Discovery Topics

The earthquake activities give you access to earthquake data cataloged by the International Seismological Centre. You can plot the location of earthquakes, as well as examine their timing, magnitude, and depth distribution. The earthquake data sets were one of the important tools used by geophysicists in the mid 1960's during the development of the theory of plate tectonics. Go ahead and explore these same data sets, and draw your own conclusions about the nature of dynamic plate interactions!

The volcanoes data set complements the seismicity data. Volcanism is an integral part of the plate tectonic cycle, and there is a close correspondence between volcanic and seismic events and processes. Using data from the Smithsonian Institution Volcanology Project, you can map out the global distribution of volcanoes, the type of eruptive activity, and their eruptive history.

Topography is one of the fundamental data sets available to Earth scientists. The location of mountains, ocean trenches, ridges, and coastlines are all keys to understanding Earth's dynamic processes. You can examine the spatial relationships between areas of high topography, earthquakes, and volcanoes, and consider how these relationships arise from plate interactions. The topographic data set has a resolution of approximately 1 km, so you'll be able to see a variety of features related to the underlying geology, geologic history and dynamic processes that create topography.

The plate tectonics section allows you to combine the earthquake, volcano and topography data sets. Each of these features--earthquakes, volcanoes and topography--is an expression of the plate tectonic cycle. See what relationships you can figure out by examining different combinations of these data!

The sea level tool allows you to raise and lower global sea level. You can empty the ocean, flood the continents, or perform experiments related to melting the ice caps or creating ice ages. Think about what the effects of global warming might be; should we be concerned?

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