3D Geologic Maps -- The Gallery

Welcome to the actual 3D Geologic Map Gallery, which has links to QuickTime Virtual Reality (QTVR) movies of classic geologic maps draped over digital topography.  Each movie consists of a 3D perspective of the map area that the user can rotate using the mouse to view the area from any direction.  This site allows you to see how the geology relates to topography and get a feel for the 3D nature of geologic maps and structures.  

To use this site you will need QuickTime installed on your computer, either as a plug-in for your browser or as a stand-alone application to run downloaded files.  To access a movie, click on the link below to bring up the QTVR movie for that area.  Alternatively, you can download the file to your computer and run QuickTime as an application separate from your browser.  I recommend that you download the files and run QuickTime independent of your browser because the QuickTime plug-in isn't consistent about the size it displays the movies and also causes some odd distortions. To rotate the movie, click and drag your mouse to either the left or the right.  Some movies also permit you to tilt the terrain up or down by clicking and dragging your mouse up and down.  The movies begin with a perspective viewed toward the north (the little red triangle).

Caution:  The QTVR movies are mostly 1 to 3 MB, and so may require 10 or more minutes to download on slow Internet connections. I made the movies as small as I could without sacrificing quality and usability. If you want a quicker view, check out the single 3D image instead.  Contour intervals are mostly 30 meters.  Use your BACK button to return to this page.

Locality and Geologic Features

QTVR Panoramic Map Movie

QTVR Spin and Tilt Movie

Single 3D-Perspective Image 

Contour Map

Bald Mountain, Wyoming: Laramide uplift in the Big Horn Mountains flanked by Mesozoic sediments Bald Mountain Panoramic Movie Bald Mountain Movie (11 MB) Bald Mountain Image  
Briceville, Tennessee: Lateral ramp in the Pine Mountain Thrust Briceville Panoramic Movie Briceville Movie Briceville Image  
Coconino Point, Arizona:  Coconino Point monocline and Little Colorado River Gorge none yet Coconino Point Movie  Coconino Point Image Coconino Point Contours
Hollidaysburg Folio, Pennsylvania (30- minute quad):  Amazing folds of lower Paleozoic formations. All four movies are big, some are huge. (Thanks to Barb Tewksbury for this suggestion) Hollidaysburg Panoramic Movie Hollidaysburg Movies

800x600 (5Mb)

800x600 4row (11Mb)
1200x900 (18 Mb)
1200x900 4row (43Mb)

Hollidaysburg Image none yet
La Plata Folio, Colorado (30-minute quad):  Sills, dikes, and stocks intruding Mz-Pz units. Both movies are big to really huge. (Thanks to Barb!) none yet La Plata Movies

1200x900 (12 Mb)
1200x900 4row (43 Mb)

La Plata Image none yet
Mescal Mountains, Arizona:  Strike ridges and dip slopes of Paleozoic and Precambrian strata; Tertiary normal faults; Late Cretaceous pluton none yet Mescal Mountains Movie Mescal Mountains Image Mescal Mountains Contours
Maps of 3 parts of Mingus Mountain 15' Quad, near Jerome, Arizona: Basalt mesa; several unconformities; Precambrian structures none yet Hickey Mountain Movie
Cottonwood Movie
Humboldt Movie
Cherry Movie
Hickey Mountain Image
Cottonwood Image
Humboldt Image
Hickey Mountain Contours
Cottonwood Contours
Humboldt Contours
Cherry Contours
Ouray Folio, Colorado (south half):  Unconformities, volcanics and other features. Thanks to Barb! none yet Ouray Movies

800x600 movie (5 Mb)
800x600 4row (18 Mb)

1200x900 movie (11 Mb)
1200x900 4row (38 Mb)

Ouray Image  
Santa Paula, California:  Tilted and locally folded late Cenozoic units north of Los Angeles Santa Paula Panoramic Movie Santa Paula Movie (16 MB) Santa Paula Image  
Tucson Mountains, Arizona:  Late Cretaceous caldera and pluton none yet Tucson Mountains Movie Tucson Mountains Image Tucson Mountains Contours
Yosemite, California:  Glacial valley and Sierra Nevada Batholith (Thanks to Allen Glazner)   Yosemite Movie Yosemite Image Yosemite Contours
The movies and images below show topography of real places, but geology I invented.  They give students practice drawing geologic contacts on the associated contour maps. 
Green-Blue-Brown:  Simple layers intersecting topography; topography from Loy Butte, near Sedona, Arizona   Green-Blue-Brown Movie Green-Blue-Brown Image Green-Blue-Brown Contours
Yellow Band:  Not the famous one from Everest, but an imaginary one in the Kofa Mountains, Arizona   Yellow Band Movie Yellow Band Image Yellow Band Contours

WARNING  -- The two files below are huge!!!  Do not attempt to download them by modem; they will take all day!

Huge Tucson Mtns Movie   Huge Tucson Mtns Movie
This one is 5 MB!
Rendered at 1200 X 900 pixels.  Makes for a great mapping exercise!
Huge Hickey Mountain Movie   Huge Hickey Mountain Movie
This one is 16 MB!!!
Created with 144 images, each 800 X 600 pixels, letting the user tilt as well as rotate the map.  Way cool, but you can see why I don't do this with all the movies (actually I do, but they can't be included here, only on the CD-ROM).

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© Copyright 2001 by Stephen J Reynolds.  These images can be freely used for educational purposes as long as the source is cited. 

Page created by: S. Reynolds