3-D MAPPING OF LOCAL EARTHQUAKES USING ARCGIS AND LIDAR IN PHYSICAL GEOLOGY: STUDENT PROJECT

Students in Physical Geology at Delaware County Community College had the opportunity to engage in an honors project. In this project the students used data from the USGS Earthquake website and ArcGIS™ to map and model the epicenters and depths of local earthquakes. Then they use ArcScene™ to view the earthquakes in 3D based on the depth and to determine the likely associated faults. They then applied LiDAR DEM’s to build a base map with elevations to get a more representative 3D image. Providing on opportunity for research is unusual so early in the student’s education and is an excellent way to learn by exploring and applying their observations to understand a geological concept.