Professor Dr Ali Mehmet Celâl Şengör

Research Priorities: Tectonics, plate tectonics in Asia, earthquake research, formation of the continents

Celâl Şengör is a Turkish geologist. He has made significant contributions to research into plate tectonics, particularly the reconstruction of historical plate tectonics, especially in Asia, as well as to issues relating to global tectonics and earthquake research. Celâl Şengör conducts interdisciplinary research, using both structural geological and palaeographic methods and combining the extraordinary breadth of his investigations with geoscientific theory formation and the history of science.

Celâl Şengör conducts research into the geology of Asia, focusing in particular on reconstructing plate movements from the Palaeozoic era to the present day. He has focused on the mechanisms of mountain formation (orogenesis) and written foundational works on the tectonics of the Tethys region, which stretches from south-western China through Tibet and Iran to Turkey. In particular, he describes how the continental fragments and the remains of the various Tethys oceans and accretionary wedges have formed a complex structure which shapes Eurasia today. His work is groundbreaking for understanding the geodynamics of this region. Celâl Şengör thus made an important contribution to the origins and risk assessment of earthquakes, particularly in the tectonically active regions of Turkey and Eurasia.

Şengör is also a leading expert on the history of geology and the development of the plate tectonics paradigm. He has developed a new understanding of Asian geology by creating the concept of Cimmerian continental fragments. This laid the foundation for all subsequent reconstructions. In his research, Şengör revived the concept of the ‘Tectonics of Asia’ proposed by Swiss geologist Émile Argand.

In addition, he has written many foundational works on tectonic processes such as the formation of accretionary wedges, rift basins and those leading to intracontinental, epeirogenic movements. Later, he turned his attention back to the Near East, especially Anatolia, and published key works with new ideas on geodynamics and large-scale tectonic structures.