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Most of the road guides in Roadside Geology of Georgia contain individual geologic maps, which are simplified versions of those in the geologic literature, tagged with the locations mentioned in the text. This online section complements the bookÕs maps through access to Google EarthTM Georgia Rocks content. Google Earth is software you can download that allows flying through the landscape in 3D. Once you have Google Earth loaded, try this overview tour including Roadside Geology page references for many of Georgia's favorite destinations. Or visit the locations in the overview tour using Google Maps - no installation required.

For a Google Earth file used at the Georgia Adopt-a-Stream "Confluence 2016," click here. This file incorporates Blue Ridge/ Piedmont geology from the 1976 State Map, watershed boundaries and streams from the AAS web site, and selected monitoring locations with the average pH and conductivity recorded by AAS volunteers in 2015. If you require geology backdrop from other parts of the state you will also need to load the .kmz file at one of these links: Coastal Plain or NW Georgia.  

Here are the routes that appear in the book, and in green, those that are being published on this web site.

This Georgia Rocks added content consists of the following:

á      placemarks (tagged locations that become Òword balloonsÓ when clicked, usually with narrative and pictures)

á      paths (lines that mark faults and other geologic features, as well as Roadside Geology routes)

á      polygons (transparent colored areas, depicting geologic units as simplified from a digital version of the 1976 state geologic map), and

á      overlays (versions of some of the geologic maps in the book, as simplified from the literature). 

The "Earth App" links are versions best for the mobile Google Earth App - the difference being the placement of the map legend that floats over the map. You will appreciate being able to use the maps in the field, especially the ability to show your current location as a blue dot, but be patient: zooming around the landscape is slower on 3G than when using a wi-fi connection.

The content is arranged by geologic region of the state. Earlier on this website there were Google Maps links, but at present Google Maps does not allow files this large - with the exception of the Appalachian Plateaus/ Valley and Ridge link, which remains.

All Georgia (5.5 MB download; not recommended for mobile devices)

Coastal Plain/Sea Islands

Earth / Earth App

Appalachian Plateaus/Valley and Ridge

The Google Earth versions include a "pull-up" version of the cross section from p. 125 of the book. The pull-up section and the floating map legend were made with the help of Google Earth tools developed and freely shared by Steven Whitmeyer of James Madison University.
Maps / Earth / Earth App

Blue Ridge/ Piedmont

Terranes are an important concept in this region.  A terrane is an area that was widely separated from other terranes for part of its history, and was assembled with the others by the movements of plate tectonics. All the terrane boundaries in Georgia are also major faults.  Identifying terranes is a work in progress, and there are minor differences between different authorsÕ versions. We have followed the version by Hatcher, Bream, and Merschat (2007). A Google Earth version of the book's terrane map (p. 184) together with a version of the p. 186 cross section "pulled up" along the line of section, can be downloaded here. In addition, a reconstruction of terrane original positions to accompany the book's discussion on pp. 181-185 is available here. Moving terrane polygons on Google Earth was done by moving back and forth between .kml and Excel formats, which might be made simpler today by tools on the EarthPoint website.

A difference between maps in the book and the web site is that in the book, each terrane has a different color scheme. In the online geologic maps, there is a single color scheme of rock types for the Blue Ridge and Piedmont, and heavy red lines designate the terrane boundaries.

Blue Ridge/ Piedmont (1976 state map geology) – Earth / Earth App

Including geology from other sources as optional overlays – Earth

Around Atlanta (geology after Higgins and Crawford, 2006) – Earth/ Earth App

Lastly, there is a special Google Earth file on Tallulah Gorge, with Google Earth topographic profiles across it and 4 other gorges for comparison, as well as its relation to the rivers that drain the northeast corner of Georgia.