About John Tuzo Wilson
John Tuzo Wilson (October 24, 1908 – April 15, 1993) was a Canadian geophysicist, geologist and professor at the University of Toronto who achieved worldwide acclaim for his contributions to the theory of plate tectonics. He added the concept of hot spots, a volcanic region hotter than the surrounding mantle (as in the Hawaii hotspot). He also conceived of the transform fault, a major plate boundary where two plates move past each other horizontally (e.g., the San Andreas Fault). His name was given to two young Canadian submarine volcanoes called the Tuzo Wilson Seamounts. The Wilson cycle of seabed expansion and contraction (associated with the Supercontinent cycle) bears his name. One of the two large low-shear-velocity provinces was given the name Tuzo after him, the other being named Jason after W. Jason Morgan, who furthered Wilson's work into plume theory. Wilson served as the second principal of Erindale College at the University of Toronto from 1968 to 1974. Wilson maintained that the Hawaiian Islands were created as a tectonic plate (extending across much of the Pacific Ocean) shifted to the northwest over a fixed hot spot, spawning a long series of volcanoes. He became one of the first people in Canada to receive a degree in geophysics, graduating from Trinity College at the University of Toronto in 1930.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.