuote, Encompasses: Seismology, What is geophysics? page
This means that geophysics is a broad field with many applications and subdisciplines. Two large disciplines with long histories are seismology and geodesy.
Inge Lehmann (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Scientist: Inge Lehmann, Infobox, fieldsQuote, Has Scientist: Inge Lehmann, Infobox, fields
Infobox fields: Seismology, geophysics
Walter Munk (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Scientist: Walter Munk, Infobox, fieldsQuote, Has Scientist: Walter Munk, Infobox, fields
Infobox fields: Oceanography, geophysics
Wikipedia
WikipediaHas Scientist: Hiroo Kanamori, Infobox, fieldsQuote, Has Scientist: Hiroo Kanamori, Infobox, fields
Infobox fields: Geophysics
Kathryn Whaler (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Scientist: Kathryn Whaler, Infobox, fieldsQuote, Has Scientist: Kathryn Whaler, Infobox, fields
Infobox fields: Geophysics
Robert Mallet - Wikipedia
Has Scientist: Robert Mallet, Infobox, fieldsQuote, Has Scientist: Robert Mallet, Infobox, fields
Infobox fields: Geophysics, Engineering
Thure E. Cerling (Wikipedia)
Has Scientist: Thure E. Cerling, Infobox, fieldsQuote, Has Scientist: Thure E. Cerling, Infobox, fields
Infobox fields: Geology; Geophysics; Geochemistry; Biology
Xavier Le Pichon - Wikipedia
Has Scientist: Xavier Le Pichon, Infobox, fieldsQuote, Has Scientist: Xavier Le Pichon, Infobox, fields
Infobox fields: Geophysics
Tanya Atwater, Wikipedia
Has Scientist: Tanya Atwater, Infobox, fieldsQuote, Has Scientist: Tanya Atwater, Infobox, fields
Infobox fields: Tectonics ; Marine geology; Marine geophysics
Trond Helge Torsvik, Wikipedia
Has Scientist: Trond Helge Torsvik, Infobox, fieldsQuote, Has Scientist: Trond Helge Torsvik, Infobox, fields
Infobox fields: Geophysicist
Edward A. Irving (Wikipedia)
Has Scientist: Ted Irving, Infobox, fieldsQuote, Has Scientist: Ted Irving, Infobox, fields
Infobox fields: Paleomagnetism
Wikipedia
WikipediaHas Scientist: Frank Press, Lead sentenceQuote, Has Scientist: Frank Press, Lead sentence
Frank Press (December 4, 1924, January 29, 2020) was an American geophysicist.
Norman Sleep (Wikipedia)
Has Scientist: Norman Sleep, Lead sentenceQuote, Has Scientist: Norman Sleep, Lead sentence
Norman H. Sleep (born 14 February 1945) is an American geophysicist and professor of geophysics at Stanford University.
Barbara Romanowicz, Wikipedia
Has Scientist: Barbara Romanowicz, Lead sentenceQuote, Has Scientist: Barbara Romanowicz, Lead sentence
Barbara A. Romanowicz FRS (born 5 April 1950) is a French geophysicist and an expert on imaging the Earth's interior.
Felix Andries Vening Meinesz, Wikipedia
Has Scientist: Felix Andries Vening Meinesz, Lead sentenceQuote, Has Scientist: Felix Andries Vening Meinesz, Lead sentence
Felix Andries Vening Meinesz (30 July 1887-10 August 1966) was a Dutch geophysicist and geodesist.
Wikipedia: Hatten Yoder
Has Scientist: Hatten Schuyler Yoder Jr., Lead sentenceQuote, Has Scientist: Hatten Schuyler Yoder Jr., Lead sentence
Hatten Schuyler Yoder, Jr., (March 20, 1921, August 2, 2003) was an American geophysicist and experimental petrologist who conducted pioneering work on minerals under high pressure and temperature.
Osmond Fisher - Wikipedia
Has Scientist: Osmond Fisher, Lead sentenceQuote, Has Scientist: Osmond Fisher, Lead sentence
Reverend Osmond Fisher (17 November 1817 - 12 July 1914) was an English clergyman, geologist and geophysicist.
Wikipedia: John Tuzo Wilson
Has Scientist: J. Tuzo Wilson, Lead sentenceQuote, Has Scientist: J. Tuzo Wilson, Lead sentence
John Tuzo Wilson (October 24, 1908, April 15, 1993) was a Canadian geophysicist, geologist and professor at the University of Toronto Mississauga who achieved worldwide acclaim for his contributions to the theory of plate tectonics.
Wikipedia: Francis Birch (geophysicist)
Has Scientist: Francis Birch, Lead sentenceQuote, Has Scientist: Francis Birch, Lead sentence
Albert Francis Birch (August 22, 1903, January 30, 1992) was an American geophysicist.
Wikipedia: M. King Hubbert
Has Scientist: M. King Hubbert, Lead sentenceQuote, Has Scientist: M. King Hubbert, Lead sentence
Marion King Hubbert (October 5, 1903 - October 11, 1989) was an American geologist and geophysicist.
Wikipedia: Maurice Ewing
Has Scientist: William Maurice Ewing, Lead sentenceQuote, Has Scientist: William Maurice Ewing, Lead sentence
William Maurice "Doc" Ewing (May 12, 1906 - May 4, 1974) was an American geophysicist and oceanographer.
Peter Vail (Wikipedia)
Has Scientist: Peter R. Vail, Lead sentenceQuote, Has Scientist: Peter R. Vail, Lead sentence
Peter R. Vail (January 13, 1930, December 28, 2024) was an American geologist and geophysicist, the namesake of the Vail curve of sea level changes.
George Graham (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Scientist: George Graham, LeadQuote, Has Scientist: George Graham, Lead
was an English clockmaker, inventor, and geophysicist
Wikipedia: Kurt Lambeck
Has Scientist: Kurt Lambeck, Lead, sentence 1Quote, Has Scientist: Kurt Lambeck, Lead, sentence 1
Professor Kurt Lambeck AC, FRS, FAA, FRSN (born 20 September 1941 in Utrecht, Netherlands) is Professor of Geophysics at the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia.
Robert S. Dietz - Wikipedia
Has Scientist: Robert S. Dietz, Lead, sentence 2Quote, Has Scientist: Robert S. Dietz, Lead, sentence 2
Dietz, born in Westfield, New Jersey, was a marine geologist, geophysicist and oceanographer who conducted pioneering research along with Harry Hammond Hess concerning seafloor spreading, published as early as 1960-1961.
Abhijit Mukherjee (earth scientist) (Wikipedia)
Has Scientist: Abhijit Mukherjee (earth scientist), Lead, sentence 1Quote, Has Scientist: Abhijit Mukherjee (earth scientist), Lead, sentence 1
Abhijit Mukherjee (born 1975) is an Indian professor, scientist and currently Professor of Geology and Geophysics and the School of Environmental Science and Engineering of IIT Kharagpur.
Vine-Matthews-Morley hypothesis (Wikipedia)
Has Theory: Vine-Matthews-Morley Hypothesis, Lead, sentence 1Quote, Has Theory: Vine-Matthews-Morley Hypothesis, Lead, sentence 1
The Vine-Matthews-Morley hypothesis, also known as the Morley-Vine-Matthews hypothesis, was the first key scientific test of the seafloor spreading theory of continental drift and plate tectonics.
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