Laurence L. Sloss (August 26, 1913 – November 2, 1996) was an American geologist.[1] He taught geology at Northwestern University from 1947 until his retirement in 1981.[1][2]
Laurence L. Sloss | |
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Born | 26 August 1913 Mountain View |
Died | 2 November 1996 (aged 83) Evanston |
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Doctoral advisor | Carey Croneis |
He was president, Geological Society of America (GSA), with his tenure beginning in 1980.[3] The GSA's Laurence L. Sloss Award is named in his honor.[4] He was also president of the Society for Sedimentary Geology and American Geosciences Institute.[5]
Sloss received his bachelor's degree at Stanford University and his Ph.D. at the University of Chicago in 1937.[1]
He is known as a pioneer in the discipline of sequence stratigraphy,[5] and for his descriptions of cratonic sequences or "Sloss sequences" in ancient North America. As a whole, these sequences are large-scale cycles in sedimentary rock records that indicate broad patterns of environmental change over geologic time – specifically marine transgression and regression.[6][7][8]
He was awarded the William H. Twenhofel Medal from the American Association of Petroleum Geologists in 1980[9] and the Geological Society of America's Penrose Medal in 1986.[10]