Marie Tharp
Personal Information
Born: 1920
Died: 2006
Country of Birth: USA
Nationality: USA
Ethnicity: White
Education
Ohio University BA English & Music 1943; University of Michigan MS Petroleum Geology 1944; University of Tulsa MS Mathematics 1948
Professional Life
Field of Study: Geology; Oceanographic cartography
Institution/Corporation: LamontûDoherty Earth Observatory Columbia University
Awards & Achievements
Awards: 1978 National Geographic SocietyÆs Hubbard Medal (with Bruce Heezen); 1996 Society of Woman Geographers Outstanding Achievement Award; 1999 Woods Hole Oceanographic InstitutionÆs Mary Sears Woman Pioneer in Oceanography Award; 2001 LamontûDoherty Earth Observatory Heritage Award; 1997 named 1 of the 4 Greatest Cartographers of the 20th Century Library of Congress; 2009 Google Earth included the Marie Tharp Historical Map layer; 2015 Moon crater named after her International Astronomical Union; Research Professor position & Fellowship named after her; 2022 research schooner named after her; 2022 Google Doodle; 2023 USNS Marie Tharp (T-AGS-66) re-named after her
Achievements: 1953 discovered & mapped the extent of the central rift valley in the Atlantic Ocean extended along with the Mid-Atlantic Ridge into the South Atlantic was not believed by colleague Bruce Heezen until 1 year later; Heezen published papers about her discovery without mentioning her & claiming full credit for the discovery
1950s, collaborated with Bruce Heezen to produce the 1st scientific map of the Atlantic Ocean floor; 1977, they published the 1st complete world map of ocean floors
Their work helped prove the theory of plate tectonics & continental drift
She established the rift valley & mid-ocean ridge went all around the world for 40,000 miles
She did her research on shore, mapping the echo soundings collected by ships point to point because women were not allowed on research ships until the 1960s because they were considered bad luck
During WWII they worked with photographic data to locate downed military aircraft
Her father was a soil surveyor for the US Dept of Agriculture & the family moved often; he retired to a farm in Ohio in 1931 & by that time she had attended 17 different schools in Alabama, Iowa, Michigan, & Indiana; She graduated high school in Ohio
She graduated from Ohio State University with BAs in English & Music with 4 minors; she joked she changed majors every semester
Heezen would collect bathymetric data aboard a research ship, send the data to her, & she created maps from his data
Was allowed to join her 1st data-collecting expedition in 1968
It took her 1 year to convince Heezen of the existence of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge; he was given full credit for the discovery in 1956; she didn't receive recognition for her participation or contributions until more than 20 years later