Ted Ringwood facts for kids

Alfred Edward "Ted" Ringwood (19 April 1930 – 12 November 1993) was a brilliant Australian scientist. He was an expert in geophysics and geochemistry. These fields study the Earth's physical processes and its chemical makeup. Ted Ringwood was especially famous for his work on what the inside of our planet is made of. A special mineral, ringwoodite, is even named after him!

Early Life and Education

Ted Ringwood was born in Kew, Australia, in 1930. He was an only child. As a boy, he enjoyed playing cricket and Australian Rules football. He won a scholarship to Geelong Grammar School. After school, he went to the University of Melbourne. There, he studied geology, which is the study of the Earth's rocks and history. He was a very good student and even played football for his college and university.

For his advanced degrees, Ted first studied how metal ore deposits form. But he soon changed his focus. He became very interested in understanding the Earth's deep interior. He wanted to know what minerals make up the Earth's mantle. The mantle is the thick layer of rock between the Earth's crust and its core.

Discovering Earth's Secrets

In the 1950s and 1960s, Ted Ringwood did amazing experiments. He studied special materials called germanates. He found that these materials acted like a low-pressure version of silicates. Silicates are common minerals found in rocks. This discovery helped him predict how minerals deep inside the Earth's mantle would change under extreme pressure.

He predicted that minerals like olivine and pyroxene would change their structure in the Earth's "Transition Zone." This zone is a part of the mantle where pressure and temperature change a lot. At the Australian National University, he started testing these ideas. In 1959, he showed that a type of olivine did change into a denser structure called spinel.

In 1966, Ted Ringwood and his colleague Alan Major successfully created the spinel form of a mineral called (Mg,Fe)2SiO4. They also managed to transform pure forsterite (Mg2SiO4) into a spinel-like phase. This was a huge step in understanding the Earth's interior.

The Mineral Ringwoodite

In 1969, scientists found a new mineral in pieces of the Tenham meteorite. This mineral had the same crystal structure as the high-pressure spinel form of olivine that Ringwood had predicted. To honor his important work, they named this new mineral ringwoodite.

Later, in 2008, a team from the University of Alberta found ringwoodite on Earth! They found it inside a brown diamond from Brazil. This discovery was very exciting. It suggested that there might be a lot of water deep inside the Earth's mantle. This is because ringwoodite can hold water within its structure.

Solving Real-World Problems

Ted Ringwood's team at the Australian National University also worked on practical problems. In 1978, they invented something called synroc. Synroc is a special material that can safely store and dispose of radioactive waste. This is very important for protecting our environment.

Ted Ringwood passed away in 1993 at the age of 63.

Recognized for His Work

Ted Ringwood received many awards and honors for his important scientific work. These awards showed how much his discoveries helped us understand our planet. Some of his notable awards include:

• 1993 Harry H. Hess Medal
• 1992 Clarke Medal
• 1991 V. M. Goldschmidt Award
• 1988 Wollaston Medal
• 1974 William Bowie Medal

He was also made a fellow of several important scientific groups, like the Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science and the Fellow of the Royal Society of London. Being a fellow means you are recognized as a leading expert in your field.

Today, the European Association of Geochemistry gives out a special medal named in his honor. It's called the Science Innovation Award, and it's given to scientists who do important work in petrology (the study of rocks) and mineral physics.