Haraldur Sigurdsson

Who is Haraldur Sigurdsson?

Haraldur Sigurðsson is an Icelandic volcanologist and geochemist. Sigurðsson studied geology and geochemistry in the United Kingdom, where he obtained a Bachelors degree from Queen's University, Belfast, followed by a Ph.D. degree from the University of Durham in 1970. He worked on monitoring and research of the volcanoes of the Caribbean until 1974, when he was appointed professor at the Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island. He is best known for his work on the reconstruction of major volcanic eruptions of the past, including the eruption of Vesuvius in Italy in AD 79 and the consequent destruction of the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. In 1991 he discovered tektite glass spherules at the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary in Haiti, providing proof for a meteorite impact at the time of the extinction of the dinosaurs. In 2004 he discovered the lost town of Tambora in Indonesia, which was buried by the colossal 1815 explosive eruption of Tambora volcano. In 1999, Haraldur Sigurdsson published a scholarly account of the history of volcanology. He was also editor in chief of the Encyclopedia of Volcanoes, also published in 1999.