Problems with the comments

I apologise for the error in the web that doesn’t let you to leave comments in the articles. I will try to fix that in the next days. Apparently it is just a small bug in the template I am using, nothing else! I’ll keep you updated about that.

Thanks for reading this humble place :)

Jorge

Move and LithoTect for free

Dr. Alan Gibbs, director of Midland Valley Exploration, has announced in the Geo-Tectonics list that their software Move2009 (which includes 2DMove, 3DMove and 4DMove) is now available for free to universities for teaching and research.

He recommends contacting MVE through their website or using this email: help@mve.com

Move2009, as described by MVE, is “fundamentally different from other geo-modelling and model building software as it incorporates geological time into the modelling process. Other modelling tools simply create good-looking models from the present day interpretations, ours turn the modelling process into a rigorous analytical activity involving geological time, with interoperability support of modelling environments and the ability to easily transfer files between all Move components. Using our products geoscientists can continually challenge and test their assumptions and thereby gain a far deeper understanding into the structural geology they are modelling”.

Is that the only geo-modelling software available for building and balancing cross sections and general structural modelling? No. In the same list, Dr. Robert Ratliff, development director of Geo-Logic Systems, reminds that their software LithoTect is also available for free for universities (as it has been for many years). This software combines the power of geological modelling with a very attractive conditions in terms of available platforms and licensing conditions.

Well, the choice is in your hands. Perhaps you want to make a comment comparing both suites?

Earthquakes in Google Earth

A good habit I have acquired during the last months is to take a look to the recent seismic activity of a region before starting to work in there, in order to get a quick idea of what is going on. This habit can be more illustrating that it initially seems.

USGS provides a KMZ file with a very friendly and attractive interface for Google Earth. It loads the major earthquakes in our planet for the last 7 days, classified by time (Last hour, Last day, Last week), and by magnitude (from 1 to 8). If you click on each individual earthquake, you will open a box with its basic information and the url link for opening in your browser the complete information about it.

You can load this file in your Google Earth from the dedicated USGS website for seismology:

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/

It is on the left, "Google Earth KML". Anyway, the direct link to the file is:

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/catalogs/eqs7day-age.kmz

The interface also loads plate boundaries and convergence rates, measured in mm/year. I haven't found the source of the rates, but let's accept that if the data comes from USGS, should be fine. The plate boundaries included in the KMZ file are:

- Subduction zone.
- Oceanic transform fault.
- Oceanic spreading rift.
- Oceanic convergent boundary.
- Continental transform fault.
- Continental rift boundary.
- Continental convergent boundary.

Of course, don't expect a very precise location for the plate boundaries! It is just an indication of the global tectonics of each area, in order to put the earthquakes in a correct geodynamic context.

Personally I find this KML file very useful, not only for the very up-to-the-date information given, but also for the boundaries, the rates... Useful thing when we have to prepare a simple figure in Corel or Freehand for a report.

Again, the links:

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/catalogs/eqs7day-age.kmz

There are more KML's and KMZ's providing similar information, but that will be for another day.

Enjoy!