geo-series
Global SRTM Map
Image
The following is an 20x downsampled global Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) map made with Python and Basemap.
Full resolution can be found on wikimedia.
One can notice the depth of the ocean floor, on a global scale, ranges between -2000 and -6000 meters. In some regions though like the Pacific exceed this range and reach 11 kilometers below the sea surface. One such region is the deepest point on Earth, the Mariana trench as shown below followed by a map for a perspective of its location.
Location of the Mariana trench. Wikimedia commons.
Credits: The SRTM dataset used was provided by IFREMER.
Converting Greenhouse Gases to Rocks
VideoOne of the ways scientists are attempting to reduce greenhouse gases is to inject these gases into the ground. Specifically, they are testing injecting them, into basalt which is type of igneous rocks usually forming the first (rock) layer (sandwiched between the sedimentary & gabbro layers) in the oceanic crust basalt and in volcanic regions.
The above video features Iceland and its geothermal plants. Iceland is a heaven for geothermal energy as it lies along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) (i.e. where Mid-Atlantic ocean floor is spreading apart in opposite directions forming a ridge). Most notably Iceland lies along the V-Shaped Reykjavik ridge (figure below; Google maps) which is part of the Norther MAR.
Animation of the Italy Earthquake’s Seismic Velocity
VideoA “real-time” animation of the seismic (vertical) velocity of Italy’s 5.5 Mw earthquake that hit between the Aquila and Rieti provinces. The second half of the animation shows the whole country and surrounding area.
Real-time indicates that the video reflects how the waves propagated in real-time. It’s neither slowed down not sped up.
Red color indicates relatively higher vertical velocities indicating the ground is moving upwards while the blue color indicates the lower (negative) velocities indicated a downward movement of the ground. Color intensity refers to the magnitude.
Sound of the Moving Earth
AudioWhat do you think an earthquake would sound like if you could hear it?
Here’s a sample (opens in a new tab).
The audio was generate by processing seismic data.
More samples are available on from the source where you can also find the corresponding spectrograms, (i.e. the representation of the frequency content of the signal and how it varies in time).
via Zhigang Peng @ Georgia Institute of Technology
Credit: Peng, Z., C. Aiken*, D. Kilb, D. Shelly, B. Enescu (2012), Listening to the 2011 magnitude 9.0 Tohoku-Oki, Japan earthquake, Seismol. Res. Lett., 83(2), 287-293, doi: 10.1785/gssrl.83.2.287. , and Kilb, D., Z. Peng, D. Simpson, A. Michael and M. Fisher* (2012), Listen, watch, learn: SeisSound video products, Seismol. Res. Lett., 83(2), 281-286, doi: 10.1785/gssrl.83.2.281.
As a follow-up here’s a nice video from USGS
Ibrahim El Merehbi 