Pitman fracture zone is an undersea fracture zone named for Dr. Walter C. Pitman III, a geophysicist and pioneer in studies of continental drift and seafloor spreading. Name proposed by Drs. Cande, Haxby and Raymond, Lamont–Doherty Geological Observatory (now Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory); name approved 3/93 (ACUF 256).