Thomas J. Ahrens dies at 74; Caltech geophysicist
Friday, December 10, 2010 - 00:30
in Earth & Climate
Ahrens pioneered the academic use of shock waves to study minerals under high temperature and pressure, providing fundamental geological information about Earth's core.Thomas J. Ahrens, a Caltech geophysicist who pioneered the academic use of shock waves to study minerals under high temperatures and pressures such as those found at the center of the Earth, died Nov. 24 at his home in Pasadena. He was 74. The cause of death was not revealed.