AWARDEE OF EARTH SCIENCES PRIZE

ZHU RIXIANG

Zhu Rixiang, geophysist. He was born in the City of Datong, Shanxi Province,in 1955. He received a BA in physics (1978) from the Shanxi University, MSc in geophysics (1984) from the Institute of Geophysics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and PhD in geophysics (1989) from the Institute of Geology at CAS. He has been a full professor of geophysics at the Institute of Geology and Geophysics (IGG), CAS,since 1993, a member of the Degree Committee of the Chinese State Department since 1997, the secretary-general of Chinese Geophysical Society since 1998, the vice-director of the IGG-CAS since 2003. He was elected the academician of the CAS in 2003.
Professor Zhu is involved in the research of paleomagnetism, paleointensity, sedimentary geomagnetism, geomagnetic polarity reversal, magnetostratigraphy, geochronology, as well as their applications to geodynamo, tectonics, geoarcheology, and paleoenvironmental changes. His major achievements include: (1) He experimentally documented that paleointensity variations just prior to the onset of the Cretaceous Quiet Zone exhibits an increasing trend, and pointed out that during this time interval there exists an inverse relationship between the reversal rate and paleointensity; (2)On the basis of robust paleomagnetic investigations at the Loess Plateau of China, he found that the Matuyama-Brunhes polarity transition comprises multiple fast-short-reversals and the duration of transition is ~5 kyr; (3)He magnetochronologically documented a Paleolithic sequence in the Nihewan Basin, northern China, and extended the earliest definite human occupation at high northern latitudes in northeast Asia back to 1.66 Ma; (4) He has led and set up a comprehensive and state-of-the-art laboratory incorporated paleomagnetism, rock magnetism and geochronology (Ar40/Ar39dating).
Professor Zhu has published more than 175 papers in renouned journals, e.g., Nature, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., Earth-Sci. Rev., Phys. Earth Planet. Inter., J. Geophys. Res., etc., which have been cited more than 700 times by the SCI journals. He won awards of the first-class Young Scientist of CAS in 1993, the National Young Scientist of China in 1996, and the first-class Prize of Natural Sciences of CAS in 1996. He has supervised more than 17 postgraduate students; one of them was awarded to the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars. Besides, Prof. Zhus research group was awarded “The Outstanding Research Team of the 100 Talent Program” sponsored by CAS and “The Fund for Creative Research Groups” by the National Natural Science Foundation of China.