Raymond R. Anderson

Raymond R. Anderson, Ph.D. (University of Iowa) is a Senior Research Geologist in the Groundwater and Stratigraphic Study Section of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources: Iowa Geological & Water Survey. Dr. Anderson is also an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Iowa, Department of Geoscience; active participant in the Geological Society of America (national and regional meetings), Iowa Academy of Sciences (Academy President), and Geological Society of Iowa (coordinates field trips); peer reviewer for journals and granting institutions. Dr. Anderson has authored innumerable books, academic papers and maps, most notably on the Midcontinent Rift System (MRS) in Iowa. The MRS is a billion year old rip in the continental crust that represents an episode of crustal stress that nearly ended in the complete severing of the southeastern part of North America and the formation of a new ocean. Dr. Anderson is also well noted for his expertise on the subject of the Manson impact crater, near Manson, Iowa. This is where an asteroid or comet nucleus struck the Earth during the Cretaceous Period, 74 million years ago.