Mi(ni)Geo

This shows the largest of the newly detected graben found in highlands of the lunar farside. The broadest graben is about 500 meters (1,640 feet) wide and topography derived from Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) stereo images indicates they are almost 20 meters (almost 66 feet) deep. Credit: NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University/Smithsonian Institution (via NASA)

Modeling of geological bodies in Geophysical Institute AS CR in Prague, Czech Republic. (via Wikimedia Commons)

The San Andreas Fault super-imposed over the California landscape seen in a shuttle photo. Credit: Fuis, et al. (vía OurAmazingPlanet)

3D animation - Mediterranean isolation and desiccation during the Messinian Salinity Crisis (by daniggcc)

Geography of the Gibraltar Arc during the early stages of the Messinian Salinity Crisis (the period of restricted connection between the Mediterranean and the Altlantic). The interpretation by Garcia-Castellanos & Villaseñor (2011, Nature) proposes that, at a depth of about 100 km, a piece of dense lithosphere detached from Iberia and sunk in the Earth’s mantle. As a result, southern Iberia uplifted and the seaways that connected both seas emerged, This uplift had to compete with the erosion produced by the inflow of Atlantic water into the Med, allowing a long-lived inflow that explains the enormous amount of salt precipitated in the bottom of the Mediterranean. The lack of oceanic water supply and the arid climate of the Mediterranean sea both lead to a drawdown of its level. This video visualizes the interpretation of a research published in Nature in Dec. 2011, but not all of its contents is part yet of a consensus among specialists. More outreach info in this blog post.

Fig. 1 in P. Hammer et al., GSA Today, 21, 6 (2011): Location of transcontinental corridor (yellow lines) on a simplified tectonic age map of northern North America. Tectonic age is defined as the time since the most recent episode of tectonic deformation. Red arrows show along-strike offsets linking profile segments. The interpreted cross section incorporates Earth curvature and is displayed using a vertical exaggeration of 2:1. At this scale, features are difficult to identify; see 1:1 version extended to full lithospheric depth.

Vol. 162, Issue 2, German Journal of Geosciences. Figure by K. Reicherter et al., p. 217-234.

Geologic structures within the Central Virginia Seismic Zone. Credit: David Spears. (via Virginia DDME)

The earthquake’s epicenter was about 60 km (~40 miles) northwest of Richmond, Virginia and occurred in the central Virginia seismic zone- an area of modest (or so we thought), but persistent seismic activity in the Piedmont. This region is laced with ancient faults that formed 200 to 300 million years ago when Virginia was at the frontline in an ugly collision between tectonic plates. I study these fault zones. Today’s temblor makes it clear that these faults are 1) not inactive and 2) have the potential to produce significant and damaging earthquakes. We have much to learn about the stresses that cause faults to slip this far from modern tectonic plate boundaries (in this case at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge some 3,000 km from central Virginia) and the hazards that these old, but restless, faults pose. It’s why we do research at William & Mary. (via Chuck Bailey)

The Rurrandverwerfung (Rurrand Fault) between Aachen and Cologne, Germany. An active, NW-SE trending normal fault in the Lower Rhine Graben area and a possible candidate for the 1756 Düren earthquakes. Now outcropped due to construction works for the new highway A4. (50.850°N, 6.510°E) (via Paleoseismicity)

Cuenca del Ebro - evolución, simulación, animation (by daniggcc)

Results from a computer model of the evolution of the Ebro Basin and the Pyrenees. 
Drainage network, lakes, and topography. Time is in million years before present. The horizontal movement of tectonic blocks is contrained from structural geology studies of the three mountain ranges sorrounding the basin. Source: Garcia-Castellanos, D., J. Vergés, J.M. Gaspar-Escribano & S. Cloetingh, 2003. Interplay between tectonics, climate and fluvial transport during the Cenozoic evolution of the Ebro Basin (NE Iberia). J. Geophys. Res., 108 (B7), 2347. doi:10.1029/2002JB002073

Life Of Hotspot Volcanic Island (by IRISEnO)

Life of Hotspot Volcanic Island follows the animation “Hotspot Volcanism”, and shows the evolution of a single island as it forms over the hotspot. Includes the initial eruption from the sea floor until it moves far from the hotspot and erodes to an atoll. Modified from: Moore, J. G., and Clague, D. A., 1992, Volcano growth and evolution of the island of Hawaii. Geological Society of America Bulletin, volume 104, p. 1471-1484.

Images Composition from the Visible Paleo-Earth (by habitabilitylab)

This is a true-color representation of the evolution of Earth surface from 750 million years ago to today. The video is part of the collection of the Visible Paleo-Earth Project by the Planetary Habitability Laboratory @ UPR Arecibo.

This simulation shows how much the land in Japan moved during the first 35 minutes following the start of the Tohoku earthquake (which itself lasted two minutes). The arrows show the direction of movement of each GPS station, and the color of the land shows the magnitude of its cumulative displacement. Credit: Francisco Ortega, Tectonics Observatory, Caltech.

(Source: youtube.com)

Cross-section of [Japan’s] subduction zone taken perpendicular to the average strike of gCMTs [earthquakes’ focal mechanisms] that match selection criteria. The trench location is marked with a red square. The black solid line describes the best fitting planar geometry; the red dashed line the best-fitting non-planar geometry. (via Subduction Zone Geometry Analysis - USGS)

Mountain Building Animation (by TectonicsObservatory)

This animation shows how the collision of India and Eurasia, which started about 50 million years ago and continues to this day, formed the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau. Credit: Kristel Chanard, Tectonics Observatory, Caltech; Tim Pyle, Caltech.