Hess, Harry

Harry Hess was a geologist and Navy officer who contributed significantly to our understanding of plate tectonics. He proposed the theory of seafloor spreading in the 1960s, explaining how new oceanic crust forms at mid-ocean ridges and moves outward, causing continents to drift. This discovery helped unify existing geological observations, revolutionizing our understanding of Earth's dynamic surface. Hess's work provided the foundation for modern plate tectonics, explaining phenomena such as earthquakes, volcanic activity, and ocean basin formation, and remains a fundamental concept in earth sciences.