{{Short description|American geophysicist (1938–2024)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2024}} {{Infobox scientist | native_name_lang = he | image = Amos Nur 1.jpg | caption = Nur in 2023 | image_size = 200px | name = | native_name = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date |1938|2|09|mf=yes}} | birth_place = Haifa, Israel | death_date = {{Death date and age|2024|6|11|1938|2|9|mf=y}} | death_place = Stanford, California, US | citizenship = American | field = {{hlist| Geology | geophysics }} | alma_mater = {{hlist| Hebrew University of Jerusalem | Massachusetts Institute of Technology }} | known_for = {{hlist| Rock physics | geophysics | Historical earthquakes | oil monitoring }} | work_institution = Stanford University | footnotes = }}
'''Amos Nur''' (February 9, 1938 – June 11, 2024) was an American-Israeli geophysicist and professor emeritus at Stanford University in California.
Stanford University called him, "one of the world's foremost experts in geology and geophysics".<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Myers |first=Andrew |date=July 30, 2024 |title=Amos Nur, rock physics pioneer, has died |url=https://sustainability.stanford.edu/news/amos-nur-rock-physics-pioneer-has-died |website=Stanford University – School of Sustainability}}</ref> He applied the results of rock physics to understanding tectonic physical processes in the earth's crust, the main of which is the role of fluids in the processes occurring in the crust and in energy resources.<ref name=":9">Gerald M. (Gary) Mavko (April 6, 2023). "[https://wiki.seg.org/wiki/Amos_Nur Amos Nur: Early years and education]". ''SEG – Society of Exploration Geophysicists''.</ref><ref>See the note in the "talk" page of this article, about the necessity of using the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) website as a reliable source.</ref> "Nur pioneered the use of seismic velocity measurements to characterize the changing state of oil and gas reservoirs, where the volume of fluid in the rock changes during pumping".<ref name=":9" /> The process was named "Four-Dimensional Seismic Monitoring".<ref name=":0">{{cite journal |first=Amos |last=Nur |title=Four-dimensional seismology and (true) direct detection of hydrocarbons; the petrophysical basis |url=https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/tle/article-abstract/8/9/30/60187/Four-dimensional-seismology-and-true-direct?redirectedFrom=fulltext |journal=The Leading Edge |date=September 1989 |volume=8 |issue=9 |pages=30–36 }}</ref> Nur was in the Geophysics department at Stanford University from 1970 until his retirement in 2008, and he remained associated with the school as professor emeritus. After his retirement, Nur joined Ingrain, a company he helped found in 2007, where he was Chief technology officer.<ref name=":1" />
== Early life and pre Stanford education == Nur was born in Haifa, Israel and studied at the Hebrew Reali High School in the city. As part of his military service, he served as an officer in the paratrooper brigade. In 1962 he completed his studies for a B.Sc degree in geology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He studied for a short period with Fritz Gassmann in Switzerland,<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Mavko |first=Gary |title=Amos Nur: Early years and education |url=https://wiki.seg.org/wiki/Amos_Nur |website=SEG – Society of Exploration Geophysicists|date=April 6, 2023 }}</ref> and went on to doctoral studies in the Department of Geophysics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which he completed in 1969.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Professor Amos Noor – one of the top geophysicists in the world |url=https://bog.haifa.ac.il/images/stories/bog2013/Nur-heb.pdf |website=University of Haifa, June 2, 2013 (in Hebrew)}}</ref>
== Academic career == Nur performed an experiment involving anisotropy (shear wave splitting) caused by pressure in rocks.<ref name=":1" /> "His work on the elastic properties of fractured rock forms a large part of the experimental and theoretical basis for modern methods for locating and mapping seismic fractures."<ref name=":1" /> He observed that seismic velocity is sensitive to effective pressure and fluid saturation,<ref>{{Cite web |last=De-hua Han and Michael L. Batzle |date=March–April 2004 |title=Gassmann's Equation and Fluid-Saturation Effects on Seismic Velocities |url=https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=ec1f28332ec96f89be2f32f718fe69c95a7aa86d |website=Geophysics, VOL. 69, NO. 2 2004; pp. 398–405}}</ref><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":1" /> phenomena important in the discovery and seismic monitoring of oil and other hydrocarbon reservoirs.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />
When Nur joined the Department of Geophysics at Stanford, he founded the "Rock Physics and Borehole Geophysics (SRB)" project,<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=Stanford Rock Physics and Borehole Geophysics (SRB) |url=https://pangea.stanford.edu/research/srb/ |website=Stanford University – School of Earth Sciences}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> one of the earliest university-industry consortia in the country, with collaboration between academia and the oil industry.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":1" /> The SRB project became a center for research and development in rock physics experiments, theory and application.<ref name=":2" /> Nur and his students have developed rock physics as a technology for exploration, reservoir characterization and time-lapse monitoring.<ref name=":1" />
During the 1970s, he proposed dilatation-diffusion as the mechanism underlying the unusual VP/VS relationships observed before some earthquakes, which gave rise to debates.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Amos Nur |first=Gene Simmons |date=1969 |title=The effect of saturation on velocity in low porosity rocks. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 7; pp. 183–193 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0012821X69900351 |journal=Earth and Planetary Science Letters|volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=183–193 |doi=10.1016/0012-821X(69)90035-1 |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name=":1" />
In 1976 he was elected a fellow of the American Geophysical Union, and in 1980 a fellow of the Geological Society of America. In 2001 he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering. In 1996 he was awarded honorary membership of Society of Exploration Geophysicists.<ref name=":2" /> His ideas on block rotation tectonics led to a better understanding of stress relations in complex environments between tectonic plates.<ref>{{Cite web |author1=H. Ron |author2=R. Freund |author3=Z. Garfunkel |author4=A. Nur |title=Block Rotation by Strike-Slip Faulting: Structural and Paleomagnetic Evidence, Journal of Geophisical Research, 89, pp. 6256–6270,. Cited by 419 articles |url=https://scholars.huji.ac.il/sites/default/files/ronshaar/files/ron_et_al-1984-journal_of_geophysical_research.pdf |website=The Hebrew University in Jerusalem}}</ref><ref name=":1" />
Nur became a full professor at Stanford in 1979 and held the Wayne Loel Professorship in Earth Sciences<ref>{{Cite web |title=School of Sustainability, Geophysics, Emeritus |url=https://geophysics.stanford.edu/people/emeritus |website=Stanford University}}</ref> from 1988 until his retirement.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Department of Classics School of Humanities and Sciences |date=January 13, 2017 |title=Amos Nur (Stanford) – Earthquakes and Archaeology: The Catastrophic End of the Bronze Age in 1200 BC |url=https://classics.stanford.edu/events/amos-nur-stanford-earthquakes-and-archaeology-catastrophic-end-bronze-age-1200-bc |website=Stanford University}}</ref><ref name=":2" /> He served as Chair of the Geophysics Department, and as Director of Stanford's university - wide Overseas Studies Program.<ref name=":1" />
His documentary "The Fall of the Walls – Earthquakes in the Holy Land", combined geophysical, archaeological and biblical evidence to explore the impact of large earthquakes on ancient and modern societies.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stanford University News Service |title=The Walls Came Tumbling Down – Earthquakes in the Holy Land |url=https://news.stanford.edu/pr/91/910812Arc1234.html |website=WayBackMachine|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220820044656/https://news.stanford.edu/pr/91/910812Arc1234.html |archive-date=August 20, 2022 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Nur |first=Amos |title=And the Walls Came Tumbling Down: Old Testament Writings of Doom and Destruction are Now Providing Researchers with a Record of Earthquakes Spanning 4000 Years |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg13117765-700-and-the-walls-came-tumbling-down-old-testament-writings-ofdoom-and-destruction-are-now-providing-researchers-with-a-record-ofearthquakes-spanning-4000-years/ |website=News Scientist, July 6, 1991}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> He expanded on this matter in the book he wrote called "Apocalypse".<ref>Amos Nur and Dawn Burgess (2008). ''Apocalypse: Earthquakes, Archaeology, and the Wrath of God. Princeton University Press 2008, 328 pages''</ref> Chapter 7 of it focuses on the earthquakes throughout history in the Land of Israel.<ref>Nur, Amos, and Dawn Burgess. "[https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1t1kfzg Expanding the Earthquake Record in the Holy Land]." ''[https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691016023/apocalypse?srsltid=AfmBOoobK7qbEOn6jYzA52OXcrSPeUBdMzRIWy_v-azIKoJBtMYSzaKB Apocalypse: Earthquakes, Archaeology, and the Wrath of God]'', Princeton University Press, 2008, pp. 186–223. ''JSTOR'', <nowiki>https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1t1kfzg.11</nowiki>. Accessed 30 Dec. 2024.</ref> Additional studies that he conducted dealt with the earthquakes that occurred in the Land of Israel throughout history.<ref>for exanple: Ben Menahem, A., Nur, A., Vered, M., 1976. [https://ouci.dntb.gov.ua/en/works/7nJKA867/ Tectonics, Seismicity and Structure of the Afro-Euroasian Junction-the Breaking of the Incoherent Plate]. Phys. Earth Planet Interiors, 12: pp. 1–50; Nur, A., Ron, H., Tal, D., 1989. Earthquakes Parameters Infered from Archaeological Evidence. Isr.Geol. Soc., pp. 116–117</ref> In 1991 he won the Silver Apple Award from the National Festival in the United States for Educational Films and Videos, for a video that dealt with the earthquakes in the Holy Land (produced with Prof. Hagai Ron).<ref name=":6">[https://www.amazon.com/Walls-Came-Tumbling-Down-Earthquakes/dp/B001A7044E Earthquakes in the Holy Land]. Video Cassette, Stanford University.</ref><ref name=":7">{{Cite web |last=Amos Nur, Hagai Ron |date=1997 |title=Earthquake! Inspiration for Armageddon |url=https://library.biblicalarchaeology.org/article/earthquake/ |website=Biblical Archaeology Society/library, July/August 1997}}</ref>
He has also lectured on "Oil and War" and the risks associated with growing global competition for energy.<ref name=":1" />
== Awards and honors ==
* 1974 – American Geophysical Union's Macelwane Medal<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":1" /> * 1975 – Newcomb Cleveland Prize, American Association for the Advancement of Science{{Citation needed|date=October 2025}} * 1976 – Fellow of American Geophysical Union<ref name=":1" /> * 1980 – Fellow of the Geological Society of America<ref name=":1" /> * 1990 – Fellow of the California Academy of Sciences<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":1" /> * 1991 – Winner of the Silver Apple Award for physical sciences at the National Educational Film Festival<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":7" /> * 1997 – SEG (Society of Exploration Geophysics) Distinguished Lecturer<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |title=Professor Amos Nur |url=https://emeraldngr.com/professor-amos-nur/ |website=Emerals Energy – Resources Limited}}</ref> * 1998 – AAPG (American Association of Petroleum Geologists) Distinguished Lecturer<ref name=":5" /> * 2001 – member of the National Academy of Engineering<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":1" /> * 2011 – the Ewing Medal from the Society of Exploration Geophysics<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":1" /> * 2013 – honorary doctorate at University of Haifa, Israel<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" />
==Notes and references== {{reflist}}
== External links ==
* [https://independent.academia.edu/NurAmos Amos Nur] in the academia.edu website * [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Amos-Nur Amos Nur] in the ResearchGate website
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nur, Amos}} Category:1938 births Category:2024 deaths Category:American geophysicists Category:American geologists Category:Hebrew Reali School alumni