Exhaustive Google Earth Pro Geologic Hazards Study Guide

Google Earth Pro Setup and Software Configuration

• Blackboard Navigation and Directory Setup:

  • Access Blackboard and navigate to the Labs folder.

  • Select Lab 2: Google Earth to access the required course files.

  • Locate and download two essential files: the instructional PowerPoint presentation and the Google Earth KMZ file titled geology 1405 hazards intro.

• Google Earth Pro Desktop Installation Procedure:

  • Copy the provided Google Earth desktop URL from Blackboard into a web browser.

  • Scroll to the bottom of the landing page and click Download Earth Pro on desktop.

  • Select Accept and Download to obtain the installer executable file (setup).

  • Run the downloaded installer, grant system administrative permissions, and wait for the notification stating "Installation Complete".

• KMZ Data File Download and Workspace Preparation:

  • Return to Blackboard under Lab 2 Google Earth KMZ files.

  • Click the three vertical dots options menu on the right side of the item and select Download original file.

  • Save the file into a dedicated local directory structure, such as Documents/Google Earth Pro/KM files.

• Importing Dataset into Google Earth Pro:

  • Open Google Earth Pro.

  • Dismiss the default startup dialogs by unchecking Show tips at startup and closing splash pop-ups.

  • Navigate to the upper menu bar and click File > Import (on macOS operating systems, file navigation options under the File dropdown menu differ slightly, but the import workflow is identical).

  • Adjust the file type dropdown filter to All files, select the downloaded KMZ file, and click Import.

  • Upon import, Google Earth Pro automatically pans and zooms the viewport over Texas.

  • Expand the dataset hierarchy in the left panel under geology 1405 hazards intro by clicking the drop-down arrow.

  • Dataset visual indicators: All placemarks display yellow pushpins, with the single exception of Monahan's transect, which is formatted as a linear transect path.

Spatial Measurements and Coordinates at Sam Houston State University (SHSU)

• Coordinates of the SHSU Lee Drain Building:

  • In the left menu panel under the imported dataset, locate SHSU Lee Drain Building.

  • Double-click the item name to center the view directly over the building placemark.

  • Right-click the placemark entry in the left panel and select Properties to inspect spatial coordinates.

  • Latitude: $30^\boxdot 42' 48.88''\text{ N}$

  • Longitude: $95^\boxdot\text{ W}$

• Building Envelope Spatial Measurements (Ruler Tool - Polygon Tab):

  • Activate the Ruler tool from the top application toolbar.

  • Select the Polygon tab within the Ruler dialog window.

  • Set the perimeter distance units to feet and area units to square feet.

  • Trace the perimeter of the Lee Drain Building by placing vertex pins on each exterior corner of the structure.

  • Measured Building Perimeter: $709.26\,\text{feet}$

  • Measured Building Surface Area: $31,445\,\text{square feet}$

• Linear Geodesic Measurements and Bearing/Heading Determination:

  • Definition of Heading: The directional angle of travel measured in degrees ($0^\boxdot$ to $360^\boxdot$) clockwise relative to true North.

  • Lee Drain Building to Huntsville State Park:

  • Zoom out the viewport until both the Lee Drain Building and Huntsville State Park placemarks are visible in a single frame.

  • Open the Ruler tool, select the Line tab, and set measurement units to miles.

  • Anchor a straight line from the Lee Drain Building placemark to the Huntsville State Park placemark.

  • Straight-line Distance: $5.99\,\text{miles}$ ( rounded to $6.00\,\text{miles}$).

  • Directional Heading: $167.37^\boxdot$ (approximately $167^\boxdot$).

  • Lee Drain Building to SHSU College of Osteopathic Medicine:

  • Clear the previous line measurement in the Ruler tool.

  • Draw a new vector from the Lee Drain Building to the SHSU College of Osteopathic Medicine.

  • Distance: $31.24\,\text{miles}$

  • Directional Heading: $170.00^\boxdot$

  • Lee Drain Building to SHSU The Woodlands Center:

  • Clear the ruler workspace and draw a vector from the Lee Drain Building to SHSU The Woodlands Center.

  • Distance: $34.68\,\text{miles}$

  • Directional Heading: $172.58^\boxdot$

Regional Geodesy: SHSU to Big Bend National Park

• Geographic Position and Longitudinal Difference:

  • Navigate to Big Bend National Park (Junction Visitor Center) in the left menu panel.

  • Open the Properties dialog for the Big Bend placemark to view coordinates.

  • Longitudinal comparison between SHSU ($95^\boxdot\text{ W}$) and Big Bend National Park ($103^\boxdot\text{ W}$) demonstrates that Big Bend lies approximately $8^\boxdot$ of longitude further west than SHSU.

• Approximating Distance via Longitudinal Difference:

  • Geodetic rule of thumb: $1^\boxdot\text{ of longitude} \approx 60\,\text{miles}$ at typical mid-latitudes.

  • Linear distance calculation based on longitudinal offset:     $\text{Estimated Distance} = 8^\boxdot \times 60\,\frac{\text{miles}}{\text{degree}} = 480\,\text{miles}$

• Actual Geodesic Distance and Heading:

  • Open the Ruler tool (Line tab) and measure the direct line from the Lee Drain Building to Big Bend National Park.

  • Measured Straight-Line Distance: $467\,\text{miles}$

  • Measured Directional Heading: $260.00^\boxdot$

• Compass Rose Directional Vectors from Lee Drain Building:

  • Vector 1 (Lee Drain Building to Huntsville State Park): Distance = $6.00\,\text{miles}$, Heading = $167^\boxdot$. Plotted on a compass rose, this vector projects toward South-Southeast (SSE).

  • Vector 2 (Lee Drain Building to Big Bend National Park): Distance = $467\,\text{miles}$, Heading = $260^\boxdot$. Plotted on a compass rose, this vector projects toward West-Southwest (WSW).

Topographic Analysis and Elevation Profiles

• Enchanted Rock Topographic Cross-Section and Slope:

  • Locate Enchanted Rock in the dataset hierarchy and double-click to fly to the location.

  • Identify the target landmarks: a clump of trees on the Northwest flank of Enchanted Rock and an orange/red-roofed building on the Southeast flank.

  • Open the Ruler tool, choose the Path tab, and draw a continuous line starting from the trees on the Northwest side across the dome to the building on the Southeast side.

  • Total Path Length: Approximately $3,000\,\text{feet}$ (acceptable variation range: $3,000\,\text{feet}\text{ to } 3,500\,\text{feet}$).

  • Save/confirm the path and right-click the drawn path entry in the Places panel to select Show Elevation Profile.

  • Topographic Profile Values:

  • Summit Peak (Highest Elevation along path): $1,812\,\text{feet}$

  • Base Elevation (Lowest Elevation along path): $1,376\,\text{feet}$

  • Total Topographic Relief (vertical elevation difference):       $\text{Total Relief} = 1,812\,\text{ft} - 1,376\,\text{ft} = 436\,\text{feet}$

  • Profile Slope Calculation (Peak to Southeast base):     $\text{Slope} = \frac{\text{Rise}}{\text{Run}} = \frac{\text{Total Relief}}{\text{Total Distance}} = \frac{434\,\text{ft}}{3,000\,\text{ft}} \approx 0.13$

• Guadalupe Peak Elevation and Virtual Observation:

  • Fly to Guadalupe Peak, the highest point in Texas.

  • Hover the cursor directly over the summit placemark and read the digital elevation readout located in the bottom right status bar.

  • Peak Elevation: $8,755\,\text{feet}$

  • Navigation feature: Drag the orange pegman icon from the upper right navigation control cluster onto the peak to enter 360-degree ground-level Street View mode.

• Balmorhea State Park Geolocation and Hydrology:

  • Geodesic location check: Measure south from Guadalupe Mountains National Park to locate state parks situated at specific distance thresholds:

  • Distance to Balmorhea State Park / San Solomon Springs: Approximately $80\,\text{miles}\text{ to } 90\,\text{miles}$

  • Distance to Monahans Sandhills State Park: Approximately $120\,\text{miles}$ (exceeds the 90-mile distance condition)

  • Primary Landmark/Tourist Destination: San Solomon Springs.

  • Origin of Water Source: Groundwater discharging via artesian springs. Situated in an arid desert environment, the system lacks surface river feeders; nearby open water features represent isolated, man-made impoundments rather than natural flowing rivers.

Eolian, Fluvial, and Karst Geomorphology Across Texas

• Monahans Sandhills Geomorphology:

  • Fly to Monahans Sandhills State Park and select Monahan's transect.

  • Right-click Monahan's transect and click Show Elevation Profile.

  • Landscape Characterization: Highly variable, hummocky, and irregular profile with rapid topographic oscillations over short horizontal distances.

  • Landform Feature: Active sand dunes.

  • Dynamic Transport Agent: Eolian forces (wind transport). Arid climatic conditions and sparse vegetation enable wind to continuously reshape sand dunes.

• Palo Duro Canyon Topographic Profile and Hydrology:

  • Fly to Palo Duro Canyon State Park in the northern Texas Panhandle.

  • Using the Ruler tool (Path tab), draw a path oriented due East ($90^\boxdot$) from the central placemark for a total distance of at least $14,000\,\text{feet}$.

  • Topographic Relief along Canyon Profile:

  • Upper Canyon Rim Elevation: $\approx 3,440\,\text{feet}$

  • Canyon Floor/River Elevation: $\approx 2,880\,\text{feet}$

  • Vertical Canyon Depth: $\approx 550\,\text{feet}\text{ to } 600\,\text{feet}$

  • Fluvial Incision Agent: Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River (fed by Palo Duro Creek).

  • Regional Drainage Basin: Prairie Dog Town Fork flows into the Red River along the Oklahoma-Texas border.

  • Historical Stream Dynamics: The current minor stream volume is disproportionate to the canyon dimensions. Canyon cutting required dramatically higher stream discharge and erosional energy during past pluvial/geologic periods, slowly incising through sedimentary strata aged at approximately $250,000,000\,\text{years}$.

• Big Bend Topographic Profile (Visitor Center to Rio Grande):

  • Draw a continuous path from the Big Bend Junction Visitor Center across high-relief terrain to the Rio Grande along the United States-Mexico border.

  • Mountain Peak Elevations: Ranges between $5,000\,\text{feet}$ and $7,500\,\text{feet}$ along the profile (surrounding regional peaks reach up to $10,700\,\text{feet}$).

  • Rio Grande Surface Elevation: $2,065\,\text{feet}\text{ to } 2,087\,\text{feet}$

• Devil's Sinkhole Cavern Mapping Limitations:

  • Surface expression: A natural collapse sinkhole natural area noted for large bat populations.

  • Surface Orifice Maximum Diameter: $56\,\text{feet}\text{ to } 60\,\text{feet}$

  • Topographic Profile Across Sinkhole: The elevation profile tool shows a completely flat line across the opening without recording any vertical drop.

  • Explanation of Software Limitation: Google Earth elevation modeling relies on surface Digital Elevation Models (DEMs). It cannot resolve subsurface geometry, sub-surface cavern depths, or void spaces beneath upper ground surfaces.

Texas Geological Formations, Infrastructure, and Coastal Dynamics

• Transportation Corridors and Engineering Hazards:

  • Interstate Route Selection: Interstate 35 (I-35) provides the direct vehicular corridor connecting McKinney Falls State Park (Austin), Inner Space Cavern (Georgetown), and Waco Mammoth National Monument (Waco).

  • Dominant Bedrock Lithology: Cretaceous Limestone.

  • Primary Geologic Hazard for Engineers: Karst dissolution features and sinkholes. Limestone undergoes chemical weathering when exposed to acidic groundwater ($\text{H}_2\text{CO}_3$), creating subterranean void networks prone to collapse under infrastructure loads.

• Bedrock Topography and Paleontological Preservations:

  • Topography at Colorado Bend State Park and Dinosaur Valley State Park: Highly dissected, hilly terrain formed by river channels incising through soluble limestone platforms.

  • Paleontological Evidence: Preserved fossilized dinosaur footprints/trackways embedded within Cretaceous limestone riverbeds.

• Regional Eco-Climatic Comparison:

  • East Texas Landscape (Caddo Lake State Park / Big Thicket National Preserve): Subtropical wetlands, dense forest canopies, cypress swamps, high moisture availability, and high atmospheric humidity driven by maritime airflow from the Gulf of Mexico.

  • Contrast with West Texas: Arid to semi-arid climate, sparse vegetation, rocky and sandy substrate, wind-dominated surface processes.

• Temporal Analysis via Google Earth Historical Imagery:

  • Google Earth Baseline Capability: The historical time slider toolbar button (clock with green counter-clockwise arrow) extends back to December 1985 over SHSU campus.

  • 1985 Image Quality: Low-resolution, blurry raster imagery.

  • Campus Infrastructure Evolution (1990s vs. Present):

  • Standard legacy structures present in 1990s imagery: Farrington Building, Lee Drain Building, Criminal Justice Building, Menard G. Coliseum.

  • New facilities constructed post-1990s:

    1. Lowman Student Center (LSC modern expansions)

    2. College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS Building)

    3. Student Recreation Center (formerly Health and Kinesiology Center)

    4. Academic Building 3 (AB3)

    5. Smith-Hudson Addition

• Coastal Geomorphology and Barrier Island Erosion:

  • Target Locations: Galveston Island and Padre Island.

  • Time Slider Observations (Comparing 1961/1979 to present): Progressive beach retreat, coastal land loss, thinning barrier island profiles, and land submergence.

  • Environmental Drivers: Longshore sediment transport, continuous wave dynamics, sea-level fluctuations, land subsidence, anthropogenic modifications, and high-energy tropical cyclone/hurricane impacts.