Geodynamics

Geodynamics is the primary database used in the Earth Structures and Processes curriculum. It contains information on 89,000 earthquakes and 1,500 volcanoes. Using Geodynamics, students can draw color topographic or coastline maps with superimposed earthquakes and volcanoes. They can also create composite images to show how volcanoes, earthquakes and topography interrelate.

To understand the movement of the Earth’s tectonic plates, students can access multimedia archives and activities, as well. The information on volcanoes includes the volcano’s name, type, location, height, number of known eruptions, and last known eruption. Information available for earthquakes includes the earthquake’s precise epicenter by latitude and longitude, date, magnitude and depth of focus.

As used in Earth Structures and Processes, Geodynamics gives students tools for collecting, analyzing, and visualizing data about earthquakes, volcanoes, and tectonic plates. Using latitude and longitude, they can access maps of specific locations, see data values on the map, and draw their own plate boundaries directly on the map. Plotting earthquakes and/or volcanoes shows how they relate to tectonic plate movement. Students can then make their final predictions about the effects that plate movement might have on the earth in the future.

Geodynamics is available for Macintosh and PC, but is a commercial product only available from EME Science corporation and is not downloadable.