You can use this page to browse through all of the individual visualizations that have been cataloged in our digital library. You can also browse them as
Detecting El Niño in Sea Surface Temperature Data
Note: This chapter was retired in October 2018. The visualization tool (My World GIS) is no longer supported. SST anomalies for December 1997 displayed in My World GIS™. Red indicates above average temperatures compared to average SST temperatures for December data averaged over the years 1982-1998. This chapter introduces you to normal seasonal sea surface temperature (SST) variation as well as extreme variation, as in the case of El Niño and La Niña events, in the equatorial Pacific Ocean. You will learn how to download seasonal SST data from the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL), via a THREDDS server, for the years 1982 to 1998. With My World GIS, you will visualize and analyze that data, looking for the tell-tale SST signature of El Niño and La Niña events that occurred during that time period. At the conclusion of the chapter, you will be given the opportunity to analyze a season of your own choosing to determine if an El Niño and La Niña SST pattern emerged in that year's data.
Google Earth Science - Page 1
This selection of Google Earth and SketchUp files illustrate and model seismic zones using block models and cross-sections. Regions include Japan, Seattle, the Rockies, San Francisco, Iceland, the New Madrid fault, and I-64 (east coast of US), among others. Right-click each image to download a KMZ file for viewing with Google Earth. To examine KMZ contents, unzip and open the KML source doc with your text editor.
How Shifting Plates Caused the Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan
This page features USGS visualizations including a slide show of the sudden movement of the Pacific tectonic plate under the North American plate caused a massive earthquake and a tsunami. It also contains maps of the magnitude of shaking and predicted tsunami wave heights from the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
Tsunami Event - March 11, 2011 Honshu (northeastern Taiheiyou)
This website, from NOAA, hosts a collection of links to images, animations, and videos related to the 2011 tsunami in Japan. The graphics display forecast results, showing qualitative and quantitative information about the tsunami, including tsunami wave interaction with ocean floor bathymetric features, and neighboring coastlines. Tsunami model amplitude information is shown color-coded according the scale bar.
Japan Races to Avert Multiple Nuclear Meltdowns
Japan's nuclear crisis intensified Sunday as authorities raced to combat the threat of multiple reactor meltdowns and more than 170,000 people evacuated the northeastern coast where fears spread over possible radioactive contamination. (March 13, 2011)