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James P. Kennett

American paleoceanographer From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

James Peter Kennett is an American paleoceanographer.[1]

Born
James Peter Kennett

(1940-09-03) September 3, 1940 (age 86)
OthernameJim
Knownfor
SpouseDiana Kennett
Quick facts Born, Other name ...
James P. Kennett
Born
James Peter Kennett

(1940-09-03) September 3, 1940 (age 86)
Other nameJim
Known for
SpouseDiana Kennett
ChildrenDouglas J Kennett
Scientific career
FieldsPaleoceanography
Workplaces
ThesisThe Kapitean Stage (Upper Miocene) of New Zealand (1965)
Paul Vella
Doctoral students
Tessa M. Hill
Websitekennett.faculty.geol.ucsb.edu
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Kennet has a PhD from Victoria University of Wellington, with a thesis on the Kapitean Stage in New Zealand.[2] In 1986, Kennett became the founding editor of Paleoceanography,[3][4][5] and in May 2000, he was elected as a member of the National Academy of Sciences.[6][7]

In 1972, Kennett was one of the co-chief scientist of the Deep Sea Drilling Project. In the 1980s he published a book on marine geology, founded the journal Paleoceanography, and served as the Director of the Marine Science Institute. His studies on the contribution of methane to climatic shifts were published in 2002, but were not widely accepted by the climate community.[1]

He is a cofounder and member of the Comet Research Group (CRG),[8] and is known for his contributions to the controversial and refuted Younger Dryas impact hypothesis which asserts that the Clovis culture was destroyed by a shower of comets.[9][10] He co-authored a paper in collaboration with biblical archaeologists, who believed to have discovered the ancient city of Sodom and evidence of its destruction by a comet at Tell el-Hammam, Jordon.[11] The paper was retracted by Nature in 2025, citing concerns about methodology, analysis, and data interpretation.[12][13]

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