Graphing Elevation Changes Across Distance

I began by creating and measuring out a 12 mile long line through the city of Macon. The measured out path is seen in red in the image above. I recorded the elevation for every 2 miles of the path to see how the elevation is affected in change of the distance. The recorded information is seen in a graph below.

A scatterplot was created to see how the elevation changed over the distance. As seen below, the elevation in Macon fluctuated throughout the whole 12 miles of the path and was highly inconsistent.

Hydrothermal Deep Sea Vents

Scientists first discovered hydrothermal vents in 1977 while exploring an oceanic ridge near the Galapagos Islands. These vents occur in geologically active regions of the ocean floor. Within these regions, seawater seeps down deep into the Earth's crust through cracks in the ocean floor. This water is then heated by magma below the surface. As the water is heated to a boil, it expands and rises back to the surface. On it's way back up through the cracks through which it fell, the hot water dissolves minerals and other chemicals from the rock. When it reaches the ocean floor, the water is dark. Some of the minerals precipitate out of the seawater and harden on the rim of the vent. Over time, the rim of the vent is built up into a tall, chimney-like structure. 
The temperature of the water coming out of these vents exceeds 360º. 

The discovery that forms of life actually live and thrive around these vents, totally cut off from the world of sunlight. These biological communities depend upon chemical processes that result from the interaction of seawater and hot magma associated with underwater volcanoes. 
The organisms that habituated in these areas were getting their food directly from the vents themselves. This process is known as chemosynthesis. Smaller animals feed on the bacteria, and these smaller animals provide food for the larger animals. It is an entire ecosystem totally separate from the world of light. A large number of strange and wondrous creatures have been found at these vent sites. Giant tube worms eight feet tall dominate the landscape. Tiny bacteria living inside make food for the worms. Small shrimps and crabs feed on the tube worms. Clams cover the ocean floor. These waters are so fertile that shrimps have been known to literally number in the millions near these vents.

Large Crab and Clams near a deep sea Hydrothermal Vent

Giant Tubeworms 

Hermit crab anemone







More Information on Deep Seas Hydrothermal Vents



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Mineral Identifications

Quartz (silica)

Quartz is one of the most well-known minerals on earth. It occurs in basically all mineral environments, and is the important constituent of many rocks. Quartz is also the most varied of all minerals, occurring in all different forms, habits, and colors. There are more variety names given to Quartz than any other mineral. Although the Feldspars as a group are more prevalent than Quartz, as an individual mineral Quartz is the most common mineral.

To learn more about Quartz

Iron Ore

Iron (Fe) is one of the most abundant rock-forming elements, constituting about 5% of the Earth's crust. It is the fourth most abundant element after oxygen, silicon and aluminium, and after aluminium, the most abundant and widely distributed metal. Iron is indispensable to modern civilisation and people have been skilled in its use for more than 3,000 years. However, its use only became widespread in the 14th century, when smelting furnaces (the forerunner of blast furnaces) began to replace forges.

Iron ores are rocks from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. These rocks are usually found in the form of hematite (Fe₂O₃) or magnetite (Fe₃O₄). About 98% of world iron ore production is used to make iron in the form of steel. Iron ore provides the foundation for one of Australia’s major export industries.

To learn more about Iron Ore

Map Types

Choropleth Map

Choropleth map is a thematic map (designed to show a particular theme connected with a specific geographic area) in which areas of the map are shaded or patterned in proportion to the statistical variable that is being measured and displayed on the map, such as population density or per-capita income. These maps are usually attached to enumeration units (e.g. counties, provinces, countries); standardized to show rates or ratios and could conceptually measure the phenomena anywhere in space.

Example datasets appropriate for choropleth maps:

•   world map of income tax rates by country

•   map showing number of births per 100,000 in 2009, reported by U.S. county

•   map showing the percentage change in skin cancer from 1990 to 2010 by Australian state.

•   world map of percentage of population under 18 years old, reported by country

map showing the percentage increase in home value from 1980 to 1990 by Canadian province

Isarithmic Map

Isarithmic maps are maps that represent data sets that have a continuous distribution and smooth change in value. The data must be continuous or contain data for any possible point within the data set. The boundaries are based on the data and the data type must be quantitative.

Two types of isarithmic maps:

1) Isometric map: constructed from true point data

e.g. toxic level map is constructed from the point data at sampled location

2) Isopleth map: constructed from perceptual point data

e.g. demographic trends map is constructed from the point data at centroid of enumeration unit

Dot and Density Map

Dot and density maps are an affective way to show density differences in geographic distributions across a landscape. Dot density maps have been popular for 150 years because they are easy to understand and, at a glance, show us intuitively where things clump or cluster. There are two basic types: one-to-one dot density maps (one dot represents one object or count) and one-to-many dot density maps in which one dot stands for a number of things or a value (e.g., 1 dot = 1,000 acres of wheat production). 

Proportional Symbol Map

Proportional symbol maps scale the size of simple symbols (usually a circle or square) proportionally to the data value found at that location. They are a simple concept to grasp: The larger the symbol, the "more" of something exists at a location. 

There are three methods for setting symbol size: absolute scaling, apparent magnitude (perceptual) scaling, and range grading. Absolute scaling involves scaling symbol area proportionately to the data value. For example, a symbol for a point with a data value of 100 should be twice the area of the symbol for a point with the value of 50. Apparent magnitude scaling incorporates correction factors to compensate for map-reader underestimation of symbol area. With range grading, a symbol represents a range of data values. As in the choropleth technique, data are classed and then each class is assigned a symbol of a distinctly different size.

Source: http://indiemapper.com