Google today is celebrating the life of Marie Tharp who was an American geologist and oceanographic cartographer via Google Doodle.
Google Doodle is a way designed by the company to remind browsers about important events and birthdays of people.
One the Google tab on your phone, laptop or computer you will see a special animated Doodle that features an interactive exploration of Tharp’s achievements in mapping the oceans. She was the only child, born on July 30, 1920, in Ypsilanti, Michigan.
“Today’s Doodle celebrates the life of Marie Tharp, an American geologist and oceanographic cartographer who helped prove the theories of continental drift. She co-published the first world map of the ocean floors. On this day in 1998, the Library of Congress named Tharp one of the greatest cartographers of the 20th century,” read part of the statement in Google Doodle site.
According to the site, three female scientists who are succeeding in the male dominated ocean science and geology spaces, namely: Caitlyn Larsen, Rebecca Nesel and Dr. Tiara Moore, have been inspired by the story of perseverance and hardwork.
Ms Tharp was introduced to mapmaking by his father, who worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
She attended the University of Michigan for her master’s degree in petroleum geology and became the first woman to work at the Lamont Geological Observatory, New York in 1948.
“In the Observatory, she met geologist Bruce Heezen who gathered ocean-depth data in the Atlantic Ocean, which Tharp used to create maps of the mysterious ocean floor. New findings from echo sounders (sonars used to find water depth) helped her discover the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. She brought these findings to Heezen, who infamously dismissed this as “girl talk”. “
It adds, “However, when they compared these V-shaped rifts with earthquake epicenter maps, Heezen could not ignore the facts. Plate tectonics and continental drift were no longer just theories—the seafloor was undoubtedly spreading. In 1957, Tharp and Heezen co-published the first map of the ocean floor in the North Atlantic. Twenty years later, National Geographic published the first world map of the entire ocean floor penned by Tharp and Heezen, titled “The World Ocean Floor.”
In 1995, she donated the map collection to Library of Congress which named her one of the most important cartographers in the 20th century, during the 100th anniversary celebration of its Geography and Map Division.
1n 2001, she received the first annual Lamont-Doherty Heritage Award.