Bruce Charles Heezen (; April 11, 1924 – June 21, 1977) was an American geologist. He worked with oceanographic cartographer

Marie Tharp Marie Tharp (July 30, 1920 – August 23, 2006) was an American geologist and oceanographic cartographer. In the 1950s, she collaborated with geologist Bruce Heezen to produce the first scientific map of the Atlantic Ocean floor. Her cartogr ...

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

to map the

Mid-Atlantic Ridge The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a mid-ocean ridge (a Divergent boundary, divergent or constructive Plate tectonics, plate boundary) located along the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, and part of the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest mountai ...

in the 1950s.

Biography

Heezen was born in Vinton, Iowa. An only child, he moved at age six with his parents to Muscatine, Iowa, where he graduated from high school in 1942. He received his B.A. from the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

in 1947. He received his M.A. in 1952 and a Ph.D in 1957 from

. Heezen collaborated extensively with cartographer

. He interpreted their joint work on the Mid-Atlantic ridge and the

East Pacific Rise The East Pacific Rise (EPR) is a mid-ocean rise (usually termed an oceanic rise and not a mid-ocean ridge due to its higher rate of spreading that results in less elevation increase and more regular terrain), at a divergent tectonic plate bound ...

as supporting S. Warren Carey's Expanding Earth Theory, developed in the 1950s, but under Tharp's influence "eventually gave up the idea of an expanding earth for a form of continental drift in the mid-1960s." Tharp was Heezen's assistant while he was a graduate student and he gave her the task of drafting seafloor profiles. When she showed Heezen that her plotting of the North Atlantic revealed a rift valley, Heezen initially dismissed it as "girl talk." Eventually they discovered that not only was there a North Atlantic rift valley, but a mountain range with a central valley that spanned the earth. They also realized that the oceanic earthquakes they had been separately plotting fell within the rift, a revolutionary theory at the time. He presented this mid-ocean rift and earthquake theory as his own work at Princeton in 1957. At that lecture, preeminent geologist Harry Hess told Heezen, "Young man, you have shaken the foundations of geology!" Although Marie Tharp was later recognized and credited for her work on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, it was Heezen who, at the time in 1956, put out and received credit for the discovery that was made, leaving off Tharp's name. Heezen died of a heart attack in 1977 while on a research cruise to study the Mid-Atlantic Ridge near

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

aboard the NR-1 submarine.

Honors and awards

*1964: Henry Bryant Bigelow Medal in Oceanography awarded by the

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI, acronym pronounced ) is a private, nonprofit research and higher education facility dedicated to the study of marine science and engineering. Established in 1930 in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, it i ...

*1973:

Cullum Geographical Medal The Cullum Geographical Medal is one of the oldest awards of the American Geographical Society. It was established in the will of George Washington Cullum, the vice president of the Society, and is awarded "to those who distinguish themselves by ...

awarded by the

American Geographical Society The American Geographical Society (AGS) is an organization of professional geographers, founded in 1851 in New York City. Most fellows of the society are United States, Americans, but among them have always been a significant number of fellows f ...

*1977: Walter H. Bucher Medal awarded by the

American Geophysical Union The American Geophysical Union (AGU) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of Earth, Atmospheric science, atmospheric, Oceanography, ocean, Hydrology, hydrologic, Astronomy, space, and Planetary science, planetary scientists and enthusiasts that ...

The Oceanographic Survey Ship USNS ''Bruce C. Heezen'' was christened in honor of him in 1999. Heezen Canyon is a large underwater canyon in the NW Atlantic, on the edge of the

continental shelf A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water, known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an islan ...

. Heezen Glacier in

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

was named after him in 1977.

References

External links

* *
Manuscript painting of Heezen-Tharp "World ocean floor" map by Berann
— Library of Congress Catalog {{DEFAULTSORT:Heezen, Bruce C. 1924 births 1977 deaths University of Iowa alumni Columbia University alumni Columbia University faculty 20th-century American geologists American oceanographers People from Vinton, Iowa People from Muscatine, Iowa Recipients of the Cullum Geographical Medal Tectonicists Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory people