Marie Tharp

Identified a rift valley running down the center of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge from her own map data and proposed this as direct evidence for continental drift/seafloor spreading.

Co-produced the first comprehensive world ocean-floor map after decades of hand-plotting individual sonar depth soundings into detailed physiographic maps with Bruce Heezen.

Correctly cross-referencing separate depth-profile and earthquake-epicenter datasets to confirm a major geological feature is the basis for the profile's analytical_rigor score. Analytical Rigour

Was barred by US Navy regulations from joining the research ships collecting the sonar data she analyzed, and instead built her groundbreaking maps entirely from data relayed to her onshore.

Her own research partner, Bruce Heezen, initially dismissed her rift-valley interpretation as "girl talk" before independently corroborating evidence proved her correct.

Continued advocating for and refining her seafloor-spreading interpretation despite that initial dismissal from her own collaborator and the wider geological community, until the theory gained acceptance years later.

Sustaining a correct scientific interpretation through direct initial dismissal from a close collaborator is the specific instance behind the profile's persistence score. Persistence