Geological Map of South America in Google Earth

Figures & data

Figure 1. Chronolithostratigraphic units of the Geological Map of South America 2019 (modified from Gómez et al., 2019).

The types of rocks of the Geological Map of South America are volcanic: including andesitic and related, basaltic, rhyolitic, alkaline, volcano-sedimentary and undifferentiated. Plutonic: granitic, gabbroic and ultramafic and alkaline. Metamorphic: low to medium grade, medium to high grade and undifferentiated. The last are the sedimentary rocks: siliciclastic, carbonate, evaporitic and undifferentiated, together with unconsolidated deposits. As well as, the polygons patterns for each rock type were included and a symbol for each rock type inside the polygon, corresponding to a letter of the Greek alphabet for volcanic and plutonic rocks; from m1 to m3 for metamorphic rocks, and from s1 to s4 for sedimentary rocks and unconsolidated deposits.

Figure 2. The 5th–7th zoom levels showing tile grids used to generate imaging of the Geological Map of South America 2019 in Google Earth.

Tiles mosaic model of the Geological Map of South America 2019 in Google Earth. It was created by using different number of tiles according to tiles zoom levels, in such way as more zoom in, more number tiles are required to achieve high quality imaging. At the representation, the 5th to the 7th zoom levels show tile grids used to generate imaging. The fifth zoom level is a grid composed of 24 images; the sixth level of 96, and the seventh level of 384 images.

Figure 3. Example of tiles obtained by using QGIS.

Examples of how tiles are seen at different zoom layers, as zoom-in is applied. Each zoom-in level corresponds to a smaller area of the previous level. From level 1 to level 9 tiles are shown from a single area of the map.

Figure 4. Xtensible Style Languaje script template fragment with updated URLs.

Xtensible Style Languaje script template fragment with updated URLs. In there, the updated URL was included in the script in order to guarantee the link included in the pop-up window take the users to the correct web page.

Figure 5. Geological map of South America 2019 displayed in Google Earth.

General view of the geological map of South America 2019 displayed in Google Earth, where the entire continent can be seen overlaid by the geological map.

Figure 6. View of the geological map of South America 2019 in Google Earth showing an example of a pop-up window with a Cretaceous volcanic rock information.

View of the Geological Map of South America 2019 in Google Earth showing a pop-up window, where the information of a volcanic rock unit is displayed by clicking on a map unit. This pop-up window includes information about the unit symbology: in this case K and β which means K for Cretaceous and β basaltic volcanic rock; the unit number: in this case 244; rock type: a volcanic rock; type: a basaltic rock; Eon maximum: Phanerozoic; Era maximum: Mesozoic; Period maximum: Cretaceous; Eon minimum: Phanerozoic; Era minimum: Mesozoic; Period minimum: Cretaceous. The credits of the Servicio Geológico Colombiano and the Commission for the Geological Map of the World can be seen at the lower part, along with an example of the map citation.

Figure 7. Map view of the Geological Map of South America 2019 in Google Earth and displayed pop-up window that shows information about the Ecuadorian Chimborazo volcano, as an example.

Map view of the Geological Map of South America showing information of an Ecuadorian volcano in a displayed pop–up window. The information includes the name: in this case, the Chimborazo Volcano; latitude: 1 grade 28 min 3.980 s North; longitude: 78 grades 49 min 5.520 s West; altitude: 6268 meters above the sea level; comments: recent activity, and the URL: a web page link where users can find official information. The credits of the Servicio Geológico Colombiano and the Commission for the Geological Map of the World can be seen at the lower part, along with an example of the map citation.

Gómez, J., Schobbenhaus, C., & Montes, N.E.. (2019). Geological Map of South America 2019. Scale 1:5 000 000. Commission for the Geological Map of the World (CGMW), Servicio Geológico Colombiano and Serviço Geológico do Brasil. Paris, France. https://doi.org/10.32685/10.143.2019.929

 Google Scholar

Data availability statement

There is no a data set associated with this paper included in any persistent identifier.

Software

We used Google Earth Pro, Qgis and ArcMap 10.3 software in order to prepare the GMSA in Google Earth. Licenced ArcMAP 10.3 srvlicarcgis.sgc.gov.co own by the Colombian Geological Survey.