Xavier Le Pichon was a French geophysicist, born in 1937 in Qui Nhon, Vietnam, and died in 2025 in Sisteron, France. In a landmark 1968 paper he combined the kinematic ideas of W. Jason Morgan and Dan McKenzie with extensive magnetic survey data to produce the first comprehensive quantitative model of global plate tectonics, working out the geometry of plate motion on a sphere and identifying six major tectonic plates. He held the chair of geodynamics at the College de France from 1986 to 2008 and led the French American Mid-Ocean Undersea Study of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge in 1973.
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Source Wikidata: Xavier Le Pichon
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1. Wikidata: Xavier Le Pichon
- Wikidata Q1366463, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)
- Wikidata P569 (date of birth) on the scientist own item (w-bbfill-earth2-0926)
View the Source2. Xavier Le Pichon (Wikipedia)
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Among many other contributions, he was known for his comprehensive model of plate tectonics (1968), helping create the field of plate tectonics.
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