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Frederick Vine
open-in-new
<h2 id="early-life">Early life</h2> <p>Vine was born in <a href="/facts/Chiswick/SSNLE8Fn">Chiswick</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a> London, and educated at <a href="/facts/Latymer_Upper_School/8NAAbr3D">Latymer Upper School</a> and <a href="/facts/St_John%27s_College,_Cambridge/NRRfwkfh">St John's College, Cambridge</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> where he studied <a href="/facts/Natural_Sciences/8hg81Q2p">Natural Sciences</a> (BA, 1962) and <a href="/facts/Marine_geology/KFQjHKnM">marine geophysics</a> (PhD, 1965).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> He married Susan 'Sue' Vine (née McCall), who worked as a research assistant for Drummond Matthews in the Department of Geodesy and Geophysics, University of Cambridge, contributing to the development of the sea-floor spreading hypothesis associated with Matthews and her husband.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="plate-tectonics">Plate tectonics</h2> <p>Vine's PhD thesis was on 'Magnetism in the Seafloor' and supervised by <a href="/facts/Drummond_Matthews/L4BICHdz">Drummond Matthews</a>. Having met <a href="/facts/Harry_Hammond_Hess/BxEQMeYw">Harry Hess</a> he was aware of <a href="/facts/Sea_floor_spreading/2t2oCbTp">sea floor spreading</a>, where the ocean bed acts as a 'conveyor belt' moving away from the central ridge.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> Vine's work, with that of <a href="/facts/Drummond_Matthews/L4BICHdz">Drummond Matthews</a> and <a href="/facts/Lawrence_Morley/X5meS8co">Lawrence Morley</a> of the <a href="/facts/Geological_Survey_of_Canada/CdvpcAmH">Geological Survey of Canada</a>, helped put the variations in the magnetic properties of the <a href="/facts/Ocean_crust/0lGjI7jN">ocean crust</a> into context in what is now known as the <a href="/facts/Vine%E2%80%93Matthews%E2%80%93Morley_hypothesis/va8DANvB">Vine–Matthews–Morley hypothesis</a>. Specifically they supported <a href="/facts/Robert_S._Dietz/TxVtyk68">Dietz</a>'s (<i>Nature</i> 1961) idea that sea floor spreading was occurring at <a href="/facts/Mid-ocean_ridge/wYdgdSW3">mid-ocean ridges</a>. Vine and Matthews showed that <a href="/facts/Basalt/uhbwGPTb">basalt</a> created at a mid-ocean ridge records earth's current magnetic field polarity (and strength), thus turning Hess's theoretical 'conveyor belt' into a 'tape recorder'.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> Furthermore, they showed that <a href="/facts/Magnetic_reversal/dsINRz5g">magnetic reversals</a> 'frozen' into these rocks, as suggested by <a href="/facts/Allan_V._Cox/0r7gNdGF">Allan Cox</a> (<i>Nature</i> 1963),<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> can be seen as parallel strips as you travel perpendicularly away from the ridge crest.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="academic-career">Academic career</h2> <p>Vine worked with E. M. Moores on the <a href="/facts/Ophiolite/vX9Kg940">Ophiolite</a> in the <a href="/facts/Troodos_Mountains/yzq2XIb1">Troodos Mountains</a> of southern <a href="/facts/Cyprus/t9wL6lVK">Cyprus</a>. He worked with R. A. Livermore and A. G. Smith on the history of the Earth's magnetic field.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a> He worked on the electrical conductivity of rocks from the lower continental crust with R. G. Ross and P. W. J. Glover, which culminated in 1992 with measurements of the <a href="/facts/Electrical_conductivity/akyCKvMy">electrical conductivity</a> of <a href="/facts/Graphite/sSf3KMXr">graphite</a>-rich <a href="/facts/Amphibolite/eIbMHC0J">amphibolites</a> and <a href="/facts/Granulite/5vxpnm3U">granulites</a> at lower crustal temperatures and pressures with a full water saturation and pore fluid pressure<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a> and graphite-free<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a> </p><p>In 1967, Vine became assistant professor of geology and geophysics at <a href="/facts/Princeton_University/n3EPGHBM">Princeton University</a>. In 1970 he moved to the School of Environmental Sciences at the <a href="/facts/University_of_East_Anglia/CWr0whXh">University of East Anglia</a>, becoming professor there in 1974. He served as <a href="/facts/Dean_(education)/DlVqIHhT">dean</a> from 1977 to 1980, and again from 1993 to 1998. After 1998, he was a professorial fellow of the University of East Anglia.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12"><sup>12</sup></a> and then in 2008 he became an <a href="/facts/Emeritus_professor/3hyP5zYf">emeritus professor</a> there.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13"><sup>13</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="death">Death</h2> <p>Vine died on 21 June 2024, at the age of 85.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:14" href="#fn:14"><sup>14</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="honours">Honours</h2> <p>Vine's honours included: </p> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Arthur_L._Day_Medal/hNuJquDs">Day Medal</a> in 1968<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:15" href="#fn:15"><sup>15</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Bigelow_Medal/qqmQY6PN">Bigelow Medal</a> of <a href="/facts/Woods_Hole_Oceanographic_Institution/qqmQY6PN">Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution</a> in 1970 <a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:16" href="#fn:16"><sup>16</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Bigsby_Medal/7cIKTbuj">Bigsby Medal</a> of the <a href="/facts/Geological_Society_of_London/e3q5blMv">Geological Society of London</a> in 1971</li> <li><a href="/facts/Chapman_Medal/czHjGvKN">Chapman Medal</a> of the <a href="/facts/Royal_Astronomical_Society/FY4DbvNW">Royal Astronomical Society</a> (1973)<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:17" href="#fn:17"><sup>17</sup></a></li> <li>Fellowship of the <a href="/facts/Royal_Society/KI5yXCuV">Royal Society</a> in March 1974<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:18" href="#fn:18"><sup>18</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/The_Chree_Medal_and_Prize/uBHcsMcL">The Chree Medal and Prize</a> of the <a href="/facts/Institute_of_Physics/WstLymQv">Institute of Physics</a> (1977)<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:19" href="#fn:19"><sup>19</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Hughes_Medal/zhwEaYAP">Hughes Medal</a> of the <a href="/facts/Royal_Society/KI5yXCuV">Royal Society</a> (1982)</li> <li>International <a href="/facts/Balzan_Prize/CvW2KLeN">Balzan Prize</a> (1981)<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:20" href="#fn:20"><sup>20</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Prestwich_Medal/S672zNdD">Prestwich Medal</a> of the <a href="/facts/Geological_Society_of_London/e3q5blMv">Geological Society of London</a> in 2007</li></ul> <h2 id="publications">Publications</h2> <ul><li>Vine, F. J. (2001). "Reversals of fortune". In <a href="/facts/Naomi_Oreskes/9p6p5p8t">Oreskes, N</a> (ed.). <i>An insider's history of the modern theory of the Earth</i>. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press. pp. 46–66.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:21" href="#fn:21"><sup>21</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:22" href="#fn:22"><sup>22</sup></a></li> <li>Glover, P.W.J.; Vine, F.J. (1992). "Electrical conductivity of carbon bearing granulite at raised temperatures and pressures". <i>Nature</i>. 360 (6406): 723–726. <a href="/facts/Bibcode_(identifier)/9HtdQSGB">Bibcode</a>:<a href="https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1992Natur.360..723G">1992Natur.360..723G</a>. <a href="/facts/Doi_(identifier)/muM9Etpq">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1038%2F360723a0">10.1038/360723a0</a>. <a href="/facts/S2CID_(identifier)/ldJsHa2Y">S2CID</a> <a href="https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:4238126">4238126</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:23" href="#fn:23"><sup>23</sup></a></li> <li>Glover, P.W.J.; Vine, F.J. (1992). "Electrical conductivity of the continental crust". <i>Geophys. Res. Lett</i>. 21 (22): 2357–2360. <a href="/facts/Bibcode_(identifier)/9HtdQSGB">Bibcode</a>:<a href="https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1994GeoRL..21.2357G">1994GeoRL..21.2357G</a>. <a href="/facts/Doi_(identifier)/muM9Etpq">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1029%2F94GL01015">10.1029/94GL01015</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:24" href="#fn:24"><sup>24</sup></a></li> <li>Vine, F. J.; Matthews, D H (1963). "Magnetic anomalies over oceanic ridges". <i>Nature</i>. 199 (4897): 947–949. <a href="/facts/Bibcode_(identifier)/9HtdQSGB">Bibcode</a>:<a href="https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1963Natur.199..947V">1963Natur.199..947V</a>. <a href="/facts/Doi_(identifier)/muM9Etpq">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1038%2F199947a0">10.1038/199947a0</a>. <a href="/facts/S2CID_(identifier)/ldJsHa2Y">S2CID</a> <a href="https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:4296143">4296143</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:25" href="#fn:25"><sup>25</sup></a></li> <li>Vine, F. J. (2003). "<a href="/facts/Ophiolites/vX9Kg940">Ophiolites</a>, ocean crust formation and magnetic studies: a personal view". In Dilek, Y.; Newcomb, S (eds.). <i>Ophiolite concept and the evolution of geological thought</i>. Geological Society of America Special Paper. Vol. 373. pp. 65–75.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:26" href="#fn:26"><sup>26</sup></a></li> <li>Kearey, Philip; Klepeis, Keith A.; Vine, Frederick J. (2009). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=HYqZntfg25UC&q=driving+mechanism+of+plate+tectonics&pg=PR9"><i>Global tectonics</i></a> (3 ed.). Wiley-Blackwell. p. 482. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-1-4051-0777-8. First edition: 1990, second edition: 1996.</li></ul> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/List_of_geophysicists/Yh5KPwxc">List of geophysicists</a></li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> Wikimedia Commons has media related to Frederick Vine. <ul><li><a href="http://www.uea.ac.uk/environmental-sciences/people/profile/f-vine#overviewTab">Faculty page</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190201120035/http://www.uea.ac.uk/environmental-sciences/people/profile/f-vine#overviewTab">Archived</a> 1 February 2019 at the <a href="/facts/Wayback_Machine/nmQ3a6JC">Wayback Machine</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRx66ZpEhOg">Fred Vine explaining Paleomagnetic reversals</a> on <a href="/facts/YouTube_video_(identifier)/db276jst">YouTube</a></li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>"Oral History of British Science: Vine, Fred" (PDF). British Library. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 December 2013. Retrieved 24 May 2013. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20131210233929/http://sounds.bl.uk/related-content/TRANSCRIPTS/021T-C1379X0025XX-0000A0.pdf" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20131210233929/http://sounds.bl.uk/related-content/TRANSCRIPTS/021T-C1379X0025XX-0000A0.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Profile at Bookrags.com <a href="http://www.bookrags.com/research/vine-fred-j-1939---woes-02/" target="_blank">http://www.bookrags.com/research/vine-fred-j-1939---woes-02/</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>University of East Angliea – Fred Vine profile <a href="https://archive.today/20131205231601/http://www.uea.ac.uk/environmental-sciences/people/People/Honorary+Staff/vinef" target="_blank">https://archive.today/20131205231601/http://www.uea.ac.uk/environmental-sciences/people/People/Honorary+Staff/vinef</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>"Sue Vine". The British Library. Retrieved 16 January 2022. <a href="https://www.bl.uk/voices-of-science/interviewees/sue-vine" target="_blank">https://www.bl.uk/voices-of-science/interviewees/sue-vine</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>BBC / Open University broadcast series Earth Story, Vine interviewed by Professor Aubrey Manning <a href="/wiki/BBC" target="_blank">/wiki/BBC</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>BBC / Open University broadcast series Earth Story, Vine interviewed by Professor Aubrey Manning <a href="/wiki/BBC" target="_blank">/wiki/BBC</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>Cox A, Dalrymple GB, Doell RR (1963). "Geomagnetic Polarity Epochs and Pleistocene Geochronometry". Nature. 198 (4885): 1049. Bibcode:1963Natur.198.1049C. doi:10.1038/1981049a0. S2CID 4180105. <a href="/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>BBC / Open University broadcast series Earth Story, Vine interviewed by Professor Aubrey Manning <a href="/wiki/BBC" target="_blank">/wiki/BBC</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>Profile at Bookrags.com <a href="http://www.bookrags.com/research/vine-fred-j-1939---woes-02/" target="_blank">http://www.bookrags.com/research/vine-fred-j-1939---woes-02/</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>Glover, P.W.J.; Vine, F.J. (1992). "Electrical conductivity of carbon bearing granulite at raised temperatures and pressures". Nature. 360 (6406): 723–726. Bibcode:1992Natur.360..723G. doi:10.1038/360723a0. S2CID 4238126. <a href="/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>Glover, P.W.J.; Vine, F.J. (1992). "Electrical conductivity of the continental crust". Geophys. Res. Lett. 21 (22): 2357–2360. Bibcode:1994GeoRL..21.2357G. doi:10.1029/94GL01015. <a href="/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:12"><p>Profile at Bookrags.com <a href="http://www.bookrags.com/research/vine-fred-j-1939---woes-02/" target="_blank">http://www.bookrags.com/research/vine-fred-j-1939---woes-02/</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:13"><p>University of East Angliea – Fred Vine profile <a href="https://archive.today/20131205231601/http://www.uea.ac.uk/environmental-sciences/people/People/Honorary+Staff/vinef" target="_blank">https://archive.today/20131205231601/http://www.uea.ac.uk/environmental-sciences/people/People/Honorary+Staff/vinef</a> <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:14"><p>Chroston, Neil (7 August 2024). "Frederick Vine obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 August 2024. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/aug/07/frederick-vine-obituary" target="_blank">https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/aug/07/frederick-vine-obituary</a> <a href="#fnref:14" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:15"><p>Profile at Bookrags.com <a href="http://www.bookrags.com/research/vine-fred-j-1939---woes-02/" target="_blank">http://www.bookrags.com/research/vine-fred-j-1939---woes-02/</a> <a href="#fnref:15" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:16"><p>"Award Recipients". WHOI. Retrieved 7 April 2017. <a href="http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=7695" target="_blank">http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=7695</a> <a href="#fnref:16" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:17"><p>Profile at Bookrags.com <a href="http://www.bookrags.com/research/vine-fred-j-1939---woes-02/" target="_blank">http://www.bookrags.com/research/vine-fred-j-1939---woes-02/</a> <a href="#fnref:17" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:18"><p>Profile at Bookrags.com <a href="http://www.bookrags.com/research/vine-fred-j-1939---woes-02/" target="_blank">http://www.bookrags.com/research/vine-fred-j-1939---woes-02/</a> <a href="#fnref:18" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:19"><p>Profile at Bookrags.com <a href="http://www.bookrags.com/research/vine-fred-j-1939---woes-02/" target="_blank">http://www.bookrags.com/research/vine-fred-j-1939---woes-02/</a> <a href="#fnref:19" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:20"><p>Profile at Bookrags.com <a href="http://www.bookrags.com/research/vine-fred-j-1939---woes-02/" target="_blank">http://www.bookrags.com/research/vine-fred-j-1939---woes-02/</a> <a href="#fnref:20" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:21"><p>University of East Angliea – Fred Vine profile <a href="https://archive.today/20131205231601/http://www.uea.ac.uk/environmental-sciences/people/People/Honorary+Staff/vinef" target="_blank">https://archive.today/20131205231601/http://www.uea.ac.uk/environmental-sciences/people/People/Honorary+Staff/vinef</a> <a href="#fnref:21" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:22"><p>Bowler, Sue (5 May 2007). "Earth on a plate". Geoscientist Online. Retrieved 5 December 2013. <a href="http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/Geoscientist/Archive/May-2007/Earth-on-a-plate" target="_blank">http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/Geoscientist/Archive/May-2007/Earth-on-a-plate</a> <a href="#fnref:22" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:23"><p>Glover, P.W.J.; Vine, F.J. (1992). "Electrical conductivity of carbon bearing granulite at raised temperatures and pressures". Nature. 360 (6406): 723–726. Bibcode:1992Natur.360..723G. doi:10.1038/360723a0. S2CID 4238126. <a href="/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:23" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:24"><p>Glover, P.W.J.; Vine, F.J. (1992). "Electrical conductivity of the continental crust". Geophys. Res. Lett. 21 (22): 2357–2360. Bibcode:1994GeoRL..21.2357G. doi:10.1029/94GL01015. <a href="/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:24" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:25"><p>Bowler, Sue (5 May 2007). "Earth on a plate". Geoscientist Online. Retrieved 5 December 2013. <a href="http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/Geoscientist/Archive/May-2007/Earth-on-a-plate" target="_blank">http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/Geoscientist/Archive/May-2007/Earth-on-a-plate</a> <a href="#fnref:25" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:26"><p>University of East Angliea – Fred Vine profile <a href="https://archive.today/20131205231601/http://www.uea.ac.uk/environmental-sciences/people/People/Honorary+Staff/vinef" target="_blank">https://archive.today/20131205231601/http://www.uea.ac.uk/environmental-sciences/people/People/Honorary+Staff/vinef</a> <a href="#fnref:26" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>