Many Geosciences faculty now use computers to design virtual voyages to parts of the earth, ocean, and atmosphere that we can t get to any other way. Virtual trips will never supplant physical trips to the field, of course, but they do provide increasing important supplements. A few illustrations are provided below. Detailed data are not available for the area west of the black line. Students enjoy using computers to gain access to the same data sets used by scientists.
Many web sites provide computer enhancements that help to comprehend the data.
For example, sea-surface temperatures are shown in false colors to provide a complete picture of ocean variations. Earthquakes are color coded by depth so that areas with the deepest earthquakes can be easily identified. In these ways, basic earth observations are used to explore the processes that have formed and continue to shape our planet. In many of our introductory geology classes, instructors use interactive software as a tool to help students understand large-scale plate tectonic processes. Software applications include animations of processes such as sea-floor spreading and plate subduction that cannot possibly be viewed directly.