He later worked at the Ruhr University Bochum (1969–90), before becoming the head of the department of volcanology and petrology (1990–2003) at the GEOMAR, University of Kiel, where he remained until his retirement.[1]
During his research career, Schmincke's main focus was on volcanology. Following his doctoral work on flood basalts, he worked on many aspects of volcanism around the world. One of his early papers described the welding and flow of ash flow tuffs from Gran Canaria, which led on to career-long studies of pyroclastic rocks.[6] He was involved in an Icelandic Research Drilling project, which drilled 3 km (1.9 mi) through the Icelandic crust near Reyðarfjörður in 1978.[7] He also worked with the International Crustal Drilling Research Group, on a related drilling project called the Cyprus Crustal Study Project,[8] which drilled at a number of sites across the Troodos ophiolite, Cyprus, between 1982 and 1985.[9][10]
In Germany, Schmincke carried out research on the pyroclastic sequences of the Eifel volcanic district over many years, in particular the Laacher See volcano.[14][15]
Further afield, he worked on volcanic deposits in Central America, and in 1993, carried out fieldwork in China at Paektusan volcano. Schmincke was one of the first European scientists to study this large caldera volcano.[16]
He published over 300 scientific articles in volcanology and petrology through his career.[1]
Service
Schmincke was editor, or editor-in-chief, of a number of scientific journals through his career. He led the redesign and modernisation of the volcanological journal Bulletin of Volcanology, which had previously been published as the Bulletin Volcanologique, and was editor in chief from 1985–95.[4]
In 2023, Schmicke was awarded the State of Rhineland-Palatinate Medal of Merit, for "outstanding scientific commitment and dedication to Rhineland-Palatinate", in particular his contributions to the creation of the two volcano parks in the Eifel, at Daun and Plaidt.[18]
Selected publications
Schmincke was co-author with RV Fisher of the book Pyroclastic Rocks, in 1984.[19] His popular book Volcanism was first published in 1986 under the German title "Vulkanismus". This was later published as second edition in 2000 with translations into English (2004) and Japanese (2009); there was a third edition in 2010.[20]
Schmincke, Hans-Ulrich (2013). Vulkanismus (4th ed.). Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft (WBG). p. 104. ISBN978-3-534-26245-8. English version: Hans-Ulrich Schmincke: Volcanism, scientific book company 2000, ISBN35-3414-102-4
Schmincke, Hans-Ulrich (2009). Vulkane der Eifel – Aufbau, Entstehung und heutige Bedeutung. Spektrum-Akademischer Verlag 2009. ISBN978-3-8274-2366-5.
Schmincke, Hans-Ulrich; Sumita, Mari (2010). Geological Evolution of the Canary Islands. Koblenz: Görres Verlag. ISBN978-3-8697-2005-0.
^Schmincke, Hans-Ulrich (2009). Vulkane der Eifel : Aufbau, Entstehung und heutige Bedeutung (in German). Heidelberg: Spektrum. ISBN978-3-8274-2366-5. OCLC426481899.