Tomoo Katsura
Commendation
In recognition of his pioneering work in establishing the foundation for understanding the Earth’s mantle through experimental elucidation of the composition and rheology of the mantle as well as the origin of seismic discontinuities.
A list of five major papers
- Wang, L., Miyajima, N., Wang, F., Katsura, T., Persistence of davemaoite at lower-mantle conditions, Nat. Geosci.18, 365–369, 2025. 10.1038/s41561-025-01657-9
- Fei, H., Ballmer, M.D., Faul, U., Walte, N., Cao, W., Katsura, T., Variation in bridgmanite grain size accounts for the mid-mantle viscosity jump, Nature 620, 794-799, 2023. 10.1038/s41586-023-06215-0
- Chanyshev, A., Ishii, T., Bondar, D, Bhat, S., Kim, E.-J., Farla, R., Nishida, K., Liu, Z., Wang, L., Nakajima, A., Yan, B., Tang, H., Chen, Z., Higo, Y., Tange, Y., Katsura, T., Depressed 660-km discontinuity caused by akimotoite-bridgmanite transition, Nature 601, 69-73, 2022. 10.1038/s41586-021-04157-z
- Fei, H., Wiedenbeck, M., Yamazaki, D., Katsura, T., Small effect of water on upper-mantle rheology based on silicon self-diffusion coefficients, Nature 498, 213-215, 2013. 10.1038/nature12193
- Yoshino, T., Manthilake, G., Matsuzaki, T., Katsura, T., Dry mantle transition zone inferred from the conductivity of wadsleyite and ringwoodite, Nature 451, 326-329, 2008a. 10.1038/nature06427
Major achievements
Professor Tomoo Katsura at the Bayerisches Geoinstitut (BGI), University of Bayreuth, has not only accumulated outstanding experimental results but also has challenged long-standing conventions, leading to a paradigm shift in the geoscience community. Professor Katsura has conducted groundbreaking research on the chemical composition and rheology of the entire mantle through the development of high-pressure multi-anvil press technology. He has also lucidated the origin of seismic discontinuities; the major boundaries in the mantle, under realistic mantle temperature conditions. The temperature distribution he proposed is now widely used as a reference geotherm. Furthermore, he has clarified the chemical composition of the lower mantle, the mantle’s water storage capacity, and explained the high electrical conductivity of the asthenosphere and mantle transition zone, laying the foundation for our updated understanding of the temperature, composition, and dynamics of the Earth’s mantle. These achievements are outstanding in the fields of high-pressure mineral physics and the physics of the Earth’s interior, and his pioneering experimental developments and numerous discoveries have shaped the direction of solid Earth science. Professor Katsura’s leadership in the international high-pressure geoscience community and his dedication to mentoring and training young researchers make him a worthy recipient of the Miyake Prize from the Japan Geoscience Union.
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Nominator
Toru Inoue
Supporters
Michael Walter, Yanbin Wang