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.)

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Impact Craters - These giant round holes in the ground form when a rock from space flies through the atmosphere and hits Earth. They are very rare, and craters pristine enough to be seen from a plane are even more rare -- unless you're flying over Arizona, you're probably not seeing one. {read more}

Scale: Image taken from an altitude of ~35,000 feet, and so is ~1 mile across.

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

Inselberg/ Monadnock - An isolated mountain that rises abruptly from otherwise level ground. {read more}

Scale: Images are taken from an altitude of ~35,000 feet, and so are each ~1 mile across.

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

Intrusion, Igneous - An igneous rock that, while still molten, bubbled up into or was forced through another rock. There are several types: dikes, sills, batholiths, laccoliths, stocks, plugs, necks, etc. They are often most easily spotted from above by their odd geometric shapes and (often) dark colors {read more}