John Tuzo Wilson (October 24, 1908 – April 15, 1993) was a Canadian geophysicist and geologist who achieved worldwide acclaim for his contributions to the theory of plate tectonics. He added the concept of hot spots, a volcanic region hotter than the surrounding mantle (as in the Hawaii hotspot). He also conceived of the transform fault, a major plate boundary where two plates move past each other horizontally (e.g., the San Andreas Fault).
His name was given to two young Canadian submarine volcanoes called the Tuzo Wilson Seamounts. The Wilson cycle of seabed expansion and contraction (associated with the Supercontinent cycle) bears his name. One of the two large low-shear-velocity provinces was given the name Tuzo after him, the other being named Jason after W. Jason Morgan, who furthered Wilson's work into plume theory.