Student Instruction Page for:
Rocks and Topography - Advanced Mountain Environments On-line Activity

Activity
1. Go to the NOAA topography site, and download topographic image for the state of California. (save images by holding mouse button down, then choosing: "Save this image". It will save them as GIF or JPEG then you convert the images to TIFF format so you can use them for rest of the activity) (Alternate topography site #1 and site #2)

California Geology2. Go to the California Department of Mines site, and download the image of California.

3. Convert each of the images to TIFF format by opening them with GIFConverter (or Paint Shop Pro) and then saving them as TIFF files. (Be sure to label them so you remember what the image is!!)

4. Choose two "easy to identify" points on the topographic image, such as state borders (this is for accurate distance determination to use with NIH image).

5. Go to "How Far Is It" site on the WWW and determine distance in km.

Here's how to Determine the Distance
  1. Once at the site, scroll down to Xerox PARC MapServer, click it.
  2. An image of the world will come on the screen.
  3. Click once on N. America (this will enlarge that place 2x).
  4. Scroll down to Options Choose: <USA only more detail>.
  5. Click twice on USA image (now it's enlarged 8x).
  6. Scroll down to Options Choose: <No zoom on select>.
  7. Select one border of the state of California.
  8. This will give you your first latitude/longitude reading.
  9. Highlight this by clicking, holding, and dragging the mouse.
  10. Copy highlighted latitude/longitude reading <command C>.
  11. Scroll down to Options Choose: <Place mark on...your lat & long>.
  12. Go to the menu bar and click <back> until you are at the "How Far Is It" home page.
  13. Scroll down to <From> and paste <command V> your first lat & long.
  14. Go to the menu bar and click <forward> until you are at the USA image.
  15. Carefully select the other border of California (suggest from the "corner " of Nevada straight to the Pacific coast).
  16. This will give you your second latitude/longitude reading.
  17. Highlight this by clicking, holding, and dragging the mouse.
  18. Copy highlighted latitude/longitude reading <command C>.
  19. Scroll down to Options Choose: <Place mark on...your lat & long>.
  20. Go to the menu bar and click <back> until you are at the "How Far Is It" home page.
  21. Scroll down to <To> and paste <command V> your second lat & long. Click on <"Look it Up">.
  22. Record distance result in km.
  23. Click on <"see these places on the map">.
  24. Go to <File> on the menu bar and choose <Print>.
  25. Write the distance by hand on the printed map.
  26. You will use this distance to set the scale in NIH image so you will get accurate results.

6. Start NIH image and Open your TIFF topographic image and your TIFF geologic image. Use distance from ""How Far Is It" site to calibrate NIH image.

Here's how to Calibrate NIH Image

  1. Choose the line tool.
  2. Click the point you started with on the Xerox PARC MapServer.
  3. Drag the line straight to the second point.
  4. Choose <Analyze> from the menu bar.
  5. Scroll down and choose <Set Scale>.
  6. Go to <Units> and choose kilometers by clicking and holding until kilometers is highlighted.
  7. Enter known distance in the box (the distance you wrote on the map from Xerox PARC MapServer).
  8. Click on <ok>.
  9. Choose <Analyze> from the menu bar, scroll down to<Measure>.
  10. Choose <Analyze> from the menu bar, scroll to <Show Results> (this should be the same length you entered).
  11. Now you can make accurate distance measurements on your image and they will be on your Plot Profiles.

7. Using the topographic map image, use NIH Image to generate a Plot Profile of the elevation.

Here's how to generate a Plot Profile of the Elevation
  1. Go to the menu bar and choose <Options> scroll down and choose:<Plot Profile Options>.
  2. Fixed Y axis is on, Min=0, Max=260.
  3. Fixed Plot size is off, Width=0, Height=0.
  4. Line Plot is on.
  5. Labels is on.
  6. Use the Line Tool to make a line across elevations you are interested in.
  7. Choose <Analyze> from the menu bar, scroll down to <Measure> and release.
  8. Choose <Analyze> from the menu bar, scroll to <Show Results> (record this distance for use with the Precipitation image).
  9. Choose <Analyze> from the menu bar, scroll to <Plot Profile> *Go to <File> on the menu bar and choose <PrintPlot>.
  10. This is a profile of the elevation, with the linear distance in km printed on the x axis.

8. Use distance from "How Far Is It" to calibrate the geologic image in NIH so the two Plot Profiles have the same linear scale (be sure the geologic image is open in NIH Image)

Here's how to set the Plot Profiles to the Same Linear Scale:
  1. Choose the line tool.
  2. Click the point you started with on the Xerox PARC MapServer.
  3. Drag the line straight to the second point.
  4. Choose <Analyze> from the menu bar.
  5. Scroll down and choose <Set Scale>.
  6. Go to <Units> and choose kilometers by clicking and holding until kilometers is highlighted.
  7. Enter known distance in the box (the distance you wrote on the map from Xerox PARC MapServer).
  8. Click on <ok>.
  9. Choose <Analyze> from the menu bar, scroll down to <Measure> and release.
  10. Choose <Analyze> from the menu bar, scroll to <Show Results> (this should be the same length you entered).
  11. Now you can make accurate distance measurements on your image and they will be on your Plot Profiles.

9. Use the geologic map image in NIH to generate a Plot Profile of the geology (rock type).

Here's how to Plot the Geology Profile:
  1. Go to the menu bar and choose <Options> scroll down and choose:<Plot Profile Options>.
  2. Fixed Y axis is on, Min=0, Max=30.
  3. Fixed Plot size is off, Width=0, Height=0.
  4. Line Plot is on.
  5. Labels is on.
  6. Use the Line Tool to make a line across the same place you made the line on the elevation map.
  7. Choose <Analyze> from the menu bar, scroll down to <Measure> and release.
  8. Choose <Analyze> from the menu bar, scroll to <Show Results>; (this distance has to be the same distance measured on the topo map. If it is not keep trying by extending or shortening the line by clicking and moving the line with the mouse.)
  9. Choose <Analyze> from the menu bar, scroll to <Plot Profile>.
  10. Go to <File> on the menu bar and choose <PrintPlot>.

10. Carefully observe the elevation and geologic profiles. Are there any relationships between elevation and geology? If so what are they? Write these at the bottom of the profile plots.