The Helmholtz Centre Potsdam – German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) has awarded Mark D. Zoback with the Rolf Emmermann Medal. The US-American geophysicist receives this highest honour of the GFZ for his outstanding contributions to the geosciences and the GFZ. “His major contributions to the Continental Deep Drilling Programme of the Federal Republic of Germany (KTB) as well as to the later foundation of the International Continental Drilling Programme ICDP were decisive starting points both in the founding phase and in the first years of the GFZ,” says Susanne Buiter, Scientific Director of the GFZ. 

Mark D. Zoback is a geophysicist at Stanford University. He is considered one of the key figures in the field of brittle crust mechanics and scientific drilling worldwide. In addition to his contributions to Germany's Continental Deep Drilling Programme (KTB) and the founding of the ICDP, he was project leader of SAFOD, a unique drilling project into and through the San Andreas Fault in California. This borehole made decisive contributions to deciphering the stress field along active continental fault zones.

Zoback's work combines basic research and applications for society. For example, he also researched the storage of carbon dioxide in the geological underground (CCS for Carbon Capture and Storage). In his keynote speech at the medal ceremony, he linked the findings from measurements of the stresses in the Earth's crust at the KTB borehole with the possibilities of CO2 storage on a very large scale.

Susanne Buiter linked the mission of the GFZ with the work of the award winner: “Our task at the GFZ is to explore our dynamic planet from core to surface, from ground to space, from grain to globe, from past to future. Our aim is to translate fundamental scientific findings into practical solutions that ensure sustainable life on Earth. I think that the career of Mark D. Zoback in particular reflects many aspects of our new mission statement.”

Marco Bohnhoff, Head of the GFZ Section Geomechanics and Scientific Drilling, did not only refer to the scientific results of the award winner in his laudatory speech. “As an advisor to the GFZ, Mark Zoback has played a key role in shaping the strategic direction of the centre since it was founded in 1992 and during its first decade and a half,” said Bohnhoff, who is also Managing Director of the ICDP. Zoback made a decisive contribution to the GFZ reaching the world stage in its first decade and has since been widely recognised and respected as a global player.

About the Rolf Emmermann Medal

The GFZ's highest honour is named after its founding director Rolf Emmermann. Emmermann and Zoback are scientific companions and have worked together for a long time. Before the GFZ was founded, Rolf Emmermann was Scientific Director of the Continental Deep Drilling Programme of the Federal Republic of Germany. The award has a special connection to this major project in Windischeschenbach, Bavaria, as the medal consists of a three-millimetre-thin slice of rock cut from a core of the KTB pilot borehole. The rock comes from a depth of around three and a half kilometres. Each medal is unique.

About KTB and ICDP

The Continental Deep Drilling Programme of the Federal Republic of Germany (KTB) was a major geoscientific project carried out between 1987 and 1995 to explore the Central European earth's crust with the aid of deep drilling. The programme focused on investigations into the physical and chemical conditions and processes in order to better understand the dynamics and evolution of intracontinental crustal areas.

The main borehole reached a depth of 9,101 metres, making it the deepest borehole in Germany and one of the deepest in the world. It continues to be used for scientific purposes.

The International Continental Scientific Drilling Programme (ICDP) was established in 1996 as the successor to the KTB. As an international organisation, ICDP promotes and supports geosciences in the field of scientific continental drilling financially and with technical and scientific equipment and know-how. The ICDP currently has 23 member states. The steering group (‘Operational Support Group’) is located in the GFZ section 4.2 ‘Geomechanics and Scientific Drilling’.

Further information and background information on scientific drilling can be found here:

https://www.gfz-potsdam.de/en/spotlights/scientific-drilling