[1] In the mid-twentieth century, geologist Marie Tharp set out to map the ocean floor, utilizing sonar data to draft the first comprehensive three-dimensional representation of the seabed. [2] Barred from research vessels due to her gender, Tharp relied entirely on depth profiles collected by her colleague Bruce Heezen. [3] By painstakingly plotting these profiles by hand, she identified a deep, continuous V-shaped valley slicing through the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. [4] Initially, Heezen dismissed Tharp's drawings as "girl talk," fearing that the existence of a central rift valley would lend credibility to the then-marginalized theory of continental drift. [5] It was not until independent photographic evidence of the rift was obtained that Heezen and the scientific establishment accepted Tharp's map as accurate.
The writer is considering adding the following sentence to the paragraph (placed after Sentence 4):
"Continental drift, first proposed by Alfred Wegener in 1912, suggested that Earth's continents had once been joined as a single landmass before drifting apart."
Should the writer make this addition?
- AYes, because it provides historical context that connects Tharp's twentieth-century work to earlier earth science discoveries.
- BYes, because it defines a key term in Sentence 4 that is necessary to explain why Heezen initially dismissed Tharp's drawings.
- No, because it interrupts the paragraph's narrative flow by introducing biographical and historical details about a different scientist.Cevap
- DNo, because it introduces a theory that contradicts Tharp's discovery of the V-shaped valley in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.