An 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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Alluvial Fan - Fan-shaped sediment deposit at the base of a mountain. {read more}

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

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Anabranch - A part of a river that leaves the main channel, then rejoins it further downstream. They can be small, short branches, or long, significant branches that cover many miles {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.

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Anticline - Folded layers of rocks can make beautiful mountains. Syncline folds look like smiley-faces; anticlines look like frowney-faces. When viewed from above, synclines tend to have valleys in the middle; anticlines tend to be raised in the middle. Anticline mountains are common in the Appalachian Valley and Ridge Province. {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.