The Woman Who Mapped The Ocean Floor

Before marie tharp geologist and gifted draftsperson the whole world including most of the scientific community thought the ocean floor was.

The woman who mapped the ocean floor.

The ocean floor maps that marie tharp and bruce heezen produced will stand the test of time they are on a par with americo vespucci s 15th century map of the new world. Having a master s degree in geology was rare for a woman in the 1950s but that didn t stop marie tharp from changing the field forever. Library of congress l ast tuesday was international women s day a time to remember and celebrate. Her work also revealed the presence of a continuous rift valley along the axis.

The bruce heezen marie tharp world ocean floor map painted by heinrich berann. Women in tectonics and structural geology by lucia perez diaz marie tharp july 30 1920 august 23 2006 would have turned 100 on this very day and she continues to live through her legacy of having mapped the world s oceans. The ocean floor maps and their iconic mid ocean rift valley provided the visual spark essential for understanding the parallel denouement of seismic and magnetic signals. The story of the remarkable woman who mapped the ocean floor documents tharp s thwarted dreams and.

Nor did scientists have ways to map the ocean floor which they assumed was drab and flat. Soundings is the story of the enigmatic unknown woman behind one of the greatest achievements of the 20th century. Similar to famous painters some of whom only gain appreciation after their death marie tharp is one of the most underappreciated scientists in the history of the. 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.

The story of the remarkable woman who mapped the ocean floor. Her maps of the ocean floor have been called one of the most remarkable achievements in modern cartography yet no one knows her name. Before that day the 70 percent of the earth s.