For Your Biologists/Paleontologists: Earth Viewer

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Link: Earth Viewer [An interactive 3-D globe showing how the Earth looked in the geological past]

 

 

EarthViewer is an educational tool for exploring the deep history of planet Earth.

 

Past continental shapes, their locations, and other paleontological data are based on current scientific knowledge. As we travel deeper back in Earth's history uncertainty increases for some of the data. For example, scientists can directly measure temperature and carbon dioxide levels to determine modern conditions, but for evidence of Earth's climate millions of years ago they rely on proxy measurements, such as isotope ratios or the erosion of rock.

 

However, the dynamic nature of our planet has erased some of this evidence. For example, the subduction of rocks into the mantle and the erosion of exposed rocks make them unavailable for later examination. Evidence for events billions of years in Earth's past is rare and have been subjected to various geologic and chemical processes that can obscure the data. When looking at ancient evidence, such as the temperature during the Archean 3.5 billion years ago, it is important to keep in mind that the estimates are based on measurements of a small number of ancient rock samples.

 

Scientific information can be displayed using the menu bar at the bottom of the screen. "Charts" displays time series data for a number of variables. Faded lines (e.g., Proterozoic temperature) indicate uncertain data. "View" allows the user to display significant geological and biological events on the timeline, as well as the five largest mass extinctions and impact events with craters larger than 50 km. We calculated the paleo-coordinates for a select group of cities and plotted them for each of the maps in the Phanerozoic Eon so you can trace their movement for the last 540 million years. The "In-Depth" menu provides extra detail on a variety of topics important to the evolution of planet Earth.

 

EarthViewer is based on the latest science, and we encourage you to visit the "References" page on the Teacher tab to dig deeper into the source data and the exciting research focused on understanding our dynamic planet...