In the early part of the 20
th century, German geophysicist Alfred Wegener proposed a revolutionary idea that made him the laughingstock of his peers. His “continental displacement” theory suggested that the earth’s continents once formed a single land mass that had gradually drifted apart over time. Wegener was largely disregarded by the geoscientific community until 1953, when a young cartographer named Marie Tharp began charting ocean floor depth measurements. In partnership with geologist Bruce Heezen, Tharp’s detailed maps of the ocean floor revealed rifts and valleys that supported Wegener’s controversial theory. Initially dismissed as “girl talk,” Tharp and Heezen finally brought the concept of plate tectonics to the mainstream in 1968 when they
published their ocean floor map in National Geographic Magazine. Cementing her place in history, Tharp was awarded the National Geographic Society’s Hubbard Medal in 1978 for her pioneering research.
This animation by
Rosanna Wan for the
Royal Institution tells the fascinating story of Marie Tharp’s groundbreaking work to help prove Wegener’s theory.
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