Noted geophysicist, George Shor, studied ocean floor

George Shor Jr., the geophysicist whose studies of the ocean floor helped lay the foundation for the theory of tectonic plates and continental drift, died July 3 at his home in San Diego of complications after a series of strokes. He was 86.

He helped develop the nation's fleet of oceangoing research vessels, was a principal in the abortive Project Mohole to drill a hole deep into the Earth. He also played a key role in creation of the California Sea Grant program, which funds marine and coastal research.

"He mentored students ashore and at sea, but his strength was teaching people geophysics at sea," said geologist Robert Fisher, a professor emeritus at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, where Mr. Shor spent most of his career. A talented administrator and experimenter, if he saw something that didn't work in either area, "he would diddle with it to make it better," Fisher said.

Mr. Shor joined Scripps in 1953 at the beginning of what researchers have dubbed the golden age of oceanography, in which research vessels from Scripps, Columbia University, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and Cambridge University plied the oceans, trailing magnetometers and other sophisticated instruments to detect the structure of the ocean floor and anomalies beneath it.

He began his work in the Gulf of Alaska, a region whose geologic history was little known, then led expeditions into the Indian Ocean.

During the International Geophysical Year in 1957 and 1958, he led expeditions to the Southeast Pacific.

Mr. Shor's work and that of others eventually led to the conclusion that the planet's continents reside on massive tectonic plates that are adrift on the ocean of volcanic magma far below the Earth's surface, pulling apart in some areas to create deep trenches in the ocean and jamming together in others to create massive mountain ranges.

Near the end of his career, he coordinated the activities of Scripps' research fleet, scheduling their voyages and allocating resources. Mr. Shor also helped create and served on the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System, which coordinates operations of research ships throughout the world.

In the 1950s, he joined Project Mohole, which was designed to retrieve a sample of material from the Earth's mantle by drilling through the Mohorovicic discontinuity, which resides as much as 3 miles under the ocean floor and up to 25 miles below the surface of continents.

Mr. Shor and Scripps geophysicist Russell Raitt identified the best location to drill the hole, off the coast of Hawaii, but the project was canceled by Congress because of cost overruns and poor management.

In the 1960s, Mr. Shor helped create the California Sea Grant program, headquartered at Scripps, and he served as its manager from 1969 to 1973.

George Gershon Shor Jr. was born June 8, 1923, in New York City. He attended the California Institute of Technology, where he was part of a program that trained students to be sailors. Upon his graduation in 1944 with a degree in mechanical engineering, he served as an electronics and communications officer on a Navy troop ship in the Pacific. He remained in the Navy Reserve until his retirement as a commander in 1983.

After the war, Mr. Shor returned to Caltech for graduate work in geophysics, then joined Seismic Explorations Inc. in Houston, where he prospected for oil in New Mexico and west Texas. In 1951, he returned to Caltech to do graduate study with earthquake expert Charles Richter, receiving his degree in 1954.

After his retirement from Scripps in 1991, Mr. Shor developed a keen interest in bamboo as a structural material for flooring, furniture and other applications. He served as president of the American Bamboo Society for two years and helped establish the Southern California chapter.

Mr. Shor is survived by his wife of 59 years, Elizabeth Noble Shor; two sons, Alexander, of Honolulu, and Donald, of Dixon, Calif.; a daughter, Carolyn Large, of Dixon; and seven grandchildren.