Geographical classification

America > United States

Socio-cultural movements

Groups by dedication

Scientists > Geologists / Geophysicists

Scientists > Oceanographers

Character
Retrato

Marie Tharp

Michigan 30-07-1920 ‖ Nyack (Nueva York) 23-08-2006

Period of activity: From 1948 until 1998

Geographical classification: America > United States

Socio-cultural movements

Groups by dedication

Scientists > Geologists / Geophysicists

Scientists > Oceanographers

Context of feminine creation

In 1940 the geology department of the University of Michigan in the USA allowed women access to the department for the first time and Marie was one of the first women to access it. She graduated in 1945. At the same time, Rosalind Franklin, the chemist who would later be one of the discoverers of DNA, was attending classes at Cambridge University and passing exams with flying colours, but she was unable to graduate or take part in the graduation ceremony because she was a woman.

These examples show the difficult world in which women scientists had to work in those times.

Review

In 1948, thanks to her multifaceted curriculum, she began working with W. M. Ewing (1906-1974) at the Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory at Columbia University. Bruce C. Heezen (1924-1977), a student from the University of Iowa, joined the group and together they embarked on the laborious task of making the topographical map of the ocean floor.
In 1952, Marie Tharp identified a deep fracture valley (axial rift) that crossed the mid-ocean ridge (ridge) of the North Atlantic Ocean floor and that could be the separation scar between North America and Europe. This discovery contributed to laying the pillars of the Theory of Plate Tectonics.

Activities

English

Spanish

Justifications

  • Ocean cartographer.
  • Contributed to laying the pillars of Plate Tectonics.
  • Made the first scientific map of the ocean floor.
  • She discovered the Atlantic ridge that revolutionized and completed Wegener's plate theory.

Biography

The Titan Ocean was born from the fusion between Uranus and Gaia. The Greeks believed that it was the personification of a huge river that surrounded the world because, according to their belief, it recreated the great masses of water. Since ancient times, they had evidence of the oceans and seas, but the enigma that kept the bottom of the sea was totally unknown to them. The world had to wait until the 20th century for Pandora's box to open once and for all. That gesture came from the hand of the geologist Marie Tharp, who offered us a new way of looking at and understanding the world. She gently led us to understand the geology and geography of our planet. She was the person who created the first map of the ocean floor.
Marie Tharp was born in Michigan in 1920. Her father, William, drew maps of the classification of soil types that were made by the United States Department of Agriculture. She could be the inspiration of the young Tharp. It should be noted that, at first, the world of letters completely seduced her because she wanted to study literature, but because she was a woman, they did not accept her. That was what ruined her dream. However, that little misstep was not enough to bring her down.

Because of World War II, in the United States women had to take the jobs that men left. As they fought on the front lines, they encouraged many women to choose "male titles". These were those related to the fields of science and technology, among others. In this context, Tharp graduated in Geology in 1944 from the University of Michigan.

They were times of war and, as was logical, oil was a very precious and necessary commodity for the ships and planes destined for the great war. For that reason, Tharp decided to work at the Stanolind Oil company for a short time (she was one of the "Petroleum Geology Girls"). However, that job did not fulfill her enough so she decided to look for other paths, new challenges that would challenge her. She earned a degree in Mathematics from the University of Tulsa. Later, she travelled to New York in 1948, where she began to work at the Lamont Geological Laboratory with Maurice Ewing.

"Do you know how to draw?" was the only question Tharp had to answer. Thus began her adventure. After two weeks working in the lab, she met the geologist Bruce C. Heeze. In the beginning, Tharp helped all her colleagues and completed all assignments with great patience. She was very hardworking and intelligent, and everyone wanted to work by her side. Heeze and Tharp soon realized that they understood each other perfectly, and aware of this strong bond, they decided to join forces and launch several projects, not knowing that in the future they would be pioneers in modern geology and oceanography.

(…..) https://mujeresconciencia.com/2016/06/29/marie-tharp-la-geologoa-dio-luz-color-al-fondo-oceanico/ 

Works

Bibliography

Didactic approach

Biología-Geología 4º of ESO

Documents