Stanley N. Williams

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Stanley N. Williams (* 1951 in Phoenix ) is an American volcanologist , geologist and university professor. He is considered an expert on the volcanoes of Latin America .

Williams received his doctorate in 1983 with a dissertation about the volcanoes of Nicaragua at Dartmouth College for Ph.D. and then worked as a post-doctoral student at the University of Chicago . From 1985 he conducted extensive research on the Colombian volcano Nevado del Ruiz and between 1985 and 1991 worked as a professor of volcanology at Louisiana State University , albeit without holding a chair of his own. He moved to Arizona State University (ASU), where he initially received the same function. In January 1993 he took part in an international volcanologist conference in the city of Pasto in Colombia and on January 14th was a member of a small expedition to the nearby volcano Galeras . Although this has shown volcanic activity since 1988, it had been stable and calm for the previous six months. While some scientists stayed on the crater rim, Williams led the other colleagues down into the crater to take measurements. Without warning, there was a small but extremely violent eruption lasting just under 15 minutes. Six researchers and three tourists died. Williams broke his left leg, right foot, jaw and nose in the rain of the volcanic bombs and suffered severe burns and head injuries before he could escape behind a rock and after two hours of rescue teams was the last of the volcanologists to be rescued has been. Two days later he was flown to a specialty clinic in the US state of Arizona , where he had to undergo 16 operations. Since that event, however, his speech center and memory are still slightly impaired. He was given a hearing aid for the injured ear . Thanks to his intensive public education work in the aftermath of the tragedy in the galeras, Williams achieved great notoriety in the United States outside of scientific circles.

Since August 1995 he has been a full professor of volcanology at the geological faculty of ASU and also a lecturer at the School Of Earth & Space Exploration there. He is married to Linda Williams.

Publications (selection)

  • Williams et al. : SO 2 emission rates at Mount St: Helens from March 29 through December, 1980 . In: Lipman, PW; Mullineaux, DR (Ed.): The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, Washington . Washington, DC , 1981, pp. 193-200.
  • Williams et al .: Variations in the chemical and isotopic compositions of fluids at Cumbal Volcano, Colombia. Evidence for magmatic contribution . In: Bulletin of Volcanology , Volume 62, Nos. 4 and 5, November 2000, pages 347-361.
  • Williams et al .: Volcanic flux of nitrogen from the Earth . In: Chemical Geology , Volume 171, Nos. 3 and 4, January 1, 2001, pages 263-271.
  • Williams; Montaigne, F .: Surviving Galeras . Boston , 2001, ISBN 978-0618031689 .
  • Williams et al .: Mechanisms of degassing at Nevado del Ruiz volcano, Colombia . In: Journal of the Geological Society , Volume 160, No. 4, July 2003, pages 507-521.