Education

Ph.D. Princeton University (1965)
B.S.E. Swarthmore College (1955)

Research Interests

My research has focused mainly on the diversity of the world's volcanism - small as well as large, ancient as well as modern, neglected as well as newsmaking. This work began nearly 40 years ago with systematic study of contemporary eruptions around the world, and has extended back in time, seeking to understand the large and unusual events that occur rarely yet may become tomorrow's news. Results include establishment of baseline data on volcanism, frequency/magnitude relationships for eruptions, and continuing lessons from the past on volcanic hazards.

Detailed field and lab work on a few individual eruptions is, I think, essential training for global synthesis of events distant in space and time. I have worked, and continue to work, on individual events, largely in the Galápagos Islands, dating from the 1968 caldera collapse at Volcan Fernandina. Although common in volcanic regions, caldera collapses are rare in historical time, and Fernandina's collapse remains the world's largest since 1912. Ten eruptions there have followed the major events of 1968, and I have made 8 expeditions to this most difficult of Galápagos volcanoes.

Another strong interest, skirting the line between outreach and research, is the wall map "This Dynamic Planet" first published in collaboration with the USGS in 1989. This has been an enormously popular map - the best seller in USGS history - and is used in classrooms and laboratories around the world. We have just published a greatly expanded third edition, with a companion web site that encourages interactive zooming in on areas (and subjects) of particular interest (http://www.minerals.si.edu/tdpmap).

Selected Publications

Simkin T (1967) Flow differentiation in the picritic sills of North Skye. In: Wyllie PJ (ed) Ultramafic and related rocks. John Wiley & Sons, p.64-69.

Simkin T, Howard KA (1970) Caldera collapse in the Galápagos Islands, 1968. Science, 169: 429-437.

Simkin T, Smith JV (1970) Minor-element distribution in olivine. Journal of Geology, 78: 304-325.

Cann JR, Simkin T (1971) A Bibliography of Ocean-Floor Rocks. Phil Trans Roy Soc London A:268:737-43.

Simkin T (1971) Geologic Investigations in the Galápagos Islands During the Summer of 1970. Noticias de Galápagos, 18:5-12.

Simkin T (1972) Origin of some flat-topped volcanoes and guyots. Geol Soc America Memoir 132: 183-193.

Filson J, Simkin T, Leu L-K (1973) Seismicity of a caldera collapse: Galápagos Islands 1968. Jour Geophysical Research, 78: 8591-8622.

Case JE, Ryland SL, Simkin T, Howard KA (1973) Gravitational evidence for a low-density mass beneath the Galápagos Islands. Science, 181: 1040-1042.

Simkin T, and others (1973) Composition of Apollo 16 fines 60051, 60052, 64811, 64812, 67711, 67712, 68821, 68822. Proceedings of fourth lunar science conference supplement 4: 279-289, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta.

Simkin T, Reeder WG, MacFarland C (1974) Galápagos science: 1972 status and needs. Published by Smithsonian Institution for the Charles Darwin Foundation, Washington, DC, 87 pp.

Filson J, Simkin T (1975) An Application of a Stochastic Model to a Volcanic Earthquake Swarm. Seismological Soc America Bull, 65:351-58.

Taylor PT, Stanley DJ, Simkin T, Jahn W (1975) Gillis Seamount: Detailed Bathymetry and Modification by Bottom Currents. Marine Geology, 18:139-57.

Simkin T, and others (1976-1986) Volcanology. [Annual reviews for 1975 thru 1985] Geotimes.

Simkin T, Kreuger AF (1977) Summit Eruption of Fernandina Caldera, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. In: Skylab Explores the Earth. NASA SP-380, p. 171-73.

Simkin T (1977) Historic volcanism and eruption forecasting in Latin America. (PAIGH symposium on Geophysics in Latin America), Pub Earth Physics Branch, Energy Mines & Resources Canada, 46: 79-84.

Simkin T (1979) Volcanology. [1970-1978 review for U.S. National Report to IUGG], Reviews of Geophysics & Space Physics, 17: 872-887.

Morris LD, Simkin T, Myers H (1979) Volcanoes of the World. Wall map published by National Geophysical Data Center.

Simkin T, Siebert L (1981+) Holocene Volcanoes. In Plate Tectonic Map of the Circum-Pacific Region. 5 maps at 1:10,000,000, American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Tulsa. [And single map at 1:20,000,000 published in 1982. These maps have since been republished, requiring a revised data set from us but no other significant input. The same group has produced other map sets entitled Geodynamic Map (1982) and Natural Hazards Map (1990) with same arrangement using our data].

Simkin T, Siebert L, McClelland L, Bridge D, Newhall C, Latter JH (1981) Volcanoes of the World: a regional directory, gazetteer, and chronology of volcanism during the last 10,000 years. Hutchinson Ross Pub Co, Stroudsburg, 240 pp.

Lonsdale P, Batiza R, Simkin T (1982) Metallogenesis at seamounts on the East Pacific Rise. Marine Tech Soc Journal, 16: 54-61.

Simkin T, Fiske RS (1983) Krakatau 1883: The Volcanic Eruption and its Effects. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, 464 pp. [In same year, we published spinoffs of this in: Weatherwise 35(5): 244-54, EOS 64: 513-14, and Earthquake Information Bulletin 15: 128-33].

Simkin T, Siebert L (1984) Explosive eruptions in space and time: durations, intervals, and a comparison of the world's active volcanic belts. In: Explosive volcanism: inception, evolution, and hazards, National Academy of Sciences Press, Washington, DC, p. 110-121.

Simkin T (1984) Geology of Galápagos Islands. In: Galápagos (key environment series). Pergamon Press, Oxford, p 15-41. [Condensed version in Biol Jour Linnean Soc 21: 61-95].

Fiske RS, Simkin T, Nielsen EA (eds) (1987) The Volcano Letter. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, 1536 pp. [originally published from 1925 to 1955 by the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory]

Fornari DJ, Perfit MR, Allan JF, Batiza R, Haymon R, Barone A, Ryan WBF, Smith T, Simkin T, Luckman MA (1988) Geochemical and Structural Studies of the Lamont Seamounts: Seamounts as Indicators of Mantle Processes. Earth & Planetary Sciences Letters 89:63-83.

McClelland L, Simkin T, Summers M, Nielsen EA, Stein TC (eds) (1989) Global Volcanism 1975-1985: The First Decade of Reports from the Smithsonian Institution's Scientific Event Alert Network (SEAN). Prentice Hall and American Geophysical Union, Englewood Cliffs, 657 pp.

Simkin T, Tilling RI, Taggart JN, Jones WJ, Spall H (1989) This Dynamic Planet: World map of volcanoes, earthquakes, and tectonic Plates. 1:30,000,000 published by U.S. Geological Survey in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution.

Simkin T (1989) Fernandina Volcano Erupts. Noticias de Galápagos, 47:23-27.

Simkin T, Siebert L (1990) Volcanoes--"Morphologic Types" & "Explosivity vs Eruption Interval" (27.1-2), plus "Notable Volcanoes of the World" and "Notable Volcanic Eruptions" (84.1-3) In: AGI Data Sheets (Third Edition), American Geological Institute.

Lockwood M, Elms JD, Lockridge P, Moore GW, Nishenko S, Simkin T, Siebert L, Newhall CG (1990) Natural Hazards Map of the Circum-Pacific Region, Pacific Basin sheet, at 1:20,000,000, American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Tulsa.

Simkin T, Newhall CG (1990) Volcanic Hazards. In Explanatory Notes for Natural Hazards Map of the Circum-Pacific Region [See Lockwood et al, above]. American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Tulsa. p. 26-31.

Simkin T (1993) Terrestrial Volcanism in Space and Time. Annual Reviews of Earth and Planetary Sciences 21:427-52. [Early version in Proceedings of Kagoshima International Conference on Volcanoes (Japan, 1988) p. 412-15]

Luhr JF, Simkin T (eds) (1993) Parícutin: The Volcano Born in a Mexican Cornfield. Geoscience Press, Phoenix, 427 pp.

Simkin T (1994a) Volcanoes: Their Occurrence and Geography. In: Volcanic Ash and Aviation Safety: Proceedings of the First International Symposium. US Geological Survey Bulletin 2047: 75-79.

Simkin T (1994b) Distant Effects of Volcanism--How Big and How Often? Science, 264:913-14.

Simkin T, Siebert L (1994) Volcanoes of the World: a Regional Directory, Gazetteer, and Chronology of Volcanism During the Last 10,000 Years. (second edition) Geoscience Press, Tucson, 368 pp.

Simkin T, Ungar JD, Tilling RI, Vogt PR, Spall H (1994) This Dynamic Planet: World Map of Volcanoes, Earthquakes, Impact Craters, and Plate Tectonics (second edition with accompanying text and diagrams). US Geological Survey (in collaboration with Smithsonian and US Naval Research Lab).

Snell HM & HL, Davis-Merlin G, Simkin T, Silberglied RE (1996) Galápagos Bibliography 1535-1995. Fundación Charles Darwin para los Islas Galápagos, Quito, 321 pp.

Kimberly P, Siebert L, Luhr JF, Simkin T (1998) Volcanoes of Indonesia. CD-ROM v. 1.0. Smithsonian Inst Global Volc Prog, Digital Inf Ser, GVP-1.

Newhall C, et al. (IAVCEI Subcommittee for Crisis Protocols) (1999) Professional conduct of scientists during volcanic crises. Bulletin of Volcanology, 60: 323-334. [And follow-up comment in April 2000 issue].

Simkin T, Siebert L (1999a) Earth's Volcanoes and Eruptions: an Overview. In: Encyclopedia of Volcanoes, Academic Press, p. 249-261.

Simkin T, Siebert L (1999b) Catalog of historically active volcanoes on Earth. In: Encyclopedia of Volcanoes, Academic Press, p. 1365-1383. (with companion endpaper maps showing Earth's volcanoes & tectonic framework)

Allan J, Simkin T (2000) Fernandina volcano's evolved, well-mixed basalts: Mineralogical and petrological constraints on the nature of the Galápagos plume. Jour Geophysical Research 105:6017-41.

Simkin T, Siebert L, Blong R (2001) Volcano Fatalities - Lessons from the Historical Record. Science, 291:255.

Siebert L, Simkin T (2002–) Volcanoes of the World: an Illustrated Catalog of Holocene Volcanoes and their Eruptions. Smithsonian Inst, Global Volc Prog Digital Infn Ser, GVP-3, (http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/).

Venzke E, Wunderman RW, McClelland L, Simkin, T, Luhr, JF, Siebert L, and Mayberry G (eds,) (2002-) Global Volcanism, 1968 to the Present. Smithsonian Institution, Global Volcanism Program Digital Information Series, GVP-4 (http://www.volcano.si.edu/reports/).

Simkin T, Fiske RS (2003) Clouded picture of a big bang. Science, 301: 50-51 [Review of S Winchester's Krakatoa].

Simkin T (2005) IAVCEI Krafft Medal Acceptance. IAVCEI News, No. 1, p. 5 [Medal citation, by Chris Newhall, on preceding page]

Simkin T, Tilling RI, Vogt PR, Kirby SH, Kimberly P, and Stewart DB (2006). This dynamic planet; World map of volcanoes, earthquakes, impact craters, and plate tectonics. U.S. Geological Survey Geologic Investigations Series Map I-2800, 1 two-sided sheet, scale 1:30,000,000 [and companion web site http://www.minerals.si.edu/tdpmap.]