1964: Indian Ocean Map

After the success of the Atlantic Ocean study, Marie and Bruce turned their attention to the Indian Ocean. A similar process was repeated; whereby Bruce collected data in the field and Marie drew up the maps. The first of a series of Indian Ocean maps was published in 1964 and can be found in the Map Collection. According to Tharp herself, this map was printed with an error that she was able to correct when improvements in technology enabled such revisions. The 1964 Indian Ocean Map fails to include a “triple junction” located in the middle of the ocean where three ridges intersect. Columbia’s Lamont Geological Observatory published this map in the same year it launched another expedition into the Indian Ocean.