Resources For Earth Sciences and Geography Instruction


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Other Resource Links: Earth Science Animations: Soil Animations Links
  1. LINK AFRICAN DUST CROSSING THE ATLANTIC
    DESCRIPTION from NASA, this Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) animated GIF, which spans the interval June 13 through 21, 2001, shows a cloud of Saharan dust caught up in the belt of northeast trade winds and crossing the Atlantic. The dust eventually rained down upon the Caribbean carrying with it minerals, microbes, fungi, and bacteria.
  2. LINK AUDIO RELATING TO SOIL EROSION
    DESCRIPTION from Kansas State University, a 1940 interview with Mrs. Flora Robertson talking about dust storms in Oklahoma. The MP3 audio format interview concludes with an original poem `I came to Oklahoma before it was a state`.
  3. LINK BANK EROSION
    DESCRIPTION from the University of Wisconsin, find a spectacular QuickTime movie of a house sliding into the ocean as a result of bank erosion. The movie can be paused and rewound to emphasize important points.
  4. LINK BIOMANTLE AND SOIL THICKNESS PROCESSES
    DESCRIPTION from University of Illinois, the Flash animation outlines in four stages the processes of soil thickening and thinning. A special focus is the changing role of termites, ants, worms, and vertebrates like moles in soil mixing. Rolling your mouse over technical terms accesses a glossary. Clicking on timeline markers at the bottom of the page allows review of any of the four development stages.
  5. LINK DUNE SAND MOVEMENT
    DESCRIPTION from Kansas State University, the MPG movie shows wind tunnel sediments moving through creep, saltation, and suspension. The movie would also be useful in the discussion of fluvial and aeolian transport mechanisms. The movie can be paused and rewound to emphasize important points.
  6. LINK DUNE SAND MOVEMENT CLOSE UP
    DESCRIPTION from Kansas State University, a close up of video 6 above, the MPG movie shows sediments moving in the form of creep, saltation, and suspension in a wind tunnel. The movie would also be useful in the discussion of fluvial and aeolian transport mechanisms. The movie can be paused and rewound to emphasize important points.
  7. LINK DUST BOWL STORM FOOTAGE
    DESCRIPTION from Kansas State University, the MPEG movie uses historic 1930’s film footage to depict the dust storms that impacted the High Plains of the United States. This event was caused by a combination of natural climatic fluctuations and human disturbance. Barren, windswept fields, buried farmhouses, and rolling tumbleweed attest to the devastation. The movie can be paused and rewound to emphasize important points.
  8. LINK FACTORS INFLUENCING SOIL HEALTH AND QUALITY
    DESCRIPTION From Rural Capacity Building through Organic Agriculture (RCBTOA) Project, though the Flash animation is not as visually polished as other animated resources, this is a good resource for the listing variables that impact soil productivity. Listed are such factors as soil structure, minerals, release of nutrients, organic matter, and more.
  9. LINK FELDSPAR TO CLAY TRANSFORMATION
    DESCRIPTION From Exploring Earth, the Flash animation traces the evolution of an unaltered feldspar crystal to clay as a result of chemical weathering.
  10. LINK HAITI-THE ERODING NATION
    DESCRIPTION from Sun-Sentinal, the Flash animated slide show traces the causes and impacts of soil erosion. To access the slide show click on `The Problem` on the left hand side of the frame and then `About Haiti`s Erosion.` Be sure to spend time to explore other links at the site. This is a rich, comprehensive resource for documenting how soil erosion contributes to Haiti`s status as the Hemisphere’s poorest nation.
  11. LINK LOESS DEPOSITION
    DESCRIPTION from Earth Explored Series, Observe the formation of loess deposits. `The sediments come from glacial outwash plains, where glaciers deposit fine particles of silt and clay, or from desert areas that have little vegetation to anchor small particles. Prevailing wind patterns blowing across these environments can produce thick deposits of loess downwind of the area. Examine the images to interpret how loess is formed.`
  12. LINK PLOW THAT BROKE THE PLAINS
    DESCRIPTION from from Kansas State University, this is a Thirties era government film in the WMV format chronicling boom and bust agriculture on the High Plains. The first seventeen minutes of the film are devoted to the establishment of mechanized agriculture and how it contributed to crop productivity gains. The final ten minutes of the film recount bleak dust bowl conditions, including out migration by displaced farmers.
  13. LINK RAINSPLASH EROSION
    DESCRIPTION from Arizona State University, the animated GIF slows frames to 1/240th of a second to capture rainsplash impact of a single raindrop on dry sand. Rainsplash erosion is a precursor to soil erosion by disaggregating soil, clearing the way for transport by water, wind, or ice. The entire video sequence, which is only 0.1 seconds in real time, lasts about five seconds and automatically repeats itself.
  14. LINK SOIL HORIZON FORMATION
    DESCRIPTION From Wiley, the Flash animation illustrates the process of eluviation which is important in determining the physical and chemical characteristics of the O, A, and E horizons. In later frames, the process of illuviation is depicted in which the B horizon becomes enriched with clays and other minerals being transported from upper horizons. Users with slow connections can expect long loading
  15. LINK SOIL ORDERS OF THE WORLD
    DESCRIPTION From Wiley, the global distribution of major orders are pictured with respective horizon profiles. Profiles are viewed by clicking on soil order boxes at the bottom of the page. Alfisols, ultisols, mollisols, spodosols, vertisols, oxisols, and aridisols are represented. Inceptisols, entisols, andisols, and gelisols are left off the map. The Flash animation loads slowly and some profile images are pixilated.
  16. LINK SOIL TEXTURE CLASSIFICATION
    DESCRIPTION From North Carolina State University, the interactive Flash animation displays an example in which the percent sand, silt, and clay for a silt loam is determined. Students are then requested to enter sand, silt, and clay values in order to predict the soil texture classification.
  17. LINK SURFACE AREA VERSUS SIZE AND SHAPE
    DESCRIPTION From North Carolina State University, the Flash animation outlines the increase in surface area that results from physical weathering. Students have the opportunity to calculate surface area increases for two different scenarios: when the shape of weathered blocks is cubical and when the shape of the block is plate-like.
  18. LINK TYPICAL PROGRESSION OF SOIL PROFILE DEVELOPMENT
    DESCRIPTION from North Carolina State University, the Flash animated slide show reveals hypothetical 100,000 year soil profile development from bedrock in a warm, humid climate. The weathering front then progresses downward with time as does the accumulation of clays and iron oxides. Eventually, well formed O, A, Bw, C, and R horizons form. Note that accompanying left slide descriptions are sometimes cut off.
  19. LINK What Is Soil?
    DESCRIPTION UniServity, find a simple Flash animation depicting various soil components.
   

 

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