Bruce C. Heezen

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Bathymetric globe made by Bruce C. Heezen and Marie Tharp
World map of the seabed according to Heezen-Tharp drawn by Heinrich C. Berann

Bruce Charles Heezen (born April 11, 1924 in Vinton , Benton County , Iowa , † June 21, 1977 ) was an American geologist .

Heezen received a bachelor's degree from Iowa State University , a Masters from Columbia University in 1952, and a Doctor of Philosophy in 1957 . He was best known as the leader of a team from Columbia University , which also included Marie Tharp , who discovered and mapped the mid-Atlantic ridge in the 1950s, and also measured the other mid-ocean ridges ("Heezen-Tharp physiographic maps"). The world map created together with Marie Tharp shows the relief of the continents and the ocean floors. This and many other writings by Heezen were of great importance for the development of the theory of plate tectonics . Bruce Heezen interpreted the discovery of the Rift Valley in the Atlantic in 1960 as an indication of an expanding earth .

In 1977, Heezen died of a heart attack while the team was exploring the mid-ocean ridge off Iceland with the submarine NR-1 . The oceanographic survey ship USNS Bruce C. Heezen (T-AGS-64) was named after him in 1991. The same applies to the Heezen Glacier in Antarctica since 1978 .

Web links

  • Biography at the Earth Institute at Columbia University

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Manuscript painting of Heezen-Tharp "World ocean floor" map by Berann
  2. ^ Geoscience: Depth charge Nature, 2012
personal data
SURNAME Heezen, Bruce C.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Heezen, Bruce Charles
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American geologist
DATE OF BIRTH April 11, 1924
PLACE OF BIRTH Vinton , Iowa
DATE OF DEATH June 21, 1977