celebratingamazingwomen: Marie Tharp (1920-2006) was a geologist and ocean cartographer. She created

celebratingamazingwomen:

Marie Tharp (1920-2006) was a geologist and ocean cartographer. She created the first scientific map of the Atlantic Ocean floor, leading to general acceptance of theories regarding tectonic plates and continental drift.

She began working for the Lamont Geological Laboratory at Columbia University in 1948. Although her theories about continental drift were initially ridiculed and dismissed as “girl talk”, she identified the Mid-Atlantic rift in 1952, proving her ideas. She is now regarded as one of the greatest cartographers of the 20th century.