Using Geotours

The Basics

You can watch the automated Geotours by simply pressing play at the bottom of the Places sidebar. Geotours will then take you on a flyover tour of all of the locations mentioned in the Geotours in your textbook (and you can pause or stop at any time).

• Each location folder in the Places Sidebar includes an Images folder that will lead you to the locations of the Geotours images from your textbook. (Click on Images to see a pop-up window with the related text from your book for easy reference.)
• At least one location in each Geotour is tagged with WAGS, which means it includes a What a Geologist Sees folder that pinpoints further geological features of interest.
• Certain locations also include Tour folders, which take you on a flyover tour that explores the area in more depth.
• Each Geotour folder also includes a Worksheet folder, with locations that are referenced in the corresponding Geotour Worksheet.

Going further

To get much more out of your Geotour experience take advantage of the following features to identify what you are looking at and explore on your own.

• Double-click on locations and features in the Places sidebar to fly to them one at a time.
• Single-click on any blue hyperlinked text to see a pop-up window with additional information—either a brief caption or a related figure or source information.
• Check the boxes next to the following features in the Places sidebar and placemarks will appear on the satellite images.

	a yellow pushpin indicates the location of the Geotour image from you textbook.
	a yellow star indicates the locations of geologic features mentioned in your textbook.
	a mountain icon indicates the location of a mountain or mountain range.
	a red line traces a fault.
	a blue line traces a body of water.
	a green line traces a joint.
	a yellow line traces a cross-bed.
	a polygon outline traces the area of a particular location.
	an overlay figure provides another perspective on the landscape. Move the slider bar at the bottom of the Places screen to change the transparency of the overlay.
	a red point indicates a location referenced in a Worksheet Problem.

• A menu bar at the top of the screen lists a variety of tools you can use to enlarge the satellite view by hiding the sidebar, add your own placemarks, and email or print the screen. In the Geotours Worksheets you will be asked to use the following tools in particular:

Click the Measuring Tool and a ruler pop-up window will appear with two options. You can measure a line by clicking on one end of the item you want to measure and then the other, or you can measure a path by clicking points in sequence to trace around an area (the distance will be listed in ruler window).

Click the Add Path Tool and click to trace a more precise path around a particular feature. A pop-up window will allow you to adjust the style, color, and altitude of your new path.

Use the Hand Tool (the default cursor) that automatically appears on the screen to move the satellite image manually by clicking and dragging it. You can measure elevations by moving the Hand Tool over the satellite image and looking at the lower left hand corner of the screen as it registers the coordinates and the elevation. (Note that if the elevation doesn’t appear at the bottom of the screen you need to zoom closer.)

• In the upper-right corner are three navigation tools that allow you to move freely beyond the flyover tour:

Use the horizontal slider to tilt your view up and down from parallel to perpendicular to the horizon.

Use the vertical slider to zoom in and out from closer to the ground to farther up in space.

Use the compass to rotate around the view.

These navigation tools are described in more detail in the Introducing Geotours section of your textbook.

If you’d like to do even more with Google Earth™, see the many resources available on http://earth.google.com.

Be warned that the generous amount of information can sometimes cause clutter. Click the Hide Sidebar icon to remove the sidebar and allow the satellite image to take up the entire screen. If you are seeing colored placemarks on your satellite images beyond the Geotours-specific ones mentioned above, go to the Layers menu at the bottom of the left-hand sidebar and un-check any layers that you don’t want to see.