Rachel Haymon is a marine geologist known for her work linking geological and biological processes occurring at deep-sea hydrothermal vents. In 2005 she was elected a fellow of the Geological Society of America.
Rachel Michal Haymon | |
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Born | 1953[1] |
Alma mater | University of California, San Diego |
Scientific career | |
Institutions | University of California, Santa Barbara |
Thesis | Hydrothermal deposition on the East Pacific Rise at 21° N (1982) |
As a child growing up in Baton Rouge Louisiana, Marie Curie was the only woman scientist Haymon knew.[2] Haymon had multiple ideas about careers as a child, including several scientific options such as oceanographer, archeologist, astronaut. or paleontologist.[3] In college, she decided to study geology and has a B.A. from Rice University (1976). In 1982, she earned her Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego working on hydrothermal deposits at 21°N on the East Pacific Rise.[4] Following her Ph.D., she accepted a position at the University of California, Santa Barbara where she was promoted to professor in 1998.[5] Haymon retired from full professor in 2010.[6]
Haymon's research centers on the deposition of minerals at deep-sea hydrothermal vents. Haymon's work on ophiolites in Oman revealed fossils of hydrothermal vent worms[7][8] and geological evidence of hydrothermal venting.[9] As a graduate student, Haymon worked on the mineralogy of hydrothermal vents at 21ºN North along the East Pacific Rise using samples collected during the RISE project.[10][11][12] Using data from 1989, Haymon mapped the distribution of hydrothermal vents along the 9ºNorth of the East Pacific Rise.[13] Then, in 1991, Haymon led the team that returned to this site and discovered a recent eruption on the seafloor.[14] They dubbed the area "Tube Worm Barbecue" because of the dead tubes worms found in the regions with recent lava flow.[15][16] Haymon described the excitement of seeing the outcome of the recent eruption in a subsequent newspaper article.[17] Repeated visits to the area revealed the tube worms were gone within eleven months after the eruption, replaced by small fish, octopus, and crabs.[16][18] Later work by Haymon on the East Pacific Rise revealed hydrothermal venting along the ridge-flank sites, away from the black smokers.[19] In 2006, Haymon led the team that discovered the first black smokers within the hydrothermal vents fields near the Galapagos.[20][21]