Tribute to Marie Tharp

Marie Tharp was an American geologist and oceanographic cartographer whose work during the mid-twentieth century revealed the detailed topography of the ocean floor. As women were not allowed to work on ships, she instead worked on the data collected by ships like the research vessel Vema. From this arose the first systematic attempt to map the entire ocean floor, which later on became important in helping to prove continental drift.

In this tribute to Marie Tharp, turn the crank to see a submarine volcano erupt at the same time as the RV Vema performs echo sounding to determine the depth of the seabed. 

This MOC consists of exactly 250 pieces. A set specific tile could look like either of these:

Please note: you may notice certain similarities with an upcoming entry of mine. These two MOCs are not meant to be seen as a series, they are merely offshoots of a central idea. The animation shows the result of a 2:1 gear ratio. In reality (8 teeth + 12 teeth) the ratio is 1.5:1.