Richard P. Von Herzen was born in 1930 and died in 2016.

He was an Earth scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Richard pioneered studies of heat flowing from the seafloor.

Richard P. Von Herzen was the winner of the 1998 Maurice Ewing Medal.

Over his 50-year profession at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) starting in the late 1950s, Von Herzen produce the first modern instruments and techniques to make earlier unattainable measurements of heat emanating through the seafloor from Earth’s interior.

Richard spearheaded pioneering voyages in the 1960s across the south Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean, in which he revealed high heat flow at volcanic seafloor mountain ranges, called mid-ocean ridges, and much lower heat flow at ocean trenches.

Richard P. Von Herzen passed away at 85 yrs old.