A National Science Foundation Distinguished Lecture Series focusing on the exploration of new discoveries on the ocean floor will visit Brigham Young University Friday, March 26.
Charles Langmuir, a professor of geochemistry at Harvard University, will give two lectures, both of which are free and open to the public.
The first, titled "Historic Arctic Cruise Yields New Constraints on Ocean Ridge Formation," will take place at 11 a.m. in C295 Eyring Science Center.
The lecture, geared primarily toward the science community, will discuss the findings of a 2001 cruise to the Arctic Ocean, where the first extensive investigation of the Arctic mid-ocean Gakkel Ridge.
The second lecture, titled "Is Intelligent Life a Natural Consequence of Planetary Evolution?", will take place at 7 p.m. in 251 N. Eldon Tanner Building. Refreshments will follow.
The second lecture, written for a general audience, will explore findings from the ocean floor that have expanded scientists' views of the evolution and role of intelligent life.
Over the last two decades, Langmuir has explored the seafloor through 20 research cruises and has discovered hydrothermal sites in three ocean basins, as well as co-leading the first investigation of the Arctic Ocean ridge system.
Langmuir has been at Harvard since 2002, after having worked for 20 years at Columbia University. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Geochemical Society.
For more information, contact Mike Dorais of the BYU Geology Department at (801) 422-1347.
Writer: Thomas Grover
