Interactive map reveals seismology, geology, and geologic history of the midwest.
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ABOUT TO GO AWAY: IRIS is going to discontinue Flash animations in 2020. If you have a Flash player app and would like a copy, download this .swf file.
No audio: How can a river run backwards? This animation shows how a river can be forced backwards, albeit only long enough to find a new route. Several written accounts from the New Madrid earthquake of 1811 and 1812 describe the horror as great waters swashed upriver causing lakes to form on previously dry land.
Volcanoes, dinosaurs & inland sea around New Madrid? Hmm. There is an interesting geologic story told in the rocks of the New Madrid seismic zone. This animation takes each segment of geology and spins a scenario in cross section to see how the landscape has changed over its 500 million year history. No audio.
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