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Difficulty: HardSupporting Claims with Evidence and Details

The following sentences are from a draft of an essay about geologist Marie Tharp. To ensure the paragraph logically builds its claim that scientific data supported Tharp's hypothesis of a seafloor rift valley, in what order should the sentences be arranged?

  1. 1Geologist Marie Tharp was convinced that a continuous rift valley ran down the center of the Atlantic Ocean, a claim that her colleague Bruce Heezen initially dismissed as 'girl talk.'
  2. 2To prove her hypothesis, Tharp meticulously plotted thousands of sonar soundings collected by research vessels, transforming raw numeric depth data into detailed physiographic diagrams of the seafloor.
  3. 3Her resulting maps revealed a distinct, V-shaped cleft cutting through the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, matching the exact locations of epicenters from a database of undersea earthquakes.
  4. 4Confronted with this precise correlation between Tharp's structural maps and the seismic data, Heezen finally accepted the existence of the rift valley, which helped validate the theory of plate tectonics.

Answer

The sentences should be ordered: Geologist Marie Tharp was convinced that a continuous rift valley ran down the center of the Atlantic Ocean...; To prove her hypothesis, Tharp meticulously plotted thousands of sonar soundings...; Her resulting maps revealed a distinct, V-shaped cleft...; Confronted with this precise correlation...
The correct paragraph structure starts by introducing Marie Tharp's hypothesis about the Mid-Atlantic Ridge rift valley. It then logically transitions to her methodology of plotting sonar soundings to prove her claim. Next, it introduces the specific details of the maps she produced, specifically the V-shaped cleft that correlated with earthquake data. Finally, it shows how this evidence resolved the conflict and convinced her colleague, validating plate tectonics.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the introductory sentence that establishes the claim.
The sentence introducing Marie Tharp's conviction about a continuous rift valley and her colleague's dismissal serves as the logical starting point.
A paragraph must first state the claim or hypothesis being investigated before detailing the evidence gathered to support it.
2
Determine the methodology or action taken to find evidence.
The sentence describing Tharp plotting thousands of sonar soundings must follow the introduction.
This establishes how she gathered the data necessary to prove her hypothesis.
3
Locate the specific supporting evidence derived from the methodology.
The sentence detailing the V-shaped cleft on the maps and its correlation with earthquake epicenters is placed next.
This provides the concrete details and evidence that resulted directly from the plotting process described in the previous step.
4
Find the concluding sentence that shows the impact of the evidence.
The sentence showing Heezen's acceptance of the rift valley when confronted with this correlation completes the paragraph.
This resolves the initial conflict introduced in the first sentence by demonstrating how the evidence supported and proved the claim.

Key Concept

Supporting Claims with Evidence and Details
Estimated Time:1m 30s
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Supporting Claims with Evidence and Details

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