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Harry Elderfield

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2016}}

{{Use British English|date=September 2016}}

{{Infobox scientist

|name = Harry Elderfield

|honorific_suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|FRS}}

|birth_name = Henry Elderfield

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||birth_date = {{Birth date |1943|04|25|df=yes}}{{Who's Who | title=Elderfield, Prof. Henry |author=Anon | id = U36922 | year= 2016 | edition = online Oxford University Press|location=Oxford}}

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|death_date = {{death date and age |2016|04|19 |1943|04|25|df=yes}}

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|nationality = British

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  • Rachel Ann Mills[https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b6m5y3 Rachel Mills exploring the sea floor]{{cite thesis|degree=PhD|publisher=University of Cambridge|title=A geochemical and isotopic study of hydrothermal sediments from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, 26 deg N|first=Rachel Ann|last=Mills|date=1992|url=https://copac.jisc.ac.uk/id/13446406?style=html|id={{EThOS|uk.bl.ethos.260428}}|website=jisc.ac.uk|access-date=5 July 2018|archive-date=5 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180705151619/https://copac.jisc.ac.uk/id/13446406?style=html|url-status=dead}}
  • Ros Rickaby{{cite thesis|degree=PhD|publisher=University of Cambridge|title=Planktonic foraminiferal Cd/Ca : a new perspective on Southern Ocean palaeoproductivity|first=Rosalind Emily Mayors|last=Rickaby|date=1999|url=https://copac.jisc.ac.uk/id/36247694?style=html|id={{EThOS|uk.bl.ethos.624523}}|oclc=894602139|website=jisc.ac.uk|access-date=5 July 2018|archive-date=5 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180705151941/https://copac.jisc.ac.uk/id/36247694?style=html|url-status=dead}}}}

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Professor Henry "Harry" Elderfield {{postnominals|country=GBR|FRS}}{{cite web|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117114112/https://royalsociety.org/people/henry-elderfield-11388/ |archivedate=2015-11-17 |url=https://royalsociety.org/people/henry-elderfield-11388/ |publisher=Royal Society|author=Anon|year=1996|location=London |title=Professor Henry Elderfield FRS }} One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the royalsociety.org website where: {{blockquote|“All text published under the heading 'Biography' on Fellow profile pages is available under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.” --{{cite web|url=https://royalsociety.org/about-us/terms-conditions-policies/ |title=Royal Society Terms, conditions and policies |accessdate=2016-03-09 |url-status=bot: unknown |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925220834/https://royalsociety.org/about-us/terms-conditions-policies/ |archivedate=2015-09-25 }}}}{{Cite journal |last1=McCave |first1=Ian Nicholas |last2=Hodell |first2=David Arnold |date=2024 |title=Henry Elderfield. 25 April 1943—19 April 2016 |journal=Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society |volume=76|pages=145–168 |doi=10.1098/rsbm.2023.0046 |doi-access=free }} (25 April 1943 – 19 April 2016), was Professor of Ocean Chemistry and Palaeochemistry at the Godwin Laboratory in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Cambridge.{{cite web|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150801014557/http://www.esc.cam.ac.uk/directory/harry-elderfield|archivedate=2015-08-01|url=http://www.esc.cam.ac.uk/directory/harry-elderfield|publisher=cam.ac.uk|location=Cambridge|title=Professor Harry Elderfield: Climate Change and Earth-Ocean-Atmosphere Systems}}{{cite journal|last1=Anand|first1=Pallavi|last2=Elderfield|first2=Henry|last3=Conte|first3=Maureen H.|title=Calibration of Mg/Ca thermometry in planktonic foraminifera from a sediment trap time series|journal=Paleoceanography|volume=18|issue=2|year=2003|pages=n/a|doi=10.1029/2002PA000846|bibcode=2003PalOc..18.1050A|url=https://research.vu.nl/ws/files/1986692/171148.pdf|doi-access=free}} He made his name in ocean chemistry and palaeochemistry, using trace metals and isotopes in biogenic carbonate as palaeochemical tracers, and studying the chemistry of modern and ancient oceans - especially those of the glacial epoch and the Cenozoic.{{cite journal|last1=Rickaby|first1=Rosalind E. M.|title=Harry Elderfield (1943–2016)|journal=Nature|volume=533|issue=7603|year=2016|pages=322|doi=10.1038/533322a|pmid= 27193672|authorlink=d:Q24237729|bibcode=2016Natur.533..322R|doi-access=free}}[http://www.cei.group.cam.ac.uk/directory/people/record.html?id=18 CEI Profile page] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050325211143/http://www.cei.group.cam.ac.uk/directory/people/record.html?id=18 |date=25 March 2005 }}

Early life and education

Elderfield was born in Lazenby, North Yorkshire; a twin brother to John Elderfield.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/25/nyregion/public-lives-never-mind-picasso-it-s-matisse-and-the-curator.html|title=PUBLIC LIVES; Never Mind Picasso, It's Matisse and the Curator|first=Robin|last=Finn|work=The New York Times |date=25 February 2003|via=NYTimes.com}} His father had been reported 'missing in action', shortly before he was born.{{Cite journal|title=Harry Elderfield (1943–2016)|first=Rosalind E. M.|last=Rickaby|date=1 May 2016|journal=Nature|volume=533|issue=7603|pages=322|doi=10.1038/533322a|doi-access=free|pmid=27193672 |bibcode=2016Natur.533..322R }} Elderfield received his education from Eston Grammar School. He attended the University of Liverpool obtaining a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry (oceanography) in 1965. He worked as a research fellow in the Geology Department, Imperial College London between 1968 and 1969 whilst completing his PhD at the University of Liverpool in 1970.{{citation needed|date=May 2016}}

Career and research

He was appointed a lecturer in the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Leeds in 1969, a position he held until 1982. From 1982 until 1989 he held the post of assistant director in research in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Cambridge. He was awarded the degree of Doctor of Science in 1989 and the same year, was appointed reader in geochemistry at Cambridge. Elderfield was appointed Professor of Ocean Geochemistry and Palaeochemistry in 1999.

=Early career=

His early career was focused on the behaviour of trace metals in oceans and their sediments, and on fluid flow through the oceanic crust and sediments under the influence of off-axis hydrothermal circulation. He became one of the first low-temperature geochemists to appreciate how radiogenic isotopes might be used to solve the problems of marine geochemistry, developing the seawater strontium isotope curve for the Cenozoic.{{cite journal|last1=Palmer|first1=M. R.|last2=Elderfield|first2=H.|title=Sr isotope composition of sea water over the past 75 Myr|journal=Nature|volume=314|issue=6011|year=1985|pages=526–528|doi=10.1038/314526a0|bibcode=1985Natur.314..526P|s2cid=4348254}}

He also worked on iodine speciation in seawater and porewaters,{{cite journal|last1=Wakefield|first1=S. J.|last2=Elderfield|first2=H.|title=Interstitial water iodine enrichments in sediments from the eastern Pacific|journal=Journal of Marine Research|volume=43|issue=4|year=1985|pages=951–961|doi=10.1357/002224085788453912}} the separation of cerium from other rare earth elements in a classic example of redox behaviour;{{cite journal|last1=German|first1=Christopher R.|last2=Elderfield|first2=Henry|title=Application of the Ce anomaly as a paleoredox indicator: The ground rules|journal=Paleoceanography|volume=5|issue=5|year=1990|pages=823–833|doi=10.1029/PA005i005p00823|bibcode=1990PalOc...5..823G}} he has developed a precise mass spectrometric analysis method – and made the first-ever measurements of oceanic profiles for – 10 rare earth elements. The rare earths are now widely used as tracers in sedimentary geochemistry and palaeoceanography.{{Cite web|url=https://www.geolsoc.org.uk/About/awards-grants-and-bursaries/society-awards/citations-replies-2001-onwards/2003-Awards-Citations-Replies|title=The Geological Society of London - 2003 Awards: Citations, Replies|website=www.geolsoc.org.uk}}

=Later research=

Elderfield's later research focused on ocean chemistry and paleochemistry, and his results have had a far-reaching impact on the academic geochemistry discipline. He contributed significantly to marine chemistry, most notably the fate of metals in hydrothermal processes, the formation of manganese nodules,<{{cite journal|last1=Elderfield|first1=H|last2=Hawkesworth|first2=C.J|last3=Greaves|first3=M.J|last4=Calvert|first4=S.E|title=Rare earth element geochemistry of oceanic ferromanganese nodules and associated sediments|journal=Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta|volume=45|issue=4|year=1981|pages=513–528|doi=10.1016/0016-7037(81)90184-8|bibcode=1981GeCoA..45..513E}} and the biogeochemical cycles of elements including iodine and strontium.

His latter interests included defining chemical proxies from biogenic carbonates and using them to understand the ancient ocean. He pioneered the development of foraminiferal magnesium thermometry, which has become accepted for the estimation of past ocean temperatures.

=Selected publications=

  • Elderfield, H., Holland, D. & Turekian, K.K. (2003) Treatise on geochemistry. Elsevier Science, 646p{{ISBN missing}}
  • Carbonate Mysteries{{cite journal|last1=Elderfield|first1=H.|title=CLIMATE CHANGE: Carbonate Mysteries|journal=Science|volume=296|issue=5573|year=2002|pages=1618–1621|doi=10.1126/science.1072079|pmid=12040166|s2cid=12883718}}
  • The rare-earth elements in rivers, estuaries, and coastal seas and their significance to the composition of ocean waters{{cite journal|last1=Elderfield|first1=H.|last2=Upstill-Goddard|first2=R.|last3=Sholkovitz|first3=E.R.|title=The rare earth elements in rivers, estuaries, and coastal seas and their significance to the composition of ocean waters|journal=Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta|volume=54|issue=4|year=1990|pages=971–991|doi=10.1016/0016-7037(90)90432-K|bibcode=1990GeCoA..54..971E}}
  • Application of the Cerium anomaly as a palaeoredox indicator: the ground rules
  • Sr isotope composition of sea water over the past 75 Myr
  • Interstitial water iodine enrichments in sediments from the eastern Pacific
  • The rare-earth elements in sea-water
  • Rare-earth element geochemistry of oceanic ferromanganese nodules and associated sediments

=Awards and honours=

References

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Category:1943 births

Category:2016 deaths

Category:Fellows of the Royal Society

Category:Fellows of St Catharine's College, Cambridge

Category:British geochemists

Category:Lyell Medal winners

Category:Fellows of the American Geophysical Union

Category:Rare earth scientists

Category:Recipients of the V. M. Goldschmidt Award

Category:Academics of the University of Leeds

Category:Alumni of the University of Liverpool

Category:Earth scientists at the University of Cambridge