Tharp’s map provided some of the necessary missing evidence. If the ocean floor was spreading apart at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, it could explain how the continents had moved over time.

In the coming months, the Ocean Seeker will undergo a $2-million retrofit to carry sophisticated sonars and lasers capable of capturing highly detailed images of the floor of the Atlantic Ocean.

Lost without a map: Despite a globalized society, university students can't locate the Atlantic Ocean A sociologist at Memorial University of Newfoundland had a gnawing sensation that her students ...