The North America Tapestry of Time and Terrain is
woven from a geologic map and a shaded relief image. This digital
combination reveals the geologic history of North America through
the interrelation of rock type, topography and time. Regional surface
processes as well as continent-scale tectonic events are exposed
in the three dimensions of space and the fourth dimension, geologic
time. This map is an expansion of the original United
States Tapestry of Time and Terrain, produced in 2000.
Like the U.S. Tapestry Web site, the North America Tapestry Web site
is designed to take a deeper look at the Tapestry. We have made
five sections to explore different aspects of the Tapestry.
On the Two Maps page, you can
view the two component maps separately, the geologic map and the
shaded relief map.
If you want to get a better look at different parts of the map,
visit the Zoom In section.
Throughout the continent, there are important and unique geological
features. The Features
page lets you click around and learn more about the regional and
local details of the Tapestry.
One of the key aspects of the Tapestry its display rock ages.
The Legend and Rock Ages section
lets you see where rocks of specific ages are distributed on the
continent.
Another important rock characteristic, one not displayed on the
main Tapestry map, is the Rock Type.
Explore this section to see where different types of rock (sedimentary,
volcanic, plutonic and metamorphic) are found in North America.
We have also put political boundaries on the map in the Political
Boundaries section. There the Tapestry is divided into four
sections: Canada, the Caribbean, Mexico and Central America, and
the United States. |