Rocks From Above: Illustrated Geology Glossary (at 35,000 feet)

Glossary!

These are common geologic (and manmade/geographic features), as seen from 35,000 feet.

You can open any of these examples in Google Earth by clicking the Google Earth icon:

If you don't know the name of the feature you're looking for, go here: "What Was That?" (This is a tool that sorts features based on what they look like: mountains, rivers, valleys, piles of sand etc.)

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

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Tailing Ponds - Large man-made ponds near mines. The miners pump contaminated water into the ponds, where contaminates can precipitate out. Mine operators usually construct the ponds as giant rectangles, frequently in rows. The ponds tend to be multi-colored, and are usually right next to what is obviously a mine. {read more}

Scale: Images are taken from an altitude of ~35,000 feet, and so are each ~1 mile across. (Yes, they really are that big!)

Open these examples in Google Earth, or download all of the landforms here.

Thrust Sheets - Thrust sheets can also produce ridges. The ridges below are the edges of giant sheets of rock that were thrust up on top of other rocks during a mountain-building event. The thrust sheets tend to form several long, parallel ridges. Note: Not all thrust faults look like this! These are special cases. {read more}