Harry Hammond Hass

Harry Hass is a geoscientist. Harry was born on the 24th may 1906.
Harry joined the navy during World War 2. It doesn’t say how old he
was when he joined. Harry’s job in the navy was a commander of a
submarine. Being a commander influenced Harry to not only
become a geoscientist which is in the field of our earth but also teach
at the University of Princton, teaching geology. Harry being a
geoscientist has made and shaped how we see and know our earth.
World war 2 and being in the navy sparked Harry’s interest in the
ocean. Harry started researching and following on with other people
researching on tectonic plates. While researching harry found that
Alfred Wegener believed that our seven continents were once one.
Harry thought that this was true and researched more to prove his
and Alfred’s theory. While researching his studies showed that the
continents are over some tectonic plates. The continents being over
tectonic plates could explain why we now have 7 and not 1. Tectonic
plates move which cause earthquakes so what’s not to say that when
the plates move that the continents moved with them.
Not all Harry’s work was to do with the continents. Harry found that
the ocean was much shallower in the middle. Harry believed that
the oceans grew from their centres. This is called seafloor spreading.
This is one of Harry’s biggest discoveries. Seafloor spreading is when
tectonic plates split apart from each other. When the two plates
move away from each other magma rises, once the magma hits the
oceanic ridge it cools down then turns into igneous rock. Harry
proved all of this by mapping the oceans ridge. He found that the
temperature was a lot hotter closer to the oceanic ridge due to
magma flowing out when the plates move. Not only is there seafloor
spreading but also subduction, this is when instead of the plates
moving away from each other they move towards. When moving
towards it gives no space for the magma to leak so then the oceans
floor doesn’t get a new layer. When the plates move the old igneous
rocks move closer to the oceanic ridge which cools them down. If the
plates move any other way the magma can’t escape so the old
igneous rock cant move and cool down.
All of Harry’s work is linked. If seafloor spreading doesn’t happen the
tectonic plates don’t move. If the plates don’t move then our
continents don’t move. All of Harry’s work is so crucially important to
finding out more about our earth and science.