Tectonic plates are pieces of Earth's crust and upper mantle called the lithosphere and are about 100 km thick. There are two main types of plates: oceanic and continental, each composed of different materials. The formation and movement of these plates generates everything from the shape and orientation of continents to the mountains and trenches on Earth. The plates layer shows major and minor plates. Microplates are not included in this map. This version of the tectonic plates and boundaries was derived from Peter Bird in Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems, 4(3), 1027, [doi:10.1029/2001GC000252]. The full publication can be read here. Processing of the 2014 version of the data into GIS formats was done by Hugo Ahlenius.

The Earth’s lithosphere is made up of a series of plates that float on the mantle. Scientists think the convection of the mantle causes these plates to move triggering earthquakes, volcanoes, mountain-building events, or trench formation. These plates creep along at a rate of approximately five to ten centimeters (two to four inches) per year. These plates move in primarily three main ways. They slide past one another along transform (strike-slip) boundaries, they push against each other at convergent boundaries, or pull away in opposite directions at divergent boundaries. Each one of these interactions create different types of landforms. For example, the steady pressure of the Indian Plate and the Eurasian Plate built the Himalaya mountains and the Plateau of Tibet. The divergent boundary between the African Plate and the Arabian formed the Red Sea.Use this plate map layer to explore how the movement of the plates cause earthquakes, volcanoes, or shape Earth’s landscape.

This map layer features both major and minor plates, but excludes microplates. The data is from the scientific study by Peter Bird published in volume 4, issue 3 of Geochemisty, Geophysics, Geosystems and was translated into geospatial formats by Hugo Ahlenius and updated by Dan Pisut.

The global tectonics data compilation is a set of raster and vector data that are useful for investigating tectonics past and present. The datasets are useful on their own or can be used in GIS software, which includes the QGIS project file for convenience. The datasets include our new models for tectonic plate boundaries and deformation zones, geologic provinces and orogens. Additional datasets include earthquake and volcano locations, geochronology, topography, magnetics, gravity, and seismic velocity.

The global tectonics collection is suitable for research and educational purposes.

The surface of the Earth is broken up into large plates. There are seven major plates: North America, South America, Eurasia, Africa, India, the Pacific, and Antarctica. There are also numerous microplates. The number and shapes of the plates change over geologic time. Plates are divided by boundaries that are seismically active. The different plate boundaries can be described by the type of motion that is occurring between the plates at specific locations. Ocean basins contain spreading ridges where the youngest portions of the seafloor are found. At the spreading ridges magma is released as it pushes up from the mantle and new oceanic crust is formed. At subduction zone boundaries plates are moving toward each other, with one plate subducting or moving beneath the other. When this occurs the crust is pushed into the mantle where it is recycled into magma.Data accessed from here: https://www-udc.ig.utexas.edu/external/plates/data.htm

117 original plate boundaries from Esri Data and Maps (2007) edited to better match 10 years of earthquakes, land forms and bathymetry from Mapping Our World's WSI_Earth image from module 2. Esri Canada's education layer of plate boundaries and the Smithsonian's ascii file from the download section of the 'This Dynamic Planet' site plate boundaries were used to compare the resulting final plate boundaries for significant differences.

This layer shows the interpreted surface locations of active plate and microplate boundaries, in and around Te Riu-a-Māui / Zealandia. The layer was newly-compiled for, and is part of, the 'Tectonic map of Te Riu-a-Māui / Zealandia' 1:8 500 000 dataset.

A web application for use in explaining the global distribution of earthquakes and volcanoes and why they are located where they are - specifically designed for use with NCEA Level 1 Geography.Layers that can be turned on in this application:- Tectonic Plate Boundaries- Recent Earthquakes- Archived Earthquakes- Global VolcanoesStudents can export their maps to a PDF or screenshot their maps.You do not have to have an ArcGIS Schools Bundle to access this web application.

The PALEOMAP project produces paleogreographic maps illustrating the Earth's plate tectonic, paleogeographic, climatic, oceanographic and biogeographic development from the Precambrian to the Modern World and beyond.

A series of digital data sets has been produced consisting of plate tectonic data, climatically sensitive lithofacies, and biogeographic data. Software has been devloped to plot maps using the PALEOMAP plate tectonic model and digital geographic data sets: PGIS/Mac, Plate Tracker for Windows 95, Paleocontinental Mapper and Editor (PCME), Earth System History GIS (ESH-GIS), PaleoGIS(uses ArcView), and PALEOMAPPER.

Teaching materials for educators including atlases, slide sets, VHS animations, JPEG images and CD-ROM digital images.

Some PALEOMAP products include: Plate Tectonic Computer Animation (VHS) illustrating motions of the continents during the last 850 million years.

Paleogeographic Atlas consisting of 20 full color paleogeographic maps. (Scotese, 1997).

Paleogeographic Atlas Slide Set (35mm)

Paleogeographic Digital Images (JPEG, PC/Mac diskettes)

Paleogeographic Digital Image Archive (EPS, PC/Mac Zip disk) consists of the complete digital archive of original digital graphic files used to produce plate tectonic and paleographic maps for the Paleographic Atlas.

GIS software such as PaleoGIS and ESH-GIS.

Named Landforms of the World version 2 (NLWv2) contains four sub-layers representing geomorphological landforms, provinces, divisions, and their respective cartographic boundaries. The latter supports map making, while the first three represent basic units, such as landforms, which comprise provinces, and provinces comprise divisions. NLW is a substantial update to World Named Landforms in both compilation method and the attributes that describe each landform. For more details, please refer to our paper, Named Landforms of the World: A Geomorphological and Physiographic Compilation, in Annals of the American Association of Geographers. July 2, 2025: We have made Named Landforms of the World v3 (NLWv3) available. Please explore this group containing all of the layers and data. NLWv2 will remain available. Landforms are commonly defined as natural features on the surface of the Earth. The National Geographic Society specifies terrain as the basis for landforms and lists four major types: mountains, hills, plateaus, and plains. Here, however, we define landforms in a richer way that includes properties relating to underlying geologic structure, erosional and depositional character, and tectonic setting and processes. These characteristics were asserted by Dr. Richard E. Murphy in 1968 in his map, titled Landforms of the World. We blended Murphy"s definition for landforms with the work E.M. Bridges, who in his 1990 book, World Geomorphology, provided a globally consistent description of geomorphological divisions, provinces, and sections to give names to the landform regions of the world. AttributeDescriptionBridges Full NameFull name from E.M. Bridges" 1990 "World Geomorphology" Division and if present province and section - intended for labeling print maps of small extents. Bridges DivisionGeomorphological Division as described in E.M. Bridges" 1990 "World Geomorphology" - All Landforms have a division assigned, i.e., no nulls. Bridges ProvinceGeomorphological Province as described in E.M. Bridges" 1990 "World Geomorphology" - Not all divisions are subdivided into provinces. Bridges SectionGeomorphological Section as described in E.M. Bridges" 1990 "World Geomorphology" - Not all provinces are subdivided into sections.StructureLandform Structure as described in Richard E. Murphy"s 1968 "Landforms of the World" map. Coded Value Domain. Values include: - Alpine Systems: Area of mountains formed by orogenic (collisions of tectonic plates) processes in the past 350 to 500 million years. - Caledonian/Hercynian Shield Remnants: Area of mountains formed by orogenic (collisions of tectonic plates) processes 350 to 500 million years ago. - Gondwana or Laurasian Shields: Area underlaid by mostly crystalline rock formations fromed one billion or more years ago and unbroken by tectonic processes. - Rifted Shield Areas: fractures or spreading along or adjacent to tectonic plate edges. - Isolated Volcanic Areas: volcanic activity occurring outside of Alpine Systems and Rifted Shields. - Sedimentary: Areas of deposition occurring within the past 2.5 million years Moist or DryLandform Erosional/Depositional variable as described in Richard E. Murphy"s 1968 "Landforms of the World" map. Coded Value Domain. Values include: - Moist: where annual aridity index is 1.0 or higher, which implies precipitation is absorbed or lost via runoff. - Dry: where annual aridity index is less than 1.0, which implies more precipitation evaporates before it can be absorbed or lost via runoff. TopographicLandform Topographic type variable as described in Richard E. Murphy"s 1968 "Landforms of the World" map. Karagulle et. al. 2017 - based on rich morphometric characteristics. Coded Value Domain. Values include: - Plains: Areas with less than 90-meters of relief and slopes under 20%. - Hills: Areas with 90- to 300-meters of local relief. - Mountains: Areas with over 300-meters of relief - High Tablelands: Areas with over 300-meters of relief and 50% of highest elevation areas are of gentle slope. - Depressions or Basins: Areas of land surrounded land of higher elevation. Glaciation TypeLandform Erosional/Depositional variable as described in Richard E. Murphy"s 1968 "Landforms of the World" map. Values include: - Wisconsin/Wurm Glacial Extent: Areas of most recent glaciation which formed 115,000 years ago and ended 11,000 years ago. - Pre-Wisconsin/Wurm Glacial Extent: Areas subjected only to glaciation prior to 140,000 years ago. ContinentAssigned by Author during data compilation. Bridges Short NameThe name of the smallest of Division, Province, or Section containing this landform feature. Murphy Landform CodeCombination of Richard E. Murphy"s 1968 "Landforms of the World" variables expressed as a 3- or 4- letter notation. Used to label medium scale maps. Area_GeoGeodesic area in km2. Primary PlateName of tectonic plate that either completely underlays this landform feature or underlays the largest portion of the landform"s area.Secondary PlateWhen a landform is underlaid by two or more tectonic plates, this is the plate that underlays the second largest area.3rd PlateWhen a landform is underlaid by three or more tectonic plates, this is the plate that underlays the third largest area.4th PlateWhen a landform is underlaid by four or more tectonic plates, this is the plate that underlays the fourth largest area.5th PlateWhen a landform is underlaid by five tectonic plates, this is the plate that underlays the fifth largest area.NotesContains standard text to convey additional tectonic process characteristics. Tectonic ProcessAssigns values of orogenic, rift zone, or above subducting plate. These data are also available as an ArcGIS Pro Map Package: Named_Landforms_of_the_World_v2.0.mpkx.These data supersede the earlier v1.0: World Named Landforms. Change Log:DateDescription of ChangeJuly 20, 2022Corrected spelling of Guiana from incorrect representation, "Guyana", used by Bridges.July 27, 2022Corrected Structure coded value domain value, changing "Caledonian/Hercynian Shield" to "Caledonian , Hercynian, or Appalachian Remnants". Cite as: Frye, C., Sayre R., Pippi, M., Karagulle, Murphy, A., D. Soller, D.R., Gilbert, M., and Richards, J., 2022. Named Landforms of the World. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.33178.93129. Accessed on:

A seismotectonic map shows geologic, seismological, and other information that is pertinent to seismic hazards but previously was scattered among many sources. Afghanistan is part of the Eurasian plate. Afghan seismicity is driven by the relative northward movements of the Arabian plate past western Afghanistan at 33 mm/yr and of the Indian plate past eastern Afghanistan at 39 mm/yr or faster as both plates subduct under Eurasia. Afghanistan is laced with faults. Known faults large enough to have been mapped at a scale of 1:500,000 are least abundant in the stable North Afghan platform, more abundant in the accreted terranes of southern Afghanistan, and most likely to slip rapidly and generate earthquakes in eastern and southeastern Afghanistan in the broad transpressional plate boundary with the Indian plate. Crustal earthquakes are most abundant in and around northeastern Afghanistan as a result of the northward subduction of the Indian plate. Crustal earthquakes are somewhat less abundant in much of the transpressional plate boundary with India. Central and western Afghanistan are least seismically active. Beneath the Hindu Kush of northeastern Afghanistan and the Pamirs of adjacent Tajikistan, numerous mantle earthquakes occur within a steeply dipping, northeast-trending, tabular zone that is 700 km long and extends nearly to 300 km depth. Except for the Chaman fault that forms part of the western edge of the transpressional plate boundary in Pakistan and Afghanistan, published evidence for or against the activity of individual Afghan faults is sparse.

[Summary provided by the USGS.]

Named Landforms of the World version 2 (NLWv2) contains four sub-layers representing geomorphological landforms, provinces, divisions, and their respective cartographic boundaries. The latter supports map making, while the first three represent basic units, such as landforms, which comprise provinces, and provinces comprise divisions. NLW is a substantial update to World Named Landforms in both compilation method and the attributes that describe each landform. For more details, please refer to our paper, Named Landforms of the World: A Geomorphological and Physiographic Compilation, in Annals of the American Association of Geographers. July 2, 2025: We have made Named Landforms of the World v3 (NLWv3) available. Please explore this group containing all of the layers and data. NLWv2 will remain available. Landforms are commonly defined as natural features on the surface of the Earth. The National Geographic Society specifies terrain as the basis for landforms and lists four major types: mountains, hills, plateaus, and plains. Here, however, we define landforms in a richer way that includes properties relating to underlying geologic structure, erosional and depositional character, and tectonic setting and processes. These characteristics were asserted by Dr. Richard E. Murphy in 1968 in his map, titled Landforms of the World. We blended Murphy"s definition for landforms with the work E.M. Bridges, who in his 1990 book, World Geomorphology, provided a globally consistent description of geomorphological divisions, provinces, and sections to give names to the landform regions of the world. AttributeDescriptionBridges Full NameFull name from E.M. Bridges" 1990 "World Geomorphology" Division and if present province and section - intended for labeling print maps of small extents. Bridges DivisionGeomorphological Division as described in E.M. Bridges" 1990 "World Geomorphology" - All Landforms have a division assigned, i.e., no nulls. Bridges ProvinceGeomorphological Province as described in E.M. Bridges" 1990 "World Geomorphology" - Not all divisions are subdivided into provinces. Bridges SectionGeomorphological Section as described in E.M. Bridges" 1990 "World Geomorphology" - Not all provinces are subdivided into sections.StructureLandform Structure as described in Richard E. Murphy"s 1968 "Landforms of the World" map. Coded Value Domain. Values include: - Alpine Systems: Area of mountains formed by orogenic (collisions of tectonic plates) processes in the past 350 to 500 million years. - Caledonian/Hercynian Shield Remnants: Area of mountains formed by orogenic (collisions of tectonic plates) processes 350 to 500 million years ago. - Gondwana or Laurasian Shields: Area underlaid by mostly crystalline rock formations fromed one billion or more years ago and unbroken by tectonic processes. - Rifted Shield Areas: fractures or spreading along or adjacent to tectonic plate edges. - Isolated Volcanic Areas: volcanic activity occurring outside of Alpine Systems and Rifted Shields. - Sedimentary: Areas of deposition occurring within the past 2.5 million years Moist or DryLandform Erosional/Depositional variable as described in Richard E. Murphy"s 1968 "Landforms of the World" map. Coded Value Domain. Values include: - Moist: where annual aridity index is 1.0 or higher, which implies precipitation is absorbed or lost via runoff. - Dry: where annual aridity index is less than 1.0, which implies more precipitation evaporates before it can be absorbed or lost via runoff. TopographicLandform Topographic type variable as described in Richard E. Murphy"s 1968 "Landforms of the World" map. Karagulle et. al. 2017 - based on rich morphometric characteristics. Coded Value Domain. Values include: - Plains: Areas with less than 90-meters of relief and slopes under 20%. - Hills: Areas with 90- to 300-meters of local relief. - Mountains: Areas with over 300-meters of relief - High Tablelands: Areas with over 300-meters of relief and 50% of highest elevation areas are of gentle slope. - Depressions or Basins: Areas of land surrounded land of higher elevation. Glaciation TypeLandform Erosional/Depositional variable as described in Richard E. Murphy"s 1968 "Landforms of the World" map. Values include: - Wisconsin/Wurm Glacial Extent: Areas of most recent glaciation which formed 115,000 years ago and ended 11,000 years ago. - Pre-Wisconsin/Wurm Glacial Extent: Areas subjected only to glaciation prior to 140,000 years ago. ContinentAssigned by Author during data compilation. Bridges Short NameThe name of the smallest of Division, Province, or Section containing this landform feature. Murphy Landform CodeCombination of Richard E. Murphy"s 1968 "Landforms of the World" variables expressed as a 3- or 4- letter notation. Used to label medium scale maps. Area_GeoGeodesic area in km2. Primary PlateName of tectonic plate that either completely underlays this landform feature or underlays the largest portion of the landform"s area.Secondary PlateWhen a landform is underlaid by two or more tectonic plates, this is the plate that underlays the second largest area.3rd PlateWhen a landform is underlaid by three or more tectonic plates, this is the plate that underlays the third largest area.4th PlateWhen a landform is underlaid by four or more tectonic plates, this is the plate that underlays the fourth largest area.5th PlateWhen a landform is underlaid by five tectonic plates, this is the plate that underlays the fifth largest area.NotesContains standard text to convey additional tectonic process characteristics. Tectonic ProcessAssigns values of orogenic, rift zone, or above subducting plate. These data are also available as an ArcGIS Pro Map Package: Named_Landforms_of_the_World_v2.0.mpkx.These data supersede the earlier v1.0: World Named Landforms. Change Log:DateDescription of ChangeJuly 20, 2022Corrected spelling of Guiana from incorrect representation, "Guyana", used by Bridges.July 27, 2022Corrected Structure coded value domain value, changing "Caledonian/Hercynian Shield" to "Caledonian , Hercynian, or Appalachian Remnants". Cite as: Frye, C., Sayre R., Pippi, M., Karagulle, Murphy, A., D. Soller, D.R., Gilbert, M., and Richards, J., 2022. Named Landforms of the World. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.33178.93129. Accessed on:

Neoproterozoic tectonic geography was dominated by the formation of the supercontinent Rodinia, its break-up and the subsequent amalgamation of Gondwana. The Neoproterozoic was a tumultuous time of Earth history, with large climatic variations, the emergence of complex life and a series of continent-building orogenies of a scale not repeated until the Cenozoic. Here we synthesise available geological and palaeomagnetic data and build the first full-plate, topological model of the Neoproterozoic that maps the evolution of the tectonic plate configurations during this time. Topological models trace evolving plate boundaries and facilitate the evaluation of “plate tectonic rules” such as subduction zone migration through time when building plate models. There is a rich history of subduction zone proxies preserved in the Neoproterozoic geological record, providing good evidence for the existence of continent-margin and intra-oceanic subduction zones through time. These are preserved either as volcanic arc protoliths accreted in continent-continent, or continent-arc collisions, or as the detritus of these volcanic arcs preserved in successor basins. Despite this, we find that the model presented here still predicts less subduction (ca. 90%) than on the modern earth, suggesting that we have produced a conservative model and are likely underestimating the amount of subduction, either due to a simplification of tectonically complex areas, or because of the absence of preservation in the geological record (e.g. ocean-ocean convergence). Furthermore, the reconstruction of plate boundary geometries provides constraints for global-scale earth system parameters, such as the role of volcanism or ridge production on the planet's icehouse climatic excursion during the Cryogenian. Besides modelling plate boundaries, our model presents some notable departures from previous Rodinia models. We omit India and South China from Rodinia completely, due to long-lived subduction preserved on margins of India and conflicting palaeomagnetic data for the Cryogenian, such that these two cratons act as ‘lonely wanderers’ for much of the Neoproterozoic. We also introduce a Tonian-Cryogenian aged rotation of the Congo-São Francisco Craton relative to Rodinia to better fit palaeomagnetic data and account for thick passive margin sediments along its southern margin during the Tonian. The GPlates files of the model are released to the public and it is our expectation that this model can act as a foundation for future model refinements, the testing of alternative models, as well as providing constraints for both geodynamic and palaeoclimate models.

Digital plate model containing:

(a) Euler Poles used in reconstruction

(b) Continental crust polygons used in reconstruction

(c) Convergence plate boundaries

(d) Divergent plate boundaries

(e) Transform plate boundaries

(f) Plate topologies

All files are for use in Gplates 2.0 (www.gplates.org)

The data set for the Butler Peak quadrangle has been prepared by the Southern California Areal Mapping Project (SCAMP), a cooperative project sponsored jointly by the U.S. Geological Survey and the California Division of Mines and Geology, as part of an ongoing effort to utilize a Geographical Information System (GIS) format to create a regional digital geologic database for southern California. This regional database is being developed as a contribution to the National Geologic Map Data Base of the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program of the USGS. Development of the data set for the Butler Peak quadrangle has also been supported by the U.S. Forest Service, San Bernardino National Forest.

The digital geologic map database for the Butler Peak quadrangle has been created as a general-purpose data set that is applicable to other land-related investigations in the earth and biological sciences. For example, the U.S. Forest Service, San Bernardino National Forest, is using the database as part of a study of an endangered plant species that shows preference for particular rock type environments. The Butler Peak database is not suitable for site-specific geologic evaluations at scales greater than 1:24,000 (1 in = 2,000 ft).

This data set maps and describes the geology of the Butler Peak 7.5' quadrangle, San Bernardino County, California. Created using Environmental Systems Research Institute's ARC/INFO software, the data base consists of the following items: (1) a map coverage showing geologic contacts and units,(2) a scanned topographic base at a scale of 1:24,000, and (3) attribute tables for geologic units (polygons), contacts (arcs), and site-specific data (points). In addition, the data set includes the following graphic and text products: (1) A PostScript graphic plot-file containing the geologic map on a 1:24,000 topographic base accompanied by a Description of Map Units (DMU), a Correlation of Map Units (CMU), and a key to point and line symbols; (2) PDF files of the DMU and CMU, and of this Readme, and (3) this metadata file.

The geologic map data base contains original U.S. Geological Survey data generated by detailed field observation and by interpretation of aerial photographs. The map was created by transferring lines from the aerial photographs to a 1:24,000 mylar orthophoto-quadrangle and then to a base-stable topographic map. This map was then scribed, and a .007 mil, right-reading, black line clear film made by contact photographic processes.The black line was scanned and auto-vectorized by Optronics Specialty Company, Northridge, CA. The non-attributed scan was imported into ARC/INFO, where the database was built. Within the database, geologic contacts are represented as lines (arcs), geologic units as polygons, and site-specific data as points. Polygon, arc, and point attribute tables (.pat, .aat, and .pat, respectively) uniquely identify each geologic datum and link it to other tables (.rel) that provide more detailed geologic information.

The SAR4Tectonics project aims to provide open-access, global measurements of ground deformation in high-strain areas near tectonic plate boundaries. By leveraging the capabilities of the Persistent and Distributed Scatterer (PS/DS) technique with Sentinel-1 SAR images, the project seeks to deliver comprehensive and accurate data on ground deformation, which is crucial for understanding geological processes, assessing seismic risks in these regions, and advance our understanding of Earth's dynamic processes in general. The PS/DS technique offers significantly denser spatial coverage than GNSS, enabling the detection of more localized deformation signals. For the first time, such a vast and detailed dataset is made publicly available. By making this data openly accessible, the SAR4Tectonics project hopes to reduce the burden of SAR data processing for geoscientists, facilitating future studies.The project involved processing 6.5 years of SAR data, focusing on areas where the second invariant of strain exceeds 3 nanostrain per year. Various error corrections were employed, including tropospheric delay correction using ECMWF reanalysis data, ionospheric mitigation via CODE total electron content maps, and solid earth tide modeling. Additionally, the impact of vegetation and soil moisture on distributed scatterers was minimized through a full covariance matrix (phase linking) approach, and the results were calibrated using GNSS data. The final dataset includes line-of-sight average velocity maps, deformation time series, projection vectors, and reference plate modeled velocities.

The NLWv3 Tectonic Plates layer contains features are produced based on assigning each NLWv3 landform feature the topmost tectonic plate and then using ArcGIS's Dissolve geoprocessing tool to create multipart polygons representing regions of each of the topmost plates.Tectonic plates are the building blocks of continents and comprise the Earth's crust. Tectonic plates float, moving slowly in the outer layers of the Earth's mantle. Tectonic plates cover the entire Earth's surface and their respective movements creates three types of boundaries: Divergent: The plates are moving away from each other causing new crust to emerge. Such boundaries are usually referred to as rift zones.Convergent: The plates are colliding in one of two ways. The first is when the edges of both plates uplift to cause mountains to rise and the second is subducting where one plate slides beneath the other, causing it to rise. Transform: These plates slide past each other in opposite directions.The boundaries of tectonic plates are where earthquakes, most volcanoes, and rough mountainous terrain are produced. We evaluated the most recently produced digital tectonic plate boundary datasets. The NLWv3 compilation is first based on Ahlenius and then we adjusted many of the boundaries to match more recent seafloor rift and landform boundaries. We also added the Sinai and Adriatic Sea plates. Ahlenius, H. 2014. World tectonic plates and boundaries. Accessed December 22, 2021. https://github.com/fraxen/tectonicplatesTectonic map of the world. Accessed April 5, 2022. https://www.datapages.com/gis-map-publishing-program/gis-open-files/global-framework/tectonic-map-of-the-world-2007.Bird, P. 2003. An updated digital model of plate boundaries. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 4 (3):1–46. doi: 10.1029/2001GC000252.Gaba, E. 2018. Tectonic plates boundaries World Map Wt 180degE centered-en.svg. Accessed June 2, 2022. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tectonic_plates_boundaries_World_map_Wt_180degE_centered-en.svgHasterok, D., J. A. Halpin, A. S. Collins, M. Hand, C. Kreemer, M. G. Gard, and S. Glorie. 2022. New maps of global geological provinces and tectonic plates. Earth-Science Reviews 231:104069. doi: 10.1016/j.earscirev.2022.104069.

ESYS plc and the Department of Geomatic Engineering at University College London (UCL) have been funded by the British National Space Centre (BNSC) to develop a web GIS service to serve geographic data derived from remote sensing datasets. Funding was provided as part of the BNSC International Co-operation Programme 2 (ICP-2).

Particular aims of the project were to:

1. use Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC, recently renamed from the OpenGIS Consortium) technologies for map and data serving;

2. serve datasets for Europe and Africa, particularly Landsat TM and Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) digital elevation model (DEM) data;

3. provide a website giving access to the served data;

4. provide software scripts, etc., and a document reporting the data processing and software set-up methods developed during the project.

ICEDS was inspired in particular by the Committee on Earth Observing Satellites (CEOS) CEOS Landsat and SRTM Project (CLASP) proposal. An express intention of ICEDS (aim 4 in the list above) was therefore that the solution developed by ESYS and UCL should be redistributable, for example, to other CEOS members. This was taken to mean not only software scripts but also the methods developed by the project team to prepare the data and set up the server. In order to be compatible with aim 4, it was also felt that the use of Open Source, or at least 'free-of-cost' software for the Web GIS serving was an essential component. After an initial survey of the Web GIS packages available at the time , the ICEDS team decided to use the Deegree package, a free software initiative founded by the GIS and Remote Sensing unit of the Department of Geography, University of Bonn , and lat/lon . However the Red Spider web mapping software suite was also provided by IONIC Software - this is a commercial web mapping package but was provided pro bono by IONIC for this project and has been used in parallel to investigate the possibilities and limitations opened up by using a commercial package.

http://iceds.ge.ucl.ac.uk/

The map and descriptions offer information that may be used for: land-use planning (e.g. selecting land fill sites, greenbelts, avoiding geologic hazards), for finding aggregate resources (crushed rock, sand, and gravel), for study of geomorphology and Quaternary geology. Geologic hazards (e.g., landslides, swelling soils, heaving bedrock, and flooding) known to be located in, or characteristic of some mapped units, were identified.

Surficial deposits in the quadrangle partially record depositional events of the Quaternary Period (the most recent 1.8 million years). Some events such as floods are familiar to persons living in the area, while other recorded events are pre-historical. The latter include glaciation, probable large earthquakes, protracted drought, and widespread deposition of sand and silt by wind. At least twice in the past 200,000 years (most recently about 30,000 to 12,000 years ago) global cooling caused glaciers to form along the Continental Divide. The glaciers advanced down valleys in the Front Range, deeply eroded the bedrock, and deposited moraines (map units tbg, tbj) and outwash (ggq, gge). On the plains (east part of map), eolian sand (es), stabilized dune sand (ed), and loess (elb) are present and in places contain buried paleosols. These deposits indicate that periods of sand dune deposition alternated with periods of stabilized dunes and soil formation.

Thirty-nine types of surficial geologic deposits and residual materials of Quaternary age are described and mapped in the greater Denver area, in part of the Front Range, and in the piedmont and plains east of Denver, Boulder, and Castle Rock. Descriptions appear in the pamphlet that accompanies the map. Landslide deposits, colluvium, residuum, alluvium, and other deposits or materials are described in terms of predominant grain size, mineral or rock composition (e.g., gypsiferous, calcareous, granitic, andesitic), thickness of deposits, and other physical characteristics. Origins and ages of the deposits and geologic hazards related to them are noted. Many lines between geologic units on our map were placed by generalizing contacts on published maps. However, in 1997-1999 we mapped new boundaries, as well. The map was projected to the UTM projection. This large map area extends from the Continental Divide near Winter Park and Fairplay ( on the west edge), eastward about 107 mi (172 km); and extends from Boulder on the north edge to Woodland Park at the south edge (68 mi; 109 km).

Compilation scale: 1:250,000. Map is available in digital and print-on-demand paper formats. Deposits are described in terms of predominant grain size, mineralogic and lithologic composition, general thickness, and geologic hazards, if any, relevant geologic historical information and paleosoil information, if any. Thirty- nine map units of deposits include 5 alluvium types, 15 colluvia, 6 residua, 3 types of eolian deposits, 2 periglacial/disintegrated deposits, 3 tills, 2 landslide units, 2 glaciofluvial units, and 1 diamicton. An additional map unit depicts large areas of mostly bare bedrock.

The physical properties of the surficial materials were compiled from published soil and geologic maps and reports, our field observations, and from earth science journal articles. Selected deposits in the field were checked for conformity to descriptions of map units by the Quaternary geologist who compiled the surficial geologic map units.

FILES INCLUDED IN THIS DATA SET:

denvpoly: polygon coverage containing geologic unit contacts and labels. denvline: arc coverage containing faults. geol_sfo.lin: This lineset file defines geologic line types in the geologically themed coverages. geoscamp2.mrk: This markerset file defines the geologic markers in the geologically themed coverages. color524.shd: This shadeset file defines the cmyk values of colors assigned to polygons in the geologically themed coverages.

Bedrock Geology Set is a 1:50,000-scale, polygon and line feature-based layer describing the solid material that underlies the soil or other unconsolidated material of the earth for Connecticut. Bedrock geologic formations are described as polygons in terms of formation name (incorporating geologic age), rock type, and tectonic terrane association. Tectonic forces are responsible for the present day geologic configuration of the continents. Resulting terranes are regionally fault bounded rocks of a similar tectonic history. Each terrane is named after its plate tectonics ancestry. Geologic lines include contacts, faults, and terrane boundaries. Terrane boundaries are named for the faults involved. The geologic contacts and faults are delineated and classified by type. Polygon feature attribute information is comprised of codes to identify individual bedrock geologic units, their formation name, description and size. Line feature attributes identify, name and describe bedrock contacts, faults and terrane boundaries between these bedrock geologic units. Data is compiled at 1:50,000 scale and is not updated. A complete description of the bedrock mapping units with mineralogical descriptions and a brief history of Connecticut geology are included in the Supplemental Information Section for reference.

Connecticut Bedrock Geology is a 1:50,000-scale, polygon and line feature-based layer describing the solid material that underlies the soil or other unconsolidated material of the earth for Connecticut. Bedrock geologic formations are described as polygons in terms of formation name (incorporating geologic age), rock type, and tectonic terrane association. Tectonic forces are responsible for the present day geologic configuration of the continents. Resulting terranes are regionally fault bounded rocks of a similar tectonic history. Each terrane is named after its plate tectonics ancestry. Geologic lines include contacts, faults, and terrane boundaries. Terrane boundaries are named for the faults involved. The geologic contacts and faults are delineated and classified by type. Polygon feature attribute information is comprised of codes to identify individual bedrock geologic units, their formation name, description and size. Line feature attributes identify, name and describe bedrock contacts, faults and terrane boundaries between these bedrock geologic units. Data is compiled at 1:50,000 scale and is not updated. A complete description of the bedrock mapping units with mineralogical descriptions and a brief history of Connecticut geology are included in the Supplemental Information Section for reference.

This data set includes the results of digital image correlation of three experiments on gravitational tectonics at passive margins performed at the Helmholtz Laboratory for Tectonic Modelling (HelTec) of the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences in Potsdam in the framework of EPOS transnational access activities in 2018. Detailed descriptions of the experiments and monitoring techniques can be found in Ge et al. (submitted) to which this data set is supplement. The DIC analysis yields quantitative deformation information of the experiment surfaces by means of 3D surface displacements from which strain has been calculated. The data presented here are visualized as surface displacement maps, strain maps and strain evolution maps.

In 2007, the California Ocean Protection Council initiated the California Seafloor Mapping Program (CSMP) to create a comprehensive seafloor map of high-resolution bathymetry, marine benthic habitats and geology within the 3-nautical-mile limit of California's State Waters. CSMP has divided coastal California into 110 map blocks, each to be published individually as United States Geological Survey Open-File Reports (OFRs) or Scientific Investigations Maps (SIMs) at a scale of 1:24,000. Maps display seafloor morphology and character, identify potential marine benthic habitats and illustrate both the seafloor geology and shallow (to about 100 m) subsurface geology. Data layers for bathymetry, bathymetric contours, acoustic backscatter, seafloor character, potential benthic habitat and offshore geology were created for each map block, as well as regional-scale data layers for sediment thickness, depth to transition, transgressive contours, isopachs, predicted distributions of benthic macro-invertebrates and visual observations of benthic habitat from video cruises over the entire state. This coverage can be used to to aid in assessments and mitigation of geologic hazards in the coastal region and to provide sufficient geologic information for land-use and land-management decisions both onshore and offshore. These data are intended for science researchers, students, policy makers, and the general public. This information is not intended for navigational purposes.The data can be used with geographic information systems (GIS) software to display geologic and oceanographic information.