Marie Tharp (July 30, 1920 - August 23, 2006) was a geologist and oceanographic cartographer who, along with her colleague Bruce Heezen, co-discovered the Mid-Oceanic Ridge, a line of undersea mountains that runs through Earth's oceans, and mapped the features of the entire ocean floor. Heezen and Tharp began working together to map the topography of the ocean floor in 1947 at the Lamont Geological Laboratory (now the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory) at Columbia University in New York City. For the first 18 years of their collaboration, Heezen collected data aboard the Observatory's ship, the Vema, and Tharp drew the maps from that data. (Since traditionally, women were not allowed on board ships at that time, Tharp did not accompany Heezen on a data-collecting expedition until 1965.) Tharp also used data collected from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution's research ship, the Atlantis, and seismographic data from undersea earthquakes. Their work represented the first systematic, comprehensive attempt to map the entire ocean floor. Heezen and Tharp published their first physiographic map of the North Atlantic in 1957. Their map of the entire ocean floor was published in 1977 (coincidentally, also the year of Heezen's death). Heezen and Tharp's discovery of the Mid-Oceanic Ridge helped pave the way for general acceptance of the theories of plate tectonics and continental drift.
Biography
Tharp was born in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Her father, William, made soil classification maps for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Her mother, Bertha, was an instructor in German and Latin. Tharp graduated from Ohio University in 1943 with bachelor's degrees in English and music and four minors. She later received a master's degree in geology from the University of Michigan and earned a degree in mathematics from the University of Tulsa while working as a geologist for an oil company. Tharp served on the faculty of Columbia University from 1948 until 1983. She operated a map-distribution business in South Nyack, New York during her retirement.
See also
References
- Evans, Rachel. "Plumbing Depths to Reach New Heights: Marie Tharp Explains Marine Geological Maps." Library of Congress Information Bulletin. November 2002.
- C250 Celebrates 250 Columbians Ahead of Their Time: Entry on Marie Tharp.
- Woods Hole Oceeanographic Institution. "Marie Tharp Honored at Women Pioneers Seminar."
- The Earth Institute at Columbia University. "Mapping Methodology Examples (North Atlantic)."
- The Earth Institute at Columbia University. "Marie Tharp, Pioneering Mapmaker of the Ocean Floor, Dies." Earth Institute News, August 23, 2006.
- Nelson, Valerie. "Marie Tharp, 86; Pioneering Maps Altered Views on Seafloor Geology." The Los Angeles Times, September 4, 2006.
- Hall, Stephen S. "The Contrary Map Maker" The New York Times Magazine, December 31, 2006.
