earth science

Paul Tapponnier

Paul Tapponnier is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Paul Tapponnier rather than just read about it. In short: Paul Tapponnier (6 January 1947 – 24 December 2023) was a French geologist, specializing in plate tectonics and crustal deformation. Life and career Tapponnier graduated in 1970 with a MS in geology from the École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Paris.

Key takeaways

Paul Tapponnier belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Paul Tapponnier to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Paul Tapponnier from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Paul Tapponnier (6 January 1947 – 24 December 2023) was a French geologist, specializing in plate tectonics and crustal deformation.

Life and career Tapponnier graduated in 1970 with a MS in geology from the École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Paris. From 1972 to 1975, he was a research fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He received in 1978 his doctorate from the Université Montpellier-II. He was an associate professor from 1980 to 1985, a full professor from 1986 to 1990, and a full professor with tenure from 1991 to 2009 (and simultaneously, the director of the tectonics department) at the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris. In 1985 he was a visiting scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. From January to July 2000, he was a visiting professor at Caltech. Since 2009 he has been a tectonics group leader at the EOS (Earth Observatory of Singapore) of Nanyang Technological University. Tapponnier was a pioneer in the 1970s in the use of satellite imagery for the study of plate tectonics. Much of his research, often in collaboration in the late 1970s with Peter Molnar, deals with Asian tectonics involving the collision of the Indian Plate with the Eurasian Plate. Tapponnier headed several oceanographic research cruises and many field projects in various countries. His research interests included:

Continental Dynamics and Tectonics, with particular emphasis on collision zones, plateaux and mountain belts, particularly in Asian-Mediterranean regions. Active faulting and seismotectonics, earthquake hazard assessment. Quantitative Geomorphology, state-of-the-art determination of current rates of active deformation processes. Rock mechanics and rock deformation physics. Tapponnier died on 24 December 2023 in Beijing, at the age of 76.

Awards and honors 1984 — Silver Medal of CNRS 1985 — Alfred Wegener Medal 1990 — Grand prix scientifique de la ville de Paris 1994 — Fellow of the American Geophysical Union 1996 — Knight of the Legion of Honour 2001 — Lyell Medal 2005 — Member of the French Academy of Sciences (section Sciences de l'univers). 2005 — Foreign associate member of the National Academy of Sciences

Selected publications

Articles with P. Molnar: Molnar, Peter; Tapponnier, Paul (1975). "Cenozoic tectonics of Asia: Effect of a continental collision". Science. 189 (4201): 419–425. Bibcode:1975Sci...189..419M. doi:10.1126/science.189.4201.419. JSTOR 1740465. PMID 17781869. with P. Molnar: Tapponnier, Paul; Molnar, Peter (1976). "Slip-line field theory and large-scale continental tectonics". Nature. 264 (5584): 319–324. Bibcode:1976Natur.264..319T. doi:10.1038/264319a0. S2CID 4280547. with P. Molnar: Molnar, Peter; Tapponnier, Paul (1977). "The collision between India and Eurasia". Scientific American. 236 (4): 30–41. Bibcode:1977SciAm.236d..30M. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0477-30. JSTOR 24953979. with P. Molnar: Molnar, Peter; Tapponnier, Paul (1978). "Active faulting in Tibet". Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth. 83: 5361–5375. doi:10.1029/JB083iB11p05361. with P. Molnar: Tapponnier, Paul; Molnar, Peter (1979). "Active faulting and Cenozoic tectonics of the Tien Shan, Mongolia and Baykal regions". Journal of Geophysical Research. 84 (B7): 3425–3459. Bibcode:1979JGR....84.3425T. doi:10.1029/JB084iB07p03425. with P. Molnar: Molnar, Peter; Tapponnier, Paul (1981). "A possible dependence of tectonic strength on the age of the crust in Asia". Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 52 (1): 107–114. Bibcode:1981E&PSL..52..107M. doi:10.1016/0012-821X(81)90213-2. with G. Peltzer, A. Y. Le Dain, R. Armijo, and P. Cobbold: Tapponnier, P.; Peltzer, G.; Le Dain, A. Y.; Armijo, R.; Cobbold, P. (1982). "Propagating extrusion tectonics in Asia: New insights from simple experiments with plasticine". Geology. 10 (12): 611–616. Bibcode:1982Geo....10..611T. doi:10.1130/0091-7613(1982)10<611:PETIAN>2.0.CO;2. with Jean‐Philippe Avouac: Avouac, Jean-Philippe; Tapponnier, Paul (1993). "Kinematic model of active deformation in central Asia" (PDF). Geophysical Research Letters. 20 (10): 895–898. Bibcode:1993GeoRL..20..895A. doi:10.1029/93GL00128. with V. Courtillot, C. Jaupart, I. Manighetti, and J. Besse: Courtillot, V.; Jaupart, C.; Manighetti, I.; Tapponnier, P.; Besse, J. (1999). "On causal links between flood basalts and continental breakup". Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 166 (3–4): 177–195. Bibcode:1999E&PSL.166..177C. doi:10.1016/S0012-821X(98)00282-9. with Xu Zhiqin, Françoise Roger, Bertrand Meyer, Nicolas Arnaud, Gérard Wittlinger, and Yang Jingsui: Tapponnier, P.; Zhiqin, X.; Roger, F.; Meyer, B.; Arnaud, N.; Wittlinger, G.; Jingsui, Y. (2001). "Oblique stepwise rise and growth of the Tibet Plateau". Science. 294 (5547): 1671–1677. Bibcode:2001Sci...294.1671T. doi:10.1126/science.105978. PMID 11721044. S2CID 24563782.

Books with Kevin Kling: Montagnes. Les grandes œuvres de la terre. Paris: La Martinière. 2006. Mountains : masterworks of the living earth. New York: Abrams. 2006.

References

External links Ravilious, Kate (28 July 2014). "Kathmandu's Earthquake Nightmare". Cosmos Magazine.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Paul Tapponnier

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Paul Tapponnier claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Paul Tapponnier before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Paul Tapponnier ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Paul Tapponnier

In research: Paul Tapponnier appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Paul Tapponnier in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Paul Tapponnier is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1947 births, 2023 deaths, 20th-century French geologists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Paul Tapponnier outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Paul Tapponnier” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Paul Tapponnier in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Paul Tapponnier means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Paul Tapponnier out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Paul Tapponnier in simple terms?

Paul Tapponnier (6 January 1947 – 24 December 2023) was a French geologist, specializing in plate tectonics and crustal deformation. Life and career Tapponnier graduated in 1970 with a MS in geology from the École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Paris.

Why does Paul Tapponnier matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Paul Tapponnier?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Paul Tapponnier.