Today's geology lesson is all about anticlines.
Students can read all they want about geological folds, axial planes, hinge lines, antiformal synclines and synformal anticlines. But it can still be a challenge to visualize just what geologists are talking about.
A better option is putting boots on the ground -- such as a trip to Iowa State University's Carl F. Vondra Geology Field Station near Shell, Wyoming. The field station is in the north-central part of the state, on the western flank of the Bighorn Mountains. Nearby is Sheep Mountain, a well-known and typical anticline.
The Bighorn River has cut a canyon through the mountain and students can hike along the river to get a good look at a natural cross section of the exposed geological fold.
But most students aren't able to make a trip to Sheep Mountain.
So Iowa State researchers have come up with a new option -- TouchTerrain.
The web application is open source and free for private use through Iowa State's GeoFabLab. It allows anybody with a 3-D printer to easily and quickly print terrain models of any place on the planet, including the ocean floor.