3D modeling
Many geoscientists spend a large amount of time trying to visualize complex systems in 3D. This spatial thinking skill is developed through a lot of practice, often in the field, and often involving lots of hand waving and squinting. I have found that building and 3D models and examining them interactively or in VR is a very useful exercise. I am often surprised by how a 3D visualization can change my understanding of a system.
All of my public 3D models can be found at my profile page on Sketchfab: HERE
I generally allow downloading of the model data, except for cases where proprietary or otherwise private data has been used.
3D models created using Agisoft Metashape
I like to document features or outcrops that I encounter in my field work or travels. The following models were created using stereo photogrammetry of photographs I personally took; many more can be found on my Sketchfab profile linked above.
Megalithic statues I encountered in the Sumatran village of Hopong, which had been moved from a cave to prevent their theft.
Petroglyphs carved into the 767,000 year-old Bishop Tuff in California (the petroglyphs are, of course, much younger than the tuff!)
Ancestral Puebloan anthropomorphic jar, from an academic excavation in the Four Corners region.
Each of these 3D models was produced using a single tectoplot command. The program handles all 3D mesh generation and texturing, and generates a ZIP file that can be directly uploaded to Sketchfab. The 3D modeling code can currently handle seismicity, focal mechanisms, volcano symbols, GPS vectors, and fault surfaces like Slab2.0.
The Solomon Islands are fascinating for their tectonic complexity and significant hazard.
Glaurus, Switzerland exposes a great thrust fault that helped build the Alps.
The great Gunung Rinjani volcano in Lombok, Indonesia, sits above a hazardous fault.
Lawetlat'la / Mount St. Helens - the remnants of one of the great modern volcanic eruptions.
Kaibab Creek, Arizona, a tributary to the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon.
Valley and Ridge morphology of the Appalachian Fold Belt, Pennsylvania
The following seismo-tectonic visualizations were each produced using a single tectoplot command.
The instrumentally recorded seismicity of Earth from the USGS earthquake catalog.
Focal mechanisms and aftershocks of the 2018 Lombok, Indonesia earthquake sequence (Lythgoe et al., 2021)
Seismicity of the Sunda megathrust offshore of Sumatra, in the area where the 2004 M9.2 and 2005 M8.6 earthquakes nucleated.