Skip to main content

Pioneering geologist & oceanographer Marie Tharp changed our understanding of the ocean.

When Tharp sought a geology job at Columbia in 1948, women couldn’t go on research ships. So, she was hired to assist male grad students.

Back then, many scientists still assumed the bottom of the ocean was featureless. Tharp figured out how to use data to create sketches of the ocean floor. Her hand-drawn maps helped develop plate tectonic theory. https://theconversation.com/marie-tharp-pioneered-mapping-the-bottom-of-the-ocean-6-decades-ago-scientists-are-still-learning-about-earths-last-frontier-142451 #science #history #HistoryRemix

Marie Tharp pioneered mapping the bottom of the ocean 6 decades ago – scientists are still learning about Earth's last frontier

Born on July 30, 1920, geologist and cartographer Tharp changed scientific thinking about what lay at the bottom of the ocean – not a featureless flat, but rugged and varied terrain.
The Conversation
#science #history #historyremix
This entry was edited (1 year ago)
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum

serklarvel
serklarvel
• •
thanks for sharing this story, I didn't know about her and it is very inspiring what she did.
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum

PJT North
PJT North
• •
I saw some of her sketches at Duke back in the mid 70’s. They were impressive.
in reply to PJT North

Sheril Kirshenbaum
Sheril Kirshenbaum
• •
@pjtn Interesting you mention Duke because writing about Tharp made me think of Pat Halpin. I used to be on the same floor as Pat when I worked at Duke’s Nicholas Institute.
@PJT North
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum

PJT North
PJT North
• •
I was prepping for a summer oceanography cruise as an undergrad to investigate turbidites on the Hatteras Abyssal Plain. They were pride of place on a wall. They gave me a sense of progression and history.

Stupid summer memory: We were being shadowed by a sub coming back to port. We dropped a small cement block off the stern to spook them for giggles. I tracked it and heard the “bong” from 150m depth. It was not one of ours. They sheared off and ran. Long cruise.
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum

o ifrit
o ifrit
• •
https://youtu.be/a6aW6SpCm1Y

Marie Tharp. A cartógrafa do fondo oceánico | XeoClip

Activad subtítulos en castellano para los que os cueste el gallego Especial de #XeoClip para participar en https://culturainquieta.com/es/cine/item/18979-pi...
YouTube
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum

Ms. Understood
Ms. Understood
• •
fascinating article. Plate tectonics one of the most unifying theories anywhere in science which always has resistance by some whose life work can be rendered somewhat obsolete but in this case augmented by gender bias
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum

Dom
Dom
• •
and she helped the paradigm shift towards plate tectonics understanding.

"An important conclusion was that along this system, new ocean floor was being created, which led to the concept of the "Great Global Rift". This was described in the crucial paper of Bruce Heezen (1960) based on his work with Marie Tharp, which would trigger a real revolution in thinking."

Ref.: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plate_tectonics

(and yes, as a scientist, I still think that Wikipedia pages can have some values)

scientific theory that describes the large-scale motions of Earth's lithosphere

Contributors to Wikimedia projects (Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.)
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum

Bruno Girin
Bruno Girin
• •
As a French person, I find it quite ironic but unsurprising that our most famous oceanographer, Cousteau, started out by wanting to prove a woman wrong and became famous thanks to the images that proved her right 🙄
Funnily enough, I don't think we get told that part of the story in school.
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum

Karen Strickholm
Karen Strickholm
• •
Thank you for this! As filmmaker Henry Jaglom put it (paraphrased): "We are freeing our last slaves - women. And no one knows how it's all going to turn out."
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum

David Ho
David Ho
• •
I've always felt that Lamont should have named their research vessel after Marie Tharp instead of Marcus Langseth.

https://lamont.columbia.edu/research-divisions/marine-large-programs/office-marine-operations/langseth

Langseth Specs & Features | Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory

Lamont-Doherty’s Research Vessel Marcus G. Langseth serves as the national seismic research facility for the United States academic research community.
lamont.columbia.edu

Lo, thar be cookies on this site to keep track of your login. By clicking 'okay', you are CONSENTING to this.

⇧