J. Marvin Herndon
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
interdisciplinary scientist, who earned his BA degree in physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
in 1970 from the University of California, San Diego
University of California, San Diego
The University of California, San Diego, commonly known as UCSD or UC San Diego, is a public research university located in the La Jolla neighborhood of San Diego, California, United States...
and his Ph.D. degree in nuclear chemistry
Nuclear chemistry
Nuclear chemistry is the subfield of chemistry dealing with radioactivity, nuclear processes and nuclear properties.It is the chemistry of radioactive elements such as the actinides, radium and radon together with the chemistry associated with equipment which are designed to perform nuclear...
in 1974 from Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...
. For three years, J. Marvin Herndon was a post-doctoral assistant to Hans Suess
Hans Suess
Hans Eduard Suess was an Austrian physical chemist and nuclear physicist. He was a grandson of the Austrian geologist Eduard SuessSuess earned his Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Vienna in 1935...
and Harold C. Urey in geochemistry
Geochemistry
The field of geochemistry involves study of the chemical composition of the Earth and other planets, chemical processes and reactions that govern the composition of rocks, water, and soils, and the cycles of matter and energy that transport the Earth's chemical components in time and space, and...
and cosmochemistry
Cosmochemistry
Cosmochemistry or chemical cosmology is the study of the chemical composition of matter in the universe and the processes that led to those compositions. This is done primarily through the study of the chemical composition of meteorites and other physical samples...
at the University of California, San Diego
University of California, San Diego
The University of California, San Diego, commonly known as UCSD or UC San Diego, is a public research university located in the La Jolla neighborhood of San Diego, California, United States...
. He is the President of Transdyne Corporation in San Diego, California. He has been profiled in Current Biography
Current Biography
Current Biography is an American monthly magazine published by the H. W. Wilson Company of The Bronx, New York, a publisher of reference books, that appears every month except December. Current Biography contains profiles of people in the news and includes politicians, athletes, businessmen, and...
, and dubbed a “maverick geophysicist” by The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
. He is most noted for deducing the composition of the inner core
Inner core
The inner core of the Earth, its innermost hottest part as detected by seismological studies, is a primarily solid ball about in radius, or about 70% that of the Moon...
of Earth as being nickel silicide, not partially crystallized nickel-iron metal. More recently, he has suggested planetocentric nuclear fission reactors as energy sources for the gas giant
Gas giant
A gas giant is a large planet that is not primarily composed of rock or other solid matter. There are four gas giants in the Solar System: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune...
outer planets
Outer planets
The outer planets are those planets in the Solar System beyond the asteroid belt, which typically refers to these gas giant planets in order of their distance from the Sun:...
. and stellar ignition by nuclear fission
Nuclear fission
In nuclear physics and nuclear chemistry, nuclear fission is a nuclear reaction in which the nucleus of an atom splits into smaller parts , often producing free neutrons and photons , and releasing a tremendous amount of energy...
Publications
- Herndon, J. M. (1993) Feasibility of a nuclear fission reactor at the center of the Earth as the energy source for the geomagnetic field. J. Geomag. Geoelectr. 45, 423-437.
- Herndon, J. M. (1994) Planetary and protostellar nuclear fission: Implications for planetary change, stellar ignition and dark matter. Proc. R. Soc. Lond A455, 453-461.
- Herndon, J. M. (1996) Sub-structure of the inner core of the earth. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA 93, 646-648.
- Hollenbach, D. F. and Herndon, J. M. (2001) Deep-earth reactor: nuclear fission, helium, and the geomagnetic field. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA 98, 11085-11090.
- Herndon, J. M. (2003) Nuclear georeactor origin of oceanic basalt 3He/4He, evidence, and implications. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA 100, 3047-3050.
- Herndon, J. M. (2004) Scientific basis of knowledge on Earth's composition. Curr Sci. 88, 1034-1037.
- Herndon, J. M. (2005) Whole-Earth decompression dynamics. Curr. Sci. 89(11), 1937-1941.
- Herndon, J. M. (2006) Energy for geodynamics: Mantle decompression thermal-tsunami. Curr. Sci., 90(12), 1605-1606.
- Herndon, J. M. (2006) Solar System processes underlying planetary formation, geodynamics, and the georeactor. Earth, Moon and Planets, 99, 53-99.
- Herndon, J. M. (2006) Enhanced prognosis for abiotic natural gas and petroleum resources. Curr. Sci. 91(5), 596-598.
- Herndon, J. M. (2007) Discovery of fundamental mass ratio relationships of whole-rock chondritic major elements: Implications on ordinary chondrite formation and on planet Mercury's composition. Curr. Sci. 93(3), 394-399.
- Herndon, J. M. (2007) Nuclear georeactor generation of the Earth's geomagnetic field. Curr. Sci. 93(11), 1485-1457.
- Herndon, J. M. (2008) Maverick’s Earth and Universe, Vancouver:Trafford Press, ISBN 978-1-4251-4132-5.