15.5: Activity 15D- Google Earth and Structures

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Chloe Branciforte & Emily Haddad
Ventura College & East Los Angeles College via ASCCC Open Educational Resources Initiative

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Using the browser version of Google Earth, search for 36°33'50.3"N 116°54'51.1"W and zoom out and make sure to note your geographic location. Zoom back into an eye altitude (camera) of 114 miles. You are looking at the surface expression of many fault lines, or what is called fault scarp, with the hanging wall occupying the valleys and the footwall representing the mountains.

1. What kind of faults are these?

2. What would we call these paired features?

3. Which stress type produced these features?

4. Within Badwater Basin exists the lowest elevation in North America.

a. What is this elevation?

Search for 22°48'45.6"S 117°20'12.9"E and zoom to an eye altitude of 30 miles. This geologic structure is caused by the folding of rocks. Imagine you are a geologist trying to determine what is going on in the area.

5. Is this structure a dome or a basin? Hint: use the street view for a better vantage.

a. How could you tell?

6. Provide two different ways to tell the complex folds apart.

7. Examine the geologic structure ~10 miles southwest of the previous feature. Is this fold horizontal or plunging, how can you tell?