Hans-Rudolf Wenk is a Swiss mountaineer, vintner, mineralogist, crystallographer and geologist.
Education and career
Wenk was born in
Zürich, Switzerland in 1941 and grew up in
Basel. He studied
crystallography at the
University of Zürich under the direction of Prof.
Fritz Laves and obtained a PhD in 1965. In 1966, he went to California, first on a postdoctoral position in experimental rock deformation at
UCLA with
David Griggs and John Christie and then, in the fall of 1967, assuming a faculty position in mineralogy at the
University of California in Berkeley.[1]
Research
Wenk's research interests covered a broad field of topics. His first projects consisted of crystal structure determinations of new minerals such as the
silicateswenkite (named after his father, Swiss geologist
Eduard Wenk),
howieite.[2] and
zussmanite, and refining crystal structures from different geological settings such as lunar ilmenite,[3] carbonates and plagioclase.[4] He also used
transmission electron microscopy to investigate
lattice defects and microstructures of
plagioclase and carbonates at high resolution.[5]
Further studies using
diamond anvil cells to reproduce pressures, stresses and temperatures representative of the deep Earth,[8] in combination with the above-stated plasticity models, advanced the understanding of rock deformation and
anisotropy in the
mantle and
core as observed by seismologists.[9]
Wenk combined laboratory experiments and theoretical models with fieldwork, in his teaching and research. His focus has been on the Tertiary
Bergell pluton in the Central Alps,[10][11] and Southern California
mylonites[12] and
pseudotachylites.[13]
Wenk co-authored works on advanced mineralogy applied to broader topics such as the texture of bones,[17] identifying
Hiroshima atomic bomb debris,[18] and the properties of
Roman concrete.[19] His research has been reported in over 450 journal publications and 4 books[20][21]
^Wenk, H.-R. (1974). Howieite, a new type of chain silicate, Am. Mineral., 59, 86-97
^Raymond, K.N., Wenk, H.-R. (1971). Lunar ilmenite (refinement of the crystal structure), Contrib. Mineral. Petrol., 30, 135-340
^Wenk, H.-R., Kroll, H. (1984). Analysis of P, I and C plagioclase structures, Bull. Mineral, 107, 467-487
^Wenk, H.-R., Edit. (1976). Electron Microscopy in Mineralogy, Springer-Verlag, Berlin-Heidelberg-New York, 564 pp
^Wenk, H.-R., Canova, G., Brechet, Y., Flandin, L. (1997). A deformation-based model for recrystallization of anisotropic materials. Acta mater. 45, 3283-3296
^Kocks, U.F., Tome, C., Wenk, H.-R. (2000). Texture and Anisotropy. Preferred Orientations in Polycrystals and Their Effect on Materials Properties. 2nd paperback edition. Cambridge University Press, 676pp
^Wenk, H.-R., Lonardelli, I., Pehl, J., Devine, J., Prakapenka, V., Shen G., Mao H.-k. (2004). In situ observation of texture development in olivine, ringwoodite, magnesiowuestite and silicate perovskite at high pressure. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 226, 507-519 [doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2004.07.033]
^Romanowicz, B., Wenk, H.-R. (2017). Anisotropy in the deep Earth. PEPI (Review paper), 269, 58-90 [doi:10.1016/j.pepi.2017.05.005]
^Wenk, H.-R., (1973). The structure of the Bergell Alps, Eclogae Geol. Helv., 66, 255-291
^Wenk, H.-R., S.C. Cornelius (1978). Geologischer Atlas der Schweiz, Blatt Sciora 1296 Atlasblatt 70, Schweiz. Geol. Komm. Basel
^H.R. Wenk (1998). Deformation of mylonites in Palm Canyon, California, based on xenolith geometry. J. Struct. Geol. 20, 559-571
^Wenk, H.-R., Johnson, L.R., Ratschbacher, L. (2000). Pseudotachylites in the eastern Peninsular ranges of California. Tectonophysics 321, 253-277
^Wenk, H.-R., Voltolini, M., Kern, H., Popp, H., Mazurek, M. (2008). Anisotropy of Mont Terri Opalinus Clay. The Leading Edge 27, 742-748
^Wenk, H.-R., Yu, R., Cardenes, V., Lopez-Sanchez, M.A., Sintubin, M (2020). Review: Fabric and anisotropy of slates: From classical studies to new experimental results. J. Struct. Geol.
^Wenk, H.-R., Chandler, C.B., Chen, K., Li, Y., Tamura, N., Yu, R (2020). Residual strain in quartzites as a paleo-piezometer. Geoph. J. Int. (in press)
^Hedegaard, C., Wenk, H.-R. (1998). Microstructure and texture patterns of mollusc shells. J. Mollusc. Studies 64, 133-136
^Wannier, M.A., Urreiztieta, M., Wenk, H.-R., Stan, C.V., Tamura, N., Yue, B. (2019). Fallout melt debris and aerodynamically-shaped glasses in beach sands of Hiroshima Bay, Japan. Anthropocene, 25, 100196, [doi:10.1016/j.ancene.2019.100196]
^Jackson, M.D., Landis, E.N., Brune, P.F., Vitti, M., Chen, H., Li, Q., Kunz, M., Wenk, H.-R., Monteiro, P.J.M., Ingraffea, A.R. (2014). Mechanical resilience and cementitious processes in Imperial Roman architectural mortar. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 111, 18484-18489 [doi/10.1073/pnas.1417456111]