It is hard to imagine navigating the streets of the world without help from Google Maps. However, while most of us use the app to find our way around, some people use the Google Earth street view option to 'travel' the world or look for exciting occurrences in the endless collection of images.
A geologist from New Orleans named Will could put searching for beautiful landscapes on Google Earth under his hobbies. The guy spends a lot of time exploring various areas of the map and snapping screenshots of places he found most interesting. Posting under the name geologistsmakethebedrock, this man has shared a couple of galleries with the internet people, adding short descriptions to each of the interesting photos. "I really like to peruse Google Earth looking for cool nature images. My captions either come from basic internet research of my guess about what's happening. Keep in mind that they are just my interpretations of things and could be wrong" he explained.
"I tried to find interesting examples of geologic processes to use in lecture presentations. That’s when I started gathering screenshots of cool stuff for myself. Then I decided to share some images on Imgur because my wife was tired of me making her look at them and listen to my explanations" he told Bored Panda. Will admitted that most of his choices to look into are random, but there are times when he follows a certain trail he's interested in. "One tip for finding interesting geology things is to look for symmetry or patterns in landscapes. Most symmetry is from human activates, but certain geologic processes can create semi-symmetry," he explained.
Most of his screenshots feature various land formations and beautiful nature occurrences that draw the eye, as well as some human-made structures that seem to have a story behind them. Google Earth has been a thing since 2001, though back then it was only in the initial stage of what it eventually became. Within years the project evolved and from flat, often puzzle-like map we finally got realistic 3D depictions of many countries across the globe. The project even expended further than Earth's boundaries as Google launched such branches as Google Mars and Google Moon.
There's a lot out there to explore, so if you lack funds or the ability to go on long flights to see Norwegian fjords, Mexican deserts, and amazing street photography shots power up the app and see where it takes you. Oh, but before that, don't forget to check out what geologistsmakethebedrock shared and vote for your favorite snaps!
#21
"An anticline somewhere in Iran with a series of alluvial fans on the south side. I really like the blue color of the formation ringing the center of the anticline. I need to go there and get a sample. You can see the colors of the formations reflected in the fan."
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41points
#22
"A huge pile of some black stuff due west of Douglas, Arizona. It looks like a spoil pile from a mine, but I don't see evidence of a mine nearby. Any ideas?"
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41points
#23
"A very isolated island off the coast of Germany. What's that? My first thought was it had to be ruins from a very old fortification or something. Turns out no. This little island was man made back in 1989. The features were put there to prevent wind erosion."
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41points
#25
"A cool delta building out into Ayyakum Lake, Tibet. The river is unnamed on Google. It is fed by snowmelt from mountains to the south. You can see some isolated sand dunes NW of the river. There is a name for this type of dune, but I can't remember what it is. They happen when there is enough wind to migrate dunes, but not enough sand."
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37points
#26
"I cheated a little with this one. I’ve actually been to this place. It’s an island in Penobscot Bay, Maine, USA. We see 2 very distinctive rock bodies contacting one another. My guess is that the darker rock intruded into the lighter rock due to nearby volcanic activity. Nearby Vinalhaven Island is a very old volcano, and the direction kind of fits."
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37points
#27
"This is a random place in the Ontario, CA. I think the colors are very nice."
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37points
#29
"A strange shaped clearing in the Punjab province of India. I wonder what that is."
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34points
#30
"A sugarcane field burning in south Louisiana, USA. This is commonly done to remove all of the leftovers from harvesting. Sugarcane is a grass so there is a lot of organic material leftover."
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28points
The exploration of Google Earth provides fascinating insights into the world's landscapes, a concept popularized by a dedicated geologist. His work taps into the allure of discovering remarkable earth formations and human-made structures through satellite imagery.
If you are interested in learning about unique finds on Google Earth, you might explore this project dedicated to uncovering Earth's hidden gems.