Rachel Haymon

Rachel Haymon is a marine geologist known for her work linking geological and biological processes occurring at deep-sea hydrothermal vents. In 2005 she was elected a fellow of the Geological Society of America.

Rachel Michal Haymon
Born	1953[1]
Alma mater	University of California, San Diego
Scientific career
Institutions	University of California, Santa Barbara
Thesis	Hydrothermal deposition on the East Pacific Rise at 21° N (1982)

Education and career

As a child growing up in Baton Rouge Louisiana, Marie Curie was the only woman scientist Haymon knew.^[2] Haymon had multiple ideas about careers as a child, including several scientific options such as oceanographer, archeologist, astronaut. or paleontologist.^[3] In college, she decided to study geology and has a B.A. from Rice University (1976). In 1982, she earned her Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego working on hydrothermal deposits at 21°N on the East Pacific Rise.^[4] Following her Ph.D., she accepted a position at the University of California, Santa Barbara where she was promoted to professor in 1998.^[5] Haymon retired from full professor in 2010.^[6]

Research

Haymon's research centers on the deposition of minerals at deep-sea hydrothermal vents. Haymon's work on ophiolites in Oman revealed fossils of hydrothermal vent worms^[7][8] and geological evidence of hydrothermal venting.^[9] As a graduate student, Haymon worked on the mineralogy of hydrothermal vents at 21ºN North along the East Pacific Rise using samples collected during the RISE project.^[10][11][12] Using data from 1989, Haymon mapped the distribution of hydrothermal vents along the 9ºNorth of the East Pacific Rise.^[13] Then, in 1991, Haymon led the team that returned to this site and discovered a recent eruption on the seafloor.^[14] They dubbed the area "Tube Worm Barbecue" because of the dead tubes worms found in the regions with recent lava flow.^[15][16] Haymon described the excitement of seeing the outcome of the recent eruption in a subsequent newspaper article.^[17] Repeated visits to the area revealed the tube worms were gone within eleven months after the eruption, replaced by small fish, octopus, and crabs.^[16][18] Later work by Haymon on the East Pacific Rise revealed hydrothermal venting along the ridge-flank sites, away from the black smokers.^[19] In 2006, Haymon led the team that discovered the first black smokers within the hydrothermal vents fields near the Galapagos.^[20][21]

Selected publications

• Haymon, Rachel M.; Fornari, Daniel J.; Edwards, Margo H.; Carbotte, Suzanne; Wright, Dawn; Macdonald, Ken C. (1 June 1991). "Hydrothermal vent distribution along the East Pacific Rise crest (9°09′–54′N) and its relationship to magmatic and tectonic processes on fast-spreading mid-ocean ridges". Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 104 (2): 513–534. Bibcode:1991E&PSL.104..513H. doi:10.1016/0012-821X(91)90226-8. ISSN 0012-821X. S2CID 128614514.
• Haymon, Rachel M. (February 1983). "Growth history of hydrothermal black smoker chimneys". Nature. 301 (5902): 695–698. Bibcode:1983Natur.301..695H. doi:10.1038/301695a0. S2CID 45206494.
• Haymon, Rachel M.; Kastner, Miriam (1 May 1981). "Hot spring deposits on the East Pacific Rise at 21°N: preliminary description of mineralogy and genesis". Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 53 (3): 363–381. Bibcode:1981E&PSL..53..363H. doi:10.1016/0012-821X(81)90041-8. ISSN 0012-821X.
• Spiess, F. N.; Macdonald, Ken C.; Atwater, T.; Ballard, R.; Carranza, A.; Cordoba, D.; Cox, C.; Garcia, V. M. Diaz; Francheteau, J.; Guerrero, J.; Hawkins, J.; Haymon, R.; Hessler, R.; Juteau, T.; Kastner, M.; Larson, R.; Luyendyk, B.; Macdougall, J. D.; Miller, S.; Normark, W.; Orcutt, J.; Rangin, C. (28 March 1980). "East Pacific Rise: Hot Springs and Geophysical Experiments". Science. 207 (4438): 1421–1433. Bibcode:1980Sci...207.1421S. doi:10.1126/science.207.4438.1421. PMID 17779602. S2CID 28363398.
• Haymon, R. M.; Fornari, D. J.; Von Damm, K. L.; Lilley, M. D.; Perfit, M. R.; Edmond, J. M.; Shanks, W. C.; Lutz, R. A.; Grebmeier, J. M.; Carbotte, S.; Wright, D.; McLaughlin, E.; Smith, M.; Beedle, N.; Olson, E. (1 August 1993). "Volcanic eruption of the mid-ocean ridge along the East Pacific Rise crest at 9°45–52′N: Direct submersible observations of seafloor phenomena associated with an eruption event in April, 1991". Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 119 (1): 85–101. Bibcode:1993E&PSL.119...85H. doi:10.1016/0012-821X(93)90008-W. ISSN 0012-821X.

Awards and honors

• AAAS-Newcomb-Cleveland Award (1980),^[22] for Spiess et al. paper^[23]
• Hans Pettersson Bronze Medal, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (1999)^[24]
• Fellow, Geological Society of America (2005)^[25]