7
NAME______
GO THERE with Google Earth
Exercises
______
1a. Make sure no boxes are checked in the layers window. Use Fly To and enter the prime coordinates, 0.0, 0.0 (intersection of the prime meridian and the Equator). What is the local name for this area? (Hint: Move the pointer over the placemarker, and a name should appear).Do you think the name is correct? Why?
How would you get there if you could go?
What is the minimum height from which you can view the area, even it the view is fuzzy?
Zoom out to an eye elevation of between 7500 and 8000 miles. Click on the Tools Folder on the main toolbar, and click on Measure. Using the measure tool, draw as vertical a line as you possibly can from the placemarker ┼ to the northernmost edge of the planet. What is the distance?
should be around 4630 miles
Based on the length of your line, approximately how far would a complete trip around the world be if you traveled along this north-south line?
about 18,400
How long would it take in a jet airplane traveling along that path if the jets average cruising velocity is 500 mph
around 30 hours depending on the length of the line
Clear the line you have drawn, and draw another line using the measure tool that extends from the prime coordinates to the eastern edge of the planet that is as level (horizontal) as you can make it. What is the length of this line?
should be around 4820
Which is line is longer—the north-south line, or the east-west line?
Based on the length of the new line, approximately how far would a complete trip around the world be if you traveled along this east-west line?
about 18,400
How long would it take in a jet airplane traveling along that path if the jets average cruising velocity is 500 mph
(around 30 hours depending on the length of the line)
Based on your observations, is the Earth a perfect sphere?
What is the difference between its north-south and east-west measurements?
Postulate a natural reason why the Earth has different north-south and east-west measurements.
Clear the line you have drawn, and redraw another north-south line using the measure tool from the prime coordinates to the northernmost edge of the planet.
Which continents does this north-south line cross?
If you were the sun in this view, would people located in towns/cities along your north-south line see the sun’s position as a sunset, sunrise, or midday?
Why?
Using the left (west) navigational button, rotate your view of the planet till your north south line is as close to the right (eastern) side of the planet as you can get it. If you were the sun in this view, would people located in towns/cities along your north-south line see the sun’s position as a sunset, sunrise, or midday?
Why?
If you were the sun in this view, would people located in towns/cities in (Brazil) South America see the sun’s position as a sunset, sunrise, or midday?
Why?
Using the right (east) navigational button, rotate your view of the planet till your north south line gets as close to the left (western) side of the planet as you can get it. If you were the sun in this view, would people located in towns/cities along your north-south line see the sun’s position as a sunset, sunrise, or midday?
Why?
If you were the sun in this view, would people located in towns/cities in Pakistan, westernmost India, and on cruise ships in the middle of the Indian see the sun’s position as a sunset, sunrise, or midday?
Why?
If you were the sun in this view, would people located in towns/cities in eastern Australia and the island nations of Samoa, Tonga, and the Phillipines see the sun’s position as a sunset, sunrise, or midday?
The sun always seems to rise in the east (the “orient”), and set in the west. If you were to look down on the north pole from a satellite in space, which direction (clockwise, or counterclockwise would the Earth’s rotation be?
A description of north south lines on the Earth’s surface such as yours seem to define a north-south belt of areas where the sun is either setting, a series of north-south areas where it is setting, and a series of north-south areas where it is directly overhead. These north-south belts are often called time-zones, and the lines dividing the globe into these north south belts are also named after the suns highest position in the sky, which is midday, or “meridian” (latin, “meri”=mid and “dia”=day). How many time zones are there on Earth?
What is the angular distance in degrees for a time zone (HINT: divide the total degrees of longitude on Earth by the number of time zones)
15 degrees
Using the left (west) navigational button, rotate your view of Earth back to its original position with your north-south line at the center of your view. In the Layers Panel, click on the borders folder. How many countries does your line cross?
Click on the view folder and click on lat/long grid. What happens to your line?
Use the north (= towards top of screen) arrow on the Navigation panel to rotate your view along your line to the north. The name of your line will become apparent as you continue to rotate your view using the towards top of screen arrow. What is the name of your line?
What is the latitude of the red dot marking Greenwich in Google Earth?
Describe the North Geographic Pole. Zoom in to about 20 miles eye elevation.
In what country is the pole, and to whom does Santa pay taxes?
Move your pointer around the circumference of an approximately 100 mile diameter circle around the pole, and pay attention to the latitude and longitude of your pointer.
Describe how the lat/long varies around the pole.
What does the variation in latitude and longitude around the pole imply about lat and longitude?
2. Clearwater Lake, Canada. Measure the distance across the length in three directions and record them (a.b.c.) ______
How much do the distances differ? ______
What do you think made the lake based on your observations? ______
2a. Measure the distance across the lake immediately east of Clearwater Lake, Ontario. ______
Do you think its origin is similar to that of Clearwater Lake and why? ______
3. Manicougan Lake, Ontario. Measure the distance across the lake in three directions and record each. ______
How is it different from Clearwater Lake, Ontario. ______
How is it the same?______
Zoom in from the farthest point directly above Manicougan. At what eye altitude can you first detect it? ______
At that altitude, about what size is it compared to some other geographic entity.______
At and eye altitude of 227 miles, measure the north-south distance across the densely populated area of Montreal (deep gray to pink gray). ______
How does this compare with Manicougan Lake. ______
What would happen to Montreal if it were affected by the same kind of thing that formed Lake Manicougan? ______
What is the length of Long Island in New York? ______
The 911 disaster would be what approximate percentage of the destruction if Long Island was affected with the force suggested by the size of Lake Manicougan?______
4. San Francisco Bay area—zoom out to around 250 miles. Turn off roads and turn on county boundaries, leave on terrain and cities towns for reference. Find the trace of the San Andreas Fault by looking for a long NW-SE trending lineament that is prominently exposed in Marin County, just northwest of San Francisco on the northern side of the bridge. Measure its length in Marin County. ______.
Is it exposed anywhere north of Marin County?______
In what Caleefornia county does the SAF last appear on land and what is the lat/long its last inferred position on land? (Hint, you may want to tilt the view about 45 degrees with and elevation exaggeration of about 1.5 which will help you to see the topography around the fault). ______
Describe the topography of the SAF. Is is a ridge or a valley. In what general direction(s) does water that rains onto the fault zone? ____ What can you infer about how faults control water drainage, based on your observations?______
· Draw a straight line from Bird Rock at the northernmost land exposure of the SAF in Marin County along the axis of the fault to the southeast corner of San Mateo County.
o If the fault ruptures north of the Bay area, will the damage to Caleefornia’s infrastructure (i.e. major roads and cities) be extensive? ______
o List the freeways south of the Bay Area that would be severed by a 30 foot rupture along your trace of the SAF in San Francisco and San Mateo County. ______, ______, ______, ______
o Has there been any apparent foresight in planning the transportation corridors in those areas, based on your observations, to mitigate fault severance by movement on the SAF? ______
5. Visit Lee Vining, CA. Is the position of the site locator icon correct, based on what you know about towns? Why______
What is the name of the lake near Lee Vining? ______
What is the elevation of the lake? ______How would the clothing choice of Lee Vining locals differ from those of Las Vegas, NV for Labor Day Weekend?______
Zoom out to about 16-18 miles and center the lake in your view. Turn on the earthquake layer. The cluster of quakes you see near NW of the lake is centered at the _____/____ highway junctions. Make a 3.5 mile SW trending line from that highway junction to the center of a brownish black prominent feature along the lakes NW shore (NW of Negit Island). Describe the vegetation of that feature? ______Tilt the view completely to view a profile of the feature. Describe its profile ______. What do the shape and lack of vegetation imply about the age and/or origin of the feature? ______
What can you infer about the origin of the lake near Lee Vining, based on its shape?______
Compare and contrast the shape of the feature with the shape of the lake. ______
A series of smaller, circular features become visible about a mile south of the lake shore. Are they more like dried up lakes similar to this one, or to the feature on the NW shore of the lake? ______
Do the circular shapes of the geographic features in this area near Lee Vining indicate a common origin? ______What does this imply about the nature of the cluster of earthquakes N of Lee Vining? ______
How do the two knobs of land on the southwest shore of the lake differ from the knob on the NW side?______
The knobs on the SW shore are deltas, formed from insoluble sediment influx transported by fluvial (i.e. river and creek) systems into a valley or depression. Notice the green vegetation along the creeks. The SW most knob is formed by __xxx__ creek, which drains Tioga Pass, the eastern entrance to Yosemite National Park. These two deltas are the source of most of the water in the lake. The LA Metro Water District has diverted some of the creek water into the California Aquaduct for almost a hundred years, but today, the lake level is fairly stable. Where is the river that drains the lake? ______
Except for aquaduct, where does the water go?______
How do you think the concentric lines NE of the Lake formed? ______
The water of Lee Vining Creek flows across the rocks of the Sierra Nevada to the west (just east of Yosemite National Park). The rocks in this part of the Sierra are granite, and composed of mainly feldspar (90% of the rock, including: potassium feldspar (potassium aluminosilicate) and plagioclase feldspar (sodium aluminosilicates)), less than 10% quartz (silicon dioxide), and a little biotite (iron phyllosilicate). The water dissolves and picks up small amounts the chemical compounds that make up these rocks. If you were to boil the lake water to remove germs, what would it taste like? (Don’t say yucky!!) (NOTE: Hard water is rich in dissolved calcium, soft water is rich in dissolved sodium) ______
The shores of the lake are not richly vegetated—there are no trees, etc. Why do you think plants do not like to grow near the lake? ______
Go South of Lee Vining to Lake Crowley, which is about 11 miles southwest of Mammoth Lakes, CA. View the area at a height of between 22 and 25 miles. How many earthquake epicenters are there NW of Lake Crowley compared to the lake near Lee Vining? ______
What does this imply about the area around Lake Crowley, based on your observations of the Lee Vining area? ______
Does Lake Crowley have a different origin that the lake near Lee Vining, and how do you think it formed?______
List two major differences to support your reasoning a. ______b. ______
6. Dead Sea—Go to the Dead Sea (use fly to if you can’t find it). View the Dead Sea from an altitude of about 150 miles. Turn off all boundaries except for international ones. What is the nature of the topography of the western border of Jordan, and how does this compare to the features you observed in the bay area of California?______
What does this imply about the origin of this part of the world? ______
The finger-like bay at the southern terminus of the western Jordan boundary is long and narrow. How is this bay topographically related to the area along the western Jordanian Boundary? ______
Would this narrow seaway be more or less salty than the rest of the Red Sea that it opens into? Explain your answer ______
Does water from the Dead Sea drain into this bay? ______
From what source does the Dead Sea get most of it water? ______
What is the elevation of the Dead Sea? ______
How would the water taste there if you could boil and drink it, compared with the lake near Lee Vining? ______.
What do you think the structures are at the south end of the Dead Sea (e.g. fish ponds, etc.)? ______
Why are those structures located at the south, instead of the north shore of the Sea? ______