What did the Tharp Heezen map accomplish?

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 was one major contribution that Marie Tharp made to our understanding of the ocean floor?

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.

What did Marie Tharp accomplish for the first time that was critical in the development of plate tectonic theory?

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.”

What discoveries did Marie Tharp make?

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 do most of her work?

Tharp worked quietly in her crowded basement office at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory while Heezen (who earned his doctorate in 1957) presented their work at major international scientific conferences. Although this seems like a recipe for jealousy and conflict, it suited their personalities, and they grew very close.

Where did Marie Tharp go to college for geology?

Marie enrolled in a petroleum geology programme, becoming so a “Petroleum Geology Girl” she graduated in geology in 1944. Afterwards she worked for a short time in the petroleum industry, however she found the work unrewarding and decided to resume her studies at Tulsa University.

What did Bertha Louise Tharp do for a living?

Marie Tharp was born on July 30, 1920 in Ypsilanti, Michigan, the only child of Bertha Louise Tharp, a German and Latin teacher, and William Edgar Tharp, a soil surveyor for the United States Department of Agriculture. She often accompanied her father on his field work, which gave her an early introduction to mapmaking.

When did Marie Tharp get the Library of Congress Award?

In 1997, Tharp received double honors from the Library of Congress, which named her one of the four greatest cartographers of the 20th century and included her work in an exhibit in the 100th-anniversary celebration of its Geography and Map Division.