Timothy Holland facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Tim Holland
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Holland in 2014
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| Born |
Timothy John Barrington Holland
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| Alma mater | University of Oxford |
| Awards | The Murchison Fund (1995) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Petrology |
| Institutions | University of Cambridge |
| Thesis | Structural and Metamorphic Studies of Eclogites and Associated Rocks in the Central Tauern Region of the Eastern Alps (1977) |
| Doctoral advisor | Stephen W. Richardson |
Timothy John Barrington Holland is a British scientist who studies rocks, known as a petrologist. He is a retired professor at the University of Cambridge, where he worked in the Earth Sciences department.
Studying Rocks
Tim Holland went to the University of Oxford for his education. In 1977, he earned his PhD degree. This is a very high academic degree. His research was about special rocks called eclogites. He studied these rocks in the Tauern region of the Alps mountains. Stephen W. Richardson was his professor and helped him with his studies.
What He Researches
Dr. Holland's main work is about understanding how different minerals in rocks form and change. He uses computers to figure out the perfect conditions, like heat and pressure, for these changes to happen. His research has been supported by the Natural Environment Research Council, which helps scientists study nature.
Deep Rock Secrets
Dr. Holland has made very important discoveries in the study of rocks. He was the first to show that rocks found on the Earth's surface had once been buried very deep. Some of these rocks went down more than 70 kilometers (about 43 miles) into the Earth!
He also helped create a special database. This database helps scientists understand how different minerals in rocks behave under various conditions. It's like a giant recipe book for rocks, showing how they form and change. This work is used by many other scientists around the world.
More recently, Dr. Holland has worked on calculating how minerals combine and change based on what they're made of, and how much pressure and heat they are under. He also studies how silicate melts (molten rock) behave. This helps scientists understand how deeply buried rocks move and change inside the Earth, which is important for understanding tectonic plates.
Awards and Recognition
In 2014, Tim Holland was chosen to be a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS). This is a very high honor for scientists in the United Kingdom. In 1995, he also received The Murchison Fund award from the Geological Society of London.
