author
Bruce C. Heezen
1924–1977
Best known for helping reveal the shape of the ocean floor, this American geologist worked with cartographer Marie Tharp to map the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and changed how people understood the deep sea.
1 Audiobook
The Floors of the Ocean: 1. The North Atlantic Text to accompany the physiographic diagram of the North Atlantic
by Bruce C. Heezen, W. Maurice (William Maurice) Ewing, Marie Tharp
About the author
Born in Vinton, Iowa, in 1924, Bruce C. Heezen built his career at Columbia University and its Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory. He studied at Iowa State University and later earned graduate degrees at Columbia, where his research focused on the geology of the oceans.
He is most closely associated with the great postwar effort to map the seafloor. Working with oceanographic cartographer Marie Tharp, he helped assemble evidence for the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the long rift valley that runs through it. Their work gave scientists and the public a far clearer picture of the underwater landscape and became an important part of the story of modern plate tectonics.
Heezen remained active in ocean research throughout his life and died in 1977 during a research expedition near Iceland. His legacy lives on through the maps and ideas that helped transform oceanography from a field of scattered soundings into a vivid, global view of the seafloor.