Introduction

 Plate Tectonics Google Earth “How-to”Student WorksheetIntroductionIn geological science we often need to look at features that occur on regional or even global scales. Because of this, we find maps to be very useful tools. With the technological revolution, our tools have become more precise and more useful because we are able to quickly add digital information to images such as maps. One great example of this kind of mapping technology is Google Earth. Google has spent time, money, and energy in developing the worlds’ most detailed satellite mapping tool that is available to us for free. Because Google Earth is intuitive and user friendly compared to other mapping software, we will be using it for this lab. In Activity 1 you will download Google Earth and prepare your files. In Activity 2 you will manipulate data using Google Earth, and in Activity 3 you will use Google Earth to answer discussion questions.Learning ObjectivesUpon completion of this module you should demonstrate your ability to:Load and manipulate Google Earth filesPull data out of visual datasetsTake screenshots of work and make annotations to submit for gradeActivity 1: Downloading and Opening Google Earth FilesTo get started we will need to be able to access Google Earth and Google Earth .kmz files. Navigate to the following link: Google Earth Download. and select Google Earth Pro on desktop. Then click on Download Earth Pro on Desktop. Unfortunately, the web and mobile versions are not powerful enough to be used in a scientific context so you will need access to a laptop or desktop for this lab assignment. When downloading from Google Earth, students need to download the desktop version, which is the third icon that appears.The download button appears as an outlined rectangle on the bottom right of the screen.You will be prompted to accept the terms of Google Earth’s privacy policy to continue the download. Once you click “Accept and Download” Google Earth should automatically start downloading and then open. If this does not happen check the downloads in your web browser and it should be listed there. If it is not, try downloading again and make sure you follow the steps. If you need help visit the Google Earth help center at the following link: Help Center.Download .kmz FileThe .kmz file needed for this lab is located in (INSTRUCTOR: DESCRIBE THE LOCATION OF THE FILE ON YOUR CLASS WEBSITE). To access, click on the file and it should automatically open in Google Earth and you will be ready to begin. NOTE: this is a large file. Depending on your internet connection speed, it may take some time, up to several minutes, for your computer to load and open it in Google Earth. To speed loading things up in Google Earth, uncheck the box next to Plate Tectonics Lab- Lines of Evidence. Activity 2: Manipulating Data in Google EarthOnce the file is loaded Google Earth will open and try to take you on a tour of places on Earth. Close that box and close the navigation tool with those places at the bottom or your screen. Once you have done that, your screen should look something like the example image below. If there are a bunch of marks and colors on your globe, uncheck the box next to Plate Tectonics Lab- Lines of Evidence. Now go to the top left toolbar and select View. Make sure that “Toolbar,” “Sidebar,” “Status Bar,” and “Grid” are the only things checked. You may need to uncheck “Atmosphere” and “Water Surface.” We are only interested in the rocks right now. In science, measurements are made using metric units (centimeters, meters, kilometers) but by default, Google Earth will display miles and feet. You will need to change this in the settings (PC: under Tools tab, select “Options”; Mac: under Google Earth Pro tab, select “preferences”). In 3D View, under “Units of Measurement”, click the button next to “Meters, Kilometers”. Your screen should look like the image below. This image shows how the Google Earth Pro screen will appear with the .kmz file downloaded and the Layers folderLayersIt is fairly simple to switch between data sets in Google Earth. Locate the data set, which Google Earth calls “Layers”, in the bottom left corner and click the little triangle next to it to either open it (and show the data) or close it (to hide the data). In this lab you will want to only have the “Borders” layer of the Google Earth preloaded layers checked. To do this, go to the bottom left hand box (as shown by the red arrow below) and click the little triangle next to “Borders and Labels”. Uncheck Labels but make sure Borders is checked. Make sure that Terrain is also checked. Then uncheck the rest of the Layers.In the Layers folder select ‘Borders’ as well as 'Terrain'Practice turning the layers in the Plate Tectonic lab dataset off and on. Check the box next to Bathymetry. See how much the map changes? This dataset highlights the topography of the seafloor and obscures the continents. This layer would get in the way of looking at terrestrial features - if we are exploring volcanoes or other features on land, we want to make sure this layer is turned off. Cursor FeaturesOne feature of Google Earth is that you can roll over the map with your cursor and find specific information about that location. Try placing your cursor on the map. Now hold it still and look to the bottom right corner under the logo. It should look like the image below. Image of Google Earth focusing in on the bottom right hand information bar. The box on the left contains the last date that the image was taken of the area. The middle box contains the latitude and longitude coordinates of the area. The right box shows the elevation information.This little bar is called the “Status Bar.” Wherever you put your cursor you will get the latitude and longitude coordinates - these give a unique address for every place on the planet. You will also see the elevation of that location above sea level - if your number is negative, that indicates you are below sea level. Now try moving your cursor around. See the information change?PlacemarksNow we are going to place a little thumbtack in our map to mark a specific place. This is called a placemark. At the top of the map is a tool bar with a bunch of different symbols on it. Select the one that looks like a yellow thumbtack with a plus sign next to it. It is the first icon. The placemark tool appears in the toolbar as a yellow thumbtack with a plus sign next to it. The placemark menu box is accessed by clicking on the symbol with the yellow thumbtack with a plus sign next to it. Once clicked, a pop-up box appears with the latitude and longitude of the location where the cursor is located.When you click on the icon it will bring up an info box with a default latitude and longitude for wherever you had your cursor. Name the placemark in the “Name” box and enter the latitude and longitude (or lat/long for short) into the appropriate boxes and click “ok” to place a placemark. On the screen you will see a box with cross hairs indicating where the placemark will be put. Once you click “ok” you will see the placemark. Once a placemark is created, it will appear like the image shown.In this lab you will be asked to place “place markers” on locations on your map as well as taking screenshots. Practice putting your cursor on different places on the map and putting markers on them. In this lab you will not have to name the markers, but subsequent labs may ask you to do so. Lines and Measuring ToolsNow if we go back up to the Toolbar above the map and select the icon that looks like a ruler in the middle of icons, we will see how we can make lines and measure distances. The measuring tool appears like a ruler in the toolbar.Once this box is open you can see that your cursor has turned into a box with crosshairs. This is the tool you need for drawing lines and measuring distances. The first tab (“Line”) in the Ruler box is the only one that we need for this lab. Before we do anything, you will see that the box will give us three pieces of information about the distance. First, it shows the map distance between the start and stop points on the map (“as the crow flies”). The ground length is the distance you would have to walk to get from the first point to the second, and the heading is the compass direction you would travel from the first to the second point.. In this lab we are not interested in the heading or ground length, but you will want to look at map length. Kilometers is the correct unit of measurement for geology, so you don’t need to change the units unless it is in a different unit. To do this, click on the box next to “Map Length” and you will get a drop-down menu to select from. Select “Kilometers.” This pop-up window will open with the Ruler tool. The distances we will use in this lab are listed under Map Length. Be sure to check the distances are given in the correct units, kilometers!The yellow line shows the location being measured. The pop-up window displays the distance under the heading, Map Length.Click somewhere on your screen, move your cursor and click again. You’ll notice that the Ruler box does not close. That’s good because once you finish drawing your line it will give you the distances. In the above example my line starts in Mali and ends in Nigeria and represents 1,772.08 or about 1,772km. The box automatically calculates and displays, that is, auto-populates, the distance between the starting point and cursor as you move your cursor. Try clicking once to make a new starting point and then move your cursor around without clicking an ending point. See how the box auto-populates?If you are having any difficulty with this tool make sure that the “mouse navigation” box in the Ruler box is checked. If that doesn’t work, use the help guide found at the following link: guide. After you are comfortable measuring distances, close the Ruler box.Time Slider and LegendsIn this lab we will be using a file that has a time component. The file has the location of the continents from the Permian to today. To change where the continents are, we need to change the time. We can do this by using the TimeCounter feature in the “Backgrounds” part of our lab’s file. Click on the little triangle next to “Backgrounds” and click “TimeCounter” and “Blue Background.” Then click the “Continents” layer to see the historical locations of the continents when they were part of the supercontinent “Pangaea” 200 million years ago. This image shows where to find the time slider, and how the screen appears once the layers: Blue Background, TimeCounter, and Continents are selected. The time slider can be clicked and moved to the right to show how the continents moved over time. The screen will also display the time in Ma, millions of years before the present.Now the TimeCounter tool should be in the upper left corner of the window under the toolbar with the Placemarks and Ruler tools. Click on one of the triangles on the left side and drag it right. You will see the continents moving and the big yellow date in the top right part of the map change. You can move the globe around by placing your cursor (which looks like a hand) on the globe, clicking and holding as you move your mouse around. See that green blob zooming around the Indian Ocean?Uncheck the Background, TimeCounter, and Continents boxes and check the “Present Plate Boundaries” layer found by clicking on the triangle next to Features. You will see a legend pop up to the left of the map. This layer shows where there are different kinds of interactions between the tectonic plates underlying our oceans and continents. There are three kinds of plate interactions and they take place at the boundaries or margins of the plates. The boundaries are indicated by lines and the kind of boundary is shown by the color of the line. Divergent boundaries are marked with a red line, transform with a blue line, and convergent with a yellow line. There are a few places where we have yet to collect enough data to know the type of boundary, and those places are white. Our lab will only deal with the colored lines. A good place to see all three types of boundaries is off the Pacific Coast of Mexico. Zoom over there and take a look (since country borders and convergent boundaries are both displayed with yellow lines, it may be more clear to turn the Borders layer off). Do you notice a pattern in the shape of the divergent and transform boundaries?The image shows how the plate boundaries appear off the coast of Mexico when the Present Plate Boundaries layer is opened. The different plate boundaries are shown with the colors: red for divergent, blue for transform, and yellow for convergent.Troubleshooting LayersSome layers have a lot of data and so can take some time to load. If you are having trouble seeing the layer or it appears like nothing happened, right-click on the layer, and select “Properties” from the drop-down menu. Right under the layer name is a box called “Allow this folder to be expanded.” Make sure that is checked on. Then click the “ok” button and expand the layer by clicking the triangle next to the layer. Check all the boxes. There may be a layer that looks like a file folder with a dot on it when you expand the layer. If that happens check it and open it to make sure all the layers in that folder are checked. Pre-Lab Activity 3: Deciphering and Submitting DataIn this part of the prelab we are going to be exploring the dataset and you will need to submit answers to a few questions. Turn off all layers by unchecking their boxes before you start. Any extra layers will just clutter up your screen and make getting the right answers difficult. Bathymetry LayerThe first layer in our dataset is the Bathymetry layer. Bathymetry is the word we use to describe the topography of the ocean floor. Expand the Plate Tectonics Lab-Lines of Evidence folder. Click the box next to Bathymetry to turn the layer on. You will see that your globe now has the continents whited out and the ocean floor is a beautiful rainbow of colors! You will notice that there is not a color legend for this data, but the colors indicate depth. Turn on the Google preloaded layer Terrain and be sure to be zoomed in to an Eye Alt of 9000 km or less (shown in the Status bar at the bottom right of the window) to view data. Move your cursor around the different colors and notice how the “elev” in the Status Bar changes. Discussion QuestionsYou need to make your own legend for this dataset. For each of the colors below, give an approximate range of elevation. (Remember that all these elevations are below sea level so they will be negative numbers AND larger negative numbers indicate deeper locations.)ColorApproximate Shallowest Elevation (meters)Approximate Deepest Elevation (meters)RedType answer here:Type answer here:OrangeType answer here:Type answer here:YellowType answer here:Type answer here:GreenType answer here:Type answer here:Light BlueType answer here:Type answer here:Dark BlueType answer here:Type answer here:MagentaType answer here:Type answer here:Continent LayerTurn off the Bathymetry layer and turn on the Continents layer. This is a large dataset and can take several seconds to load up. You should see the time slider at the top left of your screen and solid color continents overlaid on your globe. Move the globe around and use the slider. See how the continents move? Try seeing how each continent moves over time by only having one continent box checked at a time. Now you are ready to answer the questions below.Discussion QuestionsWhat continent moves the most over this time period? In other words which continent ends up the furthest away from where it started?Type answer here:What continent moves the least over this time period? In other words, which continent ends up the closest to where it started? Type answer here:Earthquake LayerTurn off the Continents layer and turn on the Earthquakes layer. To view the data, be sure to be zoomed in to an Eye Alt of 4000 km or less. Move the globe around to get a feel for what data is shown and then answer the questions below.Discussion QuestionsThis layer has a legend because each point marked on the map contains two pieces of information: how large the earthquake’s magnitude was and how deep the earthquake was in the earth’s crust when it occurred. How is the magnitude of the earthquake represented on the map? Type answer here:How is the depth of the earthquake represented on the map? Type answer here:If you click on a specific earthquake’s circle (data point), it should open a pop-up box. What information (not the logos) is given in that box? Note: If you see a number that has a capital M in front of it, that M means magnitude, and the number is telling you how strong the earthquake was.Type answer here:Hot Spot LayerTurn off the Earthquake layer and turn on Hot Spot Tracks layer. A time slider window will pop up. Once you move the slider all the way to the right, you will see lines of volcanoes on your globe. The hot spot volcanoes (orange triangles) will appear over time. This can also be played as an animation by clicking on the play symbol (icon appears as a small clock with an arrow in the time slider window). If the animation is too fast, you can slow it down in the Time Options link (click on the wrench symbol in the slider window, under Animation Speed, select slower or faster). Once the animation ends, you will see lines of volcanoes on your globe. Notice where they are and answer the questions below.Discussion QuestionsWhat is the name of the hot spot in the continental United States? Type answer here:Where on the globe are the hotspot tracks most concentrated? Type answer here:Ocean Age LayerTurn off the Hot Spot layer and turn on the Ocean Age layer. It may take a minute for the data to load because this is a large data set. This data set also has a legend to show you how old the different portions of the ocean crust is. The legend is a little small and can be hard to read so in the lab you can refer to the image below if you have a hard time reading it. This image shows the legend for Ocean Age layer. Ages are given in millions of years before the present.The age of the crust is indicated by lines called “isochrons,” which is a geologic term for a line on a map or graph that connects rocks of the same age. Move the globe around and get comfortable with the dataset before answering the questions below. Discussion QuestionsFind the Atlantic Ocean. In your own words describe the pattern of ages of the ocean crust. What does it look like? Type answer here:Find the Indian Ocean. In your own words describe the pattern of ages of the seafloor. What does it look like? Type answer here:Present Plate Boundaries LayerTurn off the Ocean Age layer and turn on the Present Plate Boundaries layer (you may wish to uncheck borders so the yellow lines are not confused with convergent plate boundaries). Move the globe around noticing where the different plate boundaries are located and answer the questions below.Discussion QuestionsWhat kind of plate boundary is located in the Mediterranean Sea? Type answer here:What kind of plate boundary is located at the most northern part of our planet (the north pole)? Type answer here:Volcano LayerNow we are going to look at our last layer with data in it. Close the Present Plate Boundaries layer and check the Volcano layer. The icons for the volcanoes are small, so if you can’t see them, try zooming in on the West Coast of the United States. The red colored triangles are volcanoes that have been active in the Holocene (present – 12,000 years ago) and blue are volcanoes that were active in the Pleistocene (2.6 million – 12,000 years ago). If you click on a specific volcano’s triangle (data point), it should open a pop-up box with a description of the volcano and its history. Take a minute to look around the globe then answer the questions below.Discussion QuestionsGo to Iceland and Greenland. Which one has more volcanoes? List two kinds of volcanoes from the Holocene (the red ones) that you see? Type answer here:What is the closest volcano to where you live? Type answer here:Taking a ScreenshotA screenshot is an image capturing what is shown on your desktop. To take a screenshot, you will need to use the command that is specific to your computer. The commands are listed below:PC Windows: PrtSc buttonMacOS: Shift + Command + 4Once you have done this, copy and paste the image into a document (Word or Google Docs). Click on the image that you just pasted and use your application’s tools to “crop” the image. You want to crop out your bottom navigation bar like is shown in the image below.This image shows which areas should be cropped when editing the screenshot. The navigation bar that is on the bottom of the screenshot should be cropped out.If you do not know where to find the crop feature in your document program, a quick web search will help.Discussion QuestionsPaste a screen shot of your cropped image below. You may need to resize it to fit.Paste image here:Adding Annotations to Screen Shot and UploadingAnnotations are comments or drawings that you add on an original image. Annotations can be made using a drawing or textbox tool in your document application. You can save the iage in the document or take a screenshot. Alternatively, annotations can be done by printing out the image, and writing or drawing directly on the print out.Once your annotations are done, you can use a scanner app to upload to your computer. Then upload if from your computer to this assignment.Discussion QuestionsChoose two features or points of interest on your screenshot. Annotate your screenshot by using arrows and labels to point to the two places you picked. Using the instructions provided by your instructor, upload your annotated image to submit for grading.Upload your image to the class website ................
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