HR: 11:05h
AN: ED31E-04    [PDF]
TI: Stereo Visualization of Time-Dependent 3D Convection: Illustrating Scales of Motion for Students (and Colleagues)
AU: * King, S D
EM: sking@purdue.edu
AF: Dept. of Earth and Atmospheric Sci., Purdue University, 550 Stadium Mall Dr., West Lafayette, IN 47907-2051 United States
AU: Arns, L
EM: larns@purdue.edu
AF: Envision Center for Data Perceptualization, Information Technology at Purdue, Purdue University, 128 Memorial Mall, Stewart G68, West Lafayette, IN 47906 United States
AU: Moreland, J
EM: morelanj@purdue.edu
AF: Envision Center for Data Perceptualization, Information Technology at Purdue, Purdue University, 128 Memorial Mall, Stewart G68, West Lafayette, IN 47906 United States
AU: Lowman, J P
EM: J.Lowman@earth.leeds.ac.uk
AF: School of Earth Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, West Yorkshir, LS2 9JT United Kingdom
AU: Gable, C W
EM: gable@lanl.gov
AF: EES-6 MS T003, Los Alamos National Lab, Los Alamos, NM 87545 United States
AB: The interaction between plates and convection produces complex flow patterns that are not only three dimensional and time dependent, but have features that occur over a large range of length scales. We have produced a series of calculations where plate motions reorganize over a very short time period as a result of the growth of a small-scale feature within the mantle flow. These calculations may provide insight into how plates on Earth reorganize. The topic of plate motions cuts across many disciplines in the geosciences and we would like to be able to convey the results of these calculations (and others like them) to students and colleagues who have little to no background in fluid dynamics. The spatial association of the features we are trying to highlight can be difficult to visualize with traditional three dimensional perspective representations, so we turn to stereo projection. At present, our planned survey of students and colleagues is informal. We will be showing them the animation, asking them to describe what they see and compare that with the responses from perspective representations. The calculations here represent one specific convection problem, yet our hope is that our experiences will serve as a guide that will enable instructors to use the complex results of state-of-the-art mantle convection calculations as illustrative tools in the classroom.
DE: 6605 Education
DE: 8120 Dynamics of lithosphere and mantle--general
SC: Education and Human Resources [ED]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting