Karen Louise Von Damm (February 7, 1955 – August 15, 2008) was an American marine geochemist who studied underseas hydrothermal vent systems.
degree in geology and geophysics from Yale University in 1977, completing a senior thesis in geochemistry researching radioactive 210Pb in lacustrine and marine environments under the mentorship of Karl Turekian.
[2][3] Her dissertation is titled Chemistry of submarine hydrothermal solutions at 21o North, East Pacific Rise and Guaymas Basin, Gulf of California.
Starting in 1991, Von Damm studied how the fluid chemistry at hydrothermal vents changes with time before, during, and after mid-ocean ridge volcanic eruptions.
[6] Von Damm was diagnosed with liver cancer in April 2008 and died at her home in Durham, New Hampshire, on August 15, 2008, at 53 years of age.