What the world looks like naked: The amazing image of Earth's geology laid bare

 

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 2:02 PM on 01st August 2008

 

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This amazing image reveals what our world looks like when it is stripped bare - shorn of all its plants, topsoil, water and man-made structures.

Along with other never-seen-before images of the Earth, the picture has been unveiled at OneGeology - the world's biggest ever geological mapping project.

Scientists behind the project hope it will to do for the ground beneath our feet what Google has done for the Earth's surface with its Google Maps, Earth and Street utilities.

 

Enlarge Inner space: What the Earth looks like shorn of its surface structures. KEY: pale yellow - alluvium; red - granites or basalts; green - chalk; pink - sandstones; purple - slates; blue - mudstones and limestones

But unlike Google Maps, which runs from a single centralised internet server, OneGeology's information will be held on 50 servers run from individual countries. The data will be continuously updated.

OneGeology, supported by Unesco and six other international organisations, is the flagship project for UN International Year of Planet Earth 2008 - and posting global geological maps on the internet is one of its key achievements.

The project has also seen the development of a new web language for geology which allows nations to share data with each other and the public.

Some 15,000 scientists from 79 nations came together to produce the first digital geological map of the world.

Because all the participating countries provided information for free - and paid their own costs - the start-up price of the project was only £500,000.

The map was completed in little over a year and the amazing results can be seen below.

 

Enlarge Uncovered: One Geology images reveal the rocks that make up South America and, below, Canada

 

 

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OneGeology coordinator Ian Jackson, also chief of operations at the British Geological Survey, said: 'Geological maps are essential tools in finding natural resources such as water, hydrocarbons and minerals, and when planning to mitigate geohazards, like earthquakes, volcanoes and radon.

'Natural resources are a crucial source of wealth for all nations, especially those that need to develop and build their economies. Identifying geohazards is often a matter of life or death.'

Radon, a naturally occurring radioactive element, is thought to be the second biggest cause of lung cancer deaths in Britain.

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Kaleidoscope: The rocks of the Mid-Atantic Ridge form a vertical stripe to the left of Britain and Europe, above. Below: A OneGeology map focuses on the area from the UK to Italy

 

 

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Mr Jackson added: 'Other challenges facing all nations in the 21st Century include rising sea levels, management of waste (nuclear or domestic) and storage of carbon.

'Knowledge of the rocks that we all live on has become increasingly important and sharing that knowledge at a time of global environmental change is crucial'.

Scientists will be unveiling OneGeology fully in Oslo, Norway, next week.

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Geological formations in Japan

Wales in Pink :laugh3:

Wales in Pink :laugh3:

 

Are you implying the Welsh are all gay??:P

Cool! :D

What colours the oil?:P

it's so colorful!!!!!!!!! :wideeyed:

is not showed the area where i live in Spain :cry: i don't know what is our colour :(