These Virtual Voyages were created as one-hour homework assignments for a freshman-level oceanography course at San Francisco State University (SFSU). Each voyage is structured around real-world images and includes five multiple-choice questions and five short-answer questions. Topics include seafloor bathymetry west of San Francisco, Earthquakes, Hawaiian hot spot, ocean waves, tides in San Francisco ... Full description.

In this lesson covers the evolution of a volcanic island from origin to erosion. Students will be able to determine the relative ages of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, given their position in the archipelago and why these islands are so much smaller than the main islands of the Hawaiian chain. They will discover that volcanic islands form over a hot spot on the ocean floor and that islands form ... Full description.

The distribution of earthquakes and volcanoes around the world confirmed the theory of plate tectonics first proposed by Wegener. These phenomena also help categorize plate boundaries into three different types: convergent, divergent, and transform. Full description.

This text and accompanying video describe Yellowstone National Park, the site of a 'hot spot' that runs from Earth's mantle to its crust, producing nearly 10,000 geothermal features, all heated by underground lava reservoirs. Topics include some of these features (geysers, mudpots, steam vents), and a discussion of how cold rainwater seeps downward to become superheated and laden with dissolved minerals. ... Full description.

This site is all about snow crystals and snowflakes. The many facets of snow crystals are described here, along with attempts to understand their formation. This site includes collections of super-high-resolution snow crystal photos, as well as links to learn about snow crystal classifications and how to make snow crystal fossils. Included in the study of how snow crystals form, these researchers ... Full description.

This site contains slide shows and virtual field trips of Yellowstone National Park. There are several slide shows to chose from, including wolves of Yellowstone, bear research, fire ecology, the history of Yellowstone and the influence of art on Yellowstone Park. Each program features slides containing text and photographs. There is also an orientation slide show about the National Park system. More ... Full description.

This planetarium show teaches about meteors, meteorites, asteroids, and comets. It includes results from NASA missions and about the dangers they can pose to life on Earth. It is created for full-dome theaters but can also be shown in flat version for TVs and computer monitors. Shows the effects of the Chixulub and Tungusta events, plus the Pallasite impact that resulted in the Brenham meteorite fall. ... Full description.

This page contains a glossary of terms commonly used in this collection, publications authored by collection members, scheduled meetings, and documentation on uses of the Atmospheric Visualization Collection. Full description.

This database of imagery houses a large collection of satellite images capturing some of the more important weather and environmental events of the last 30 years. Users can access images of many types of storms, fires and smoke, floods, weather fronts, ocean and sea surface phenomena, and snow cover. Full description.

This report describes the results of an interdisciplinary environmental characterization of the World Trade Center (WTC) area after September 11, 2001. The scientific investigation included two main aspects: imaging spectroscopy mapping of materials around the WTC, and laboratory analysis of samples collected in the WTC area. The report includes maps, graphs, and remotely sensed images of the area ... Full description.