The pioneering seafloor mapping and visualization by Marie Tharp played a key role in the acceptance of the plate tectonic theory. Her physiographic maps, published with B. Heezen, covered the Earth’s oceans and revealed with astonishing accuracy the submarine landscape. She exposed the topography of a seafloor that turned out not to be flat, displaying instead features such as seamounts and volcanic chains, trenches, mid-ocean ridges, and transform faults. Marie Tharp co-authored the first papers describing the major fracture zones in the Central Atlantic (Chain, Romanche, Vema), and her work directly contributed to the recognition of the role of mid-ocean ridges in plate tectonics and oceanic accretion.

To honour Marie Tharp’s profound and lasting contribution to plate tectonics and marine goesciences, this session seeks contributions addressing plate tectonics in the oceans, based primarily on information from seafloor mapping, including regular or high resolution bathymetry, seafloor imagery (sonar or optical) at all scales, geophysical imaging of the seafloor, in addition to satellite altimetry, and in situ observations (robots or submersibles). Results of seafloor sampling, seismic imaging, seismicity studies or in-situ monitoring are also very welcome. Contributions may address the role of faults, seafloor volcanism, magmatism, and hydrothermal circulations, in the construction and evolution of the ocean crust and lithosphere from mid-ocean ridges and transform faults, to mid-plate domains and subductions. We seek contributions at all scales, from regional studies to a global scope, as that pioneered by Marie Tharp.