Date: 1957
This was the first comprehensive map of the topographic landscape of the floor of the Atlantic ocean created by Bruce Heezen and Marie Tharp. It opened up a new space for inspection, contributing vital visual evidence to support tectonic plate theories, with the prominent Mid-Atlantic Ridge being seen as the key driving element in continental drift.
- The map was laboriously produced from many hundreds of sonar scans and depth measurement. It was initially supported by Bell Labs who needed detailed information on the structure of the ocean floor to aid laying undersea telecommunications cables. Subsequent maps produced by Heezen and Tharp enjoyed widespread success and were published as posters and reproduced in various forms in popular atlases and textbooks.
- For further discussion see the paper 'Extending modern cartography to the ocean depths: military patronage, Cold War priorities, and the Heezen–Tharp mapping project, 1952–1959', by Ronald E. Doel, Tanya J. Levin, Mason K. Marker in the Journal of Historical Geography, 2006.
No comments:
Post a Comment