For much of the twentieth century, the deepest parts of the oceans remained among the least understood places on Earth. Ships crossed vast stretches of water every day, yet almost nobody knew what lay beneath them beyond scattered depth measurements collected for navigation.

Marie Tharp ocean floor map: Discoverhow Marie Tharp's groundbreaking seafloor maps from 1977 revolutionized the understanding of continental drift and plate tectonics, reshaping…

For much of the twentieth century, the deepest parts of the oceans remained among the least understood places on Earth. Ships crossed vast stretches of water every day, yet almost…