Fox - Department of Earth Sciences | Montana State University

Fox

Adjunct Professor of Geology, Montana State University

Professor Emeritus, Department of Geology & Geophysics, Texas A&M University

Award

2019 GSA International Distinguished Career Award

Contact Information:

Education:

B.A. Geology, Ohio Wesleyan University, 1963
Ph.D. Marine Geology and Geophysics, Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, 1972

Research Interests:

During the last 25 years, research includes investigation and elucidation of the processes that create oceanic lithosphere along the world-encircling Mid-Oceanic Ridge System. Results from a family of investigative tools (multi-beam echo sounders, deep and shallow towed side-scan sonar systems, standard underway geophysical tools and submersibles) are used to illuminate the volcanic and structural processes that characterize the zones of plate accretion and offsetting transform faults.

Earlier in career worked on other topics including: the architecture and nature of oceanic crust as constrained by direct sampling, comparison with ophiolites, and physical property analyses (seismic velocity and magnetic properties) of oceanic and ophiolitic rocks; the geology of the floor of the Caribbean; tectonic reconstructions of the ocean basins of the North Atlantic; and the consequences of geostrophic circulation on the distribution of sediments in the western North Atlantic.

Before becoming Director of Science Operations for the Ocean Drilling Program in 1995, I had participated in 36 oceanographic expeditions (42 months at sea), and served as Chief, or Co-Chief Scientist, on 26. These expeditions and post-cruise work that followed were supported by grants and contracts from the National Science Foundation and the Office of Naval Research. During my 13 years as Director for the drilling program, I was the lead investigator on a contract to support science operations that ranged from 35 to 50 million dollars/year.

Professional Experience:

1964-1971 Research Assistant, Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University
1972-1977 Assistant Professor of Geology, State University of New York (SUNY) at Albany
1977-1981 Associate Professor of Geology, SUNY at Albany (with tenure)
1981-1984 Associate Professor of Research, Graduate School of Oceanography (GSO), University of Rhode Island (URI)
1984-1990 Research Professor of Oceanography, GSO, URI
1990-1995 Professor of Oceanography, GSO, URI
1995-2010 Professor, Departments of Geology & Geophysics, and Oceanography, Texas A&M University
1995-2003 Director of Science Operations, Ocean Drilling Program, Texas A&M University
2003-2008 Director of Science Services, U.S. Implementing Organization, Integrated Ocean Drilling Program, Texas A&M University
2010-Present Professor Emeritus, Department of Geology & Geophysics, Texas A&M University
2015-Present Adjunct Professor, Department of Earth Sciences, MSU

Scientific Publications:

84 papers published in peer-reviewed journals and books (chapters) including, but not limited to, Nature, Science, Journal Geophysical Research, Earth and Planetary Scientific Letters, and Bulletin Geological Society of America; contributions to books include Vol. 7 of the Sea, Geological Society of North America, Decade of North American Geology, and The Ocean Basins and Margins; 4 papers received an ISI Citation award; 3677 total citations as of Nov. 2009; 144 published abstracts of talks presented at national and international meetings.