In the mid-1950s, cartographer Marie Tharp identified a prominent V-shaped rift valley running continuously along the axis of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge while constructing bathymetric maps from oceanic echo-sounding profiles. Her collaborator, geologist Bruce Heezen, initially dismissed her interpretation of the rift, attributing the topography to artifactual errors in sonar data or localized volcanic scouring. At the time, mainstream American geophysics was dominated by fixist paradigms that viewed continental positions as permanently fixed; acknowledging a continuous global mid-ocean rift implied large-scale tension and crustal spreading, directly supporting Alfred Wegener’s controversial hypothesis of continental drift. It was only after independent seismic data demonstrated a precise alignment between shallow earthquake epicenters and Tharp’s mapped rift zone that Heezen accepted the feature's existence. Consequently, Tharp’s bathymetric synthesis provided pivotal empirical support for modern plate tectonics, though her early contribution was obscured by contemporary institutional biases and theoretical resistance.
Based on the passage, the passage implies which of the following regarding the geophysical community's initial reluctance to accept Tharp's identification of the rift valley?
- It was influenced in part by adherence to established geological frameworks that rejected horizontal crustal movement.Answer
- BIt resulted primarily from documented instrumental defects in the bathymetric echo-sounding equipment used during the 1950s.
- CIt completely prevented the publication of Tharp's oceanographic maps in scientific journals during her lifetime.
- DIt was resolved only when Tharp collected additional echo-sounding profiles from the Pacific Ocean basin.
- EIt prompted Bruce Heezen to formulate a new theoretical model that synthesized volcanic scouring with continental drift.