Marie Tharp (July 30, 1920 – August 23, 2006) was an American geologist and oceanographic cartographer who, in partnership with Bruce Heezen, created the first scientific map of the Atlantic Ocean floor. Tharp’s work revealed the detailed topography and multi-dimensional geographical landscape of the ocean bottom.
Who Marie Tharp mother?
Her father, William, was a surveyor who made soil classification maps for the U.S. Department of Agriculture; her mother, Bertha, taught German and Latin. Tharp later calculated that she had attended two dozen schools because the family traveled for her father’s work.
Who is Marie Tharp and what did she do?
Tharp completed a full world’s ocean map in 1977 titled The World Ocean Floor. While completing her drawings, Tharp helped make an even bigger contribution to science when her maps revealed 40,000 miles of an underwater ridge that runs along the globe.
In what year did Bruce Heezen published the work of Marie Tharpe?
Beginning in 1957, Tharp and her research partner, geologist Bruce Heezen, began publishing the first comprehensive maps that showed the main features of the ocean bottom — mountains, valleys and trenches.
When and how did Marie Tharp first discover her love of maps?
She discovered her love of maps in the 1930s when she was a girl with her father whose job it was to make soil maps for farmers.
What did Marie Tharp prove?
In 1977, Tharp and Heezen published the first complete world map of the ocean floors. Their work helped to prove the theory of plate tectonics, the idea that the continents move over time, which was controversial until then. The discovery revolutionized our understanding of how nearly everything on the planet works.
Where did Marie Tharp live?
Marie Tharp was born July 30, 1920 in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Already in early years she followed her father, a soil surveyor for the United States Department of Agriculture, into the field. However she also loved to read and wanted to study literature at St.
When Marie Tharp and her team of geologists were studying the ocean floor What did they find at first?
Beginning in 1957, Tharp and her research partner, Bruce Heezen, began publishing the first comprehensive maps that showed the main features of the ocean bottom – mountains, valleys and trenches. As a geoscientist, I believe Tharp should be as famous as Jane Goodall or Neil Armstrong.
What did Marie Tharp major in?
While working for Stanolind, Tharp earned a B.S. in mathematics from the University of Tulsa in 1948. The year of her second bachelor’s degree, Tharp moved to Columbia University, where a group of scientists were about to revolutionize the study of oceanography.
What was Marie Tharp contribution to the discovery of plate tectonics?
That was the case in 1953, when a young geologist named Marie Tharp made a map that vindicated the controversial theory of plate tectonics. But Tharp’s discovery of the 10,000-mile-long Mid-Atlantic Ridge*—a find that showed that the sea floor was spreading—was initially dismissed as “girl talk.”
Who is the best geologist in the world?
The Most Influential Geologists of All Time
- of 08. James Hutton. James Hutton. National Galleries of Scotland/Getty Images. …
- of 08. Charles Lyell. Charles Lyell. …
- of 08. Mary Horner Lyell. Mary Horner Lyell. …
- of 08. Alfred Wegener. Alfred Lothar Wegener. …
- of 08. Georges Cuvier. Georges Cuvier. …
- of 08. Louis Agassiz. Louis Agassiz.
How long did it take Marie Tharp to map the ocean floor?
It took her a year or so to convince Heezen that the rift was real, and it took the two several more years to finish their first map of the North Atlantic in 1957.
What is a Tharp heezen map?
Marie Tharp is credited with producing one of the world’s first comprehensive maps of the ocean floor. She and research partner Bruce Heezen transformed a once barren and flat landscape into a dynamic three-dimensional space with mountains, valleys and trenches.
What did Harry Hess discover?
Harry Hess was a geologist and Navy submarine commander during World War II. Part of his mission had been to study the deepest parts of the ocean floor. In 1946 he had discovered that hundreds of flat-topped mountains, perhaps sunken islands, shape the Pacific floor.
What did the Tharp Heezen map reveal about the oceans?
More importantly, Tharp and Heezen discovered that the ocean floor was not flat but covered with various kinds of geological features like canyons, ridges, and mountains, just like on the Earth’s above-ground continents.
Who was the first person to make a bathymetric map of the sea floor?
From a few such measurements, the first bathymetric map was produced and published by Maury in the 1853 Wind and Current Charts of the North Atlantic Ocean (Fig. 1A). Although this particular map was not very accurate, many important seafloor features were dis- covered from such measurements.
What did Marie Tharp study in college?
Science as a discipline to be studied eluded Tharp until college. She entered Ohio University in the fall of 1939, started out an art major, then took music, German, zoology, paleobotany, philoso- phy, and English classes before discovering her love of geology.
Does seafloor spreading cause mid ocean ridges?
As tectonic plates slowly move away from each other, heat from the mantle’s convection currents makes the crust more plastic and less dense. … This rock (basalt) becomes a new part of Earth’s crust. Mid-Ocean Ridges. Seafloor spreading occurs along mid-ocean ridges—large mountain ranges rising from the ocean floor.
Who observed that the coastlines of the continents matched up?
19th century observers had noticed that the coastlines of North America and South America generally matched the coastlines of Europe and Africa. B. A German climatologist named Alfred Wegener proposed scientific evidence to support the idea that the continents once fit together.
Who mapped out the ocean floor in 1952?
Tharp and Heezen began mapping the individual ocean floors in 1952, but found obstacles in their way. The big one was invisibility: when it comes to mapping the ocean floor, the sea gets in the way of seeing. The second obstacle was limited data.