EARTH - Illustrating Geology: Great Images that Transformed the Field

In the August issue of EARTH Magazine, explore some of geology's most historic images, and hear from experts about what made these depictions so valuable to the field and why they continue to be useful educational resources.

Interactive map of coastal and marine geoscience features in the United States

The Marine Cadastre National Viewer is a joint product of the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The viewer contains an enormous amount of information relevant to marine and coastal issues in interactive map form. Over 275 different map layers are available on a wide range of topics. The geoscience-related layers include:

What is coalbed methane?

Most coal has some methane (the main component of natural gas) trapped inside it. This methane is produced during the coal formation process and gets trapped on the surface of the coal in tiny pores and fractures.¹ Many coalbeds also contain large amounts of water; the pressure from this water keeps the methane in place. Coalbed methane is extracted by pumping out the water, which lowers the pressure, allowing the gas to detach from the coal surface and flow out into the well.¹

Interactive map of well logs in Iowa

The Iowa Geological Survey's GeoSam application allows users to access all available well log data in Iowa through an interactive map.

Well data can be obtained through a search function or by browsing the map. Over 80,000 well logs are available across the state, with a wide range of geoscientific and geotechnical information available for different wells.

Click here to access the GeoSam application.

Why and where do earthquakes happen?

Why do earthquakes happen?

AGI Awards Diversity Grants to Geoscientists Studying Deep Carbon

The Deep Carbon Observatory Diversity Grants program is made possible through support from Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and is designed to bolster participation of traditionally underrepresented geoscientists in the United States within the Deep Carbon Observatory community. The Deep Carbon Observatory is a global research program to transform our understanding of carbon in Earth. DCO is a community of scientists, from biologists to physicists, geoscientists to chemists, and others whose work crosses these disciplinary lines, forging a new, integrative field of deep carbon science.

Interactive map of natural hazards and land use in the District of Columbia

The District of Columbia's Office of the Chief Technology Officer makes a huge amount of information available in interactive map form. The DC Atlas Plus map has over 340 layers of publicly available map data on a huge range of topics, including transportation, public facilities, demographics, cultural and social locations, planning and zoning, and geoscientific data. The geoscience layers available include information on:

Interactive map of environmental information in New Hampshire

The University of New Hampshire, in collaboration with the New Hampshire Office of Energy and Planning, maintains the GRANITView application. This application makes a large amount of environmental and other geoscientific information available in interactive map form, including:

Interactive map of Rhode Island's geology and natural resources

The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management's Environmental Resource Map provides a large amount of information on Rhode Island's geology and natural resources, including:

Interactive map of Vermont's geology and natural resources

The Vermont Center for Geographic Information's VT Interactive Map Viewer provides a large amount of information on Vermont's geology and natural resources, including:

American Geosciences Institute

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