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Tag: Sea level

Sea level is illustrated in this collection of accurate, accessible science graphics, designed to make understanding changes in ocean height clear and engaging. These visuals cover tides, global sea-level rise, coastal processes, and the influence of climate and tectonics, helping to show how the Earth’s oceans interact with the land and atmosphere. Ideal for educators, students, and geoscience enthusiasts, this sea-level graphic collection turns complex oceanographic and environmental concepts into visually rich, easy-to-grasp resources for teaching and learning about our planet’s changing seas.

Paleotopography

Reconstruction of the Earth’s surface paleotopography and paleobathymetry between present day and 540 Million years ago as still images.

Reconstruction of the Earth’s surface paleotopography and paleobathymetry between present day and 540 Million years ago as still images. Shown is the Scotese & Wright (2018) paleo-digital elevation model (PaleoDEMS) based on tectonic plate reconstruction. The Scientific colour map ‘bukavu‘ is used to represent data accurately and to all readers.

  • Transparent background
  • Perceptually uniform colour map
  • Colour-vision deficiency friendly
  • Readable in black&white
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Paleotopography (animated)

Animated reconstruction of the Earth’s surface paleotopography and paleobathymetry between present day and 540 Million years ago.

Animated reconstruction of the Earth’s surface paleotopography and paleobathymetry between present day and 540 Million years ago. Shown is the Scotese & Wright (2018) paleo-digital elevation model (PaleoDEMS) based on tectonic plate reconstruction. The Scientific colour map ‘bukavu‘ is used to represent data accurately and to all readers.

  • Transparent background
  • Perceptually uniform colour map
  • Colour-vision deficiency friendly
  • Readable in black&white
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Surface topography cross-section art

The global bedrock relief model of the Earth’s surface along the equator integrating land topography and ocean bathymetry reveals the vastness of the ocean depths.

No time to dive: The global bedrock relief model of the Earth’s surface along the equator integrating land topography and ocean bathymetry reveals the vastness of the ocean depths. Seeing the vastness of our global ocean that spans more than 70% of the planet’s surface, and hosts about 94% of wildlife, makes it clear why more than 80% has never been mapped, explored, or even seen by humans. Artwork is based on the data visualisation from s-ink.org/surface-topography-cross-section.

  • Vector-format version
  • Colour-vision deficiency friendly
  • Readable in black&white
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Surface topography cross-section

Global cross-section of the Earth’s surface topography showing the bedrock elevation across oceans, land, and ice sheets.

Global cross-section of the Earth’s surface topography along the equator. Shown are the bedrock elevation across oceans, land, and ice sheets. The data is ETOPO1 (Amante and Eakins 2009), a 1 arc-minute global relief model of Earth’s surface that integrates land topography and ocean bathymetry. Alternative crosssections are included.

  • Alternative cross-sections
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  • Light & dark background versions
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Sea-level change mechanisms (sketch)

Sketches outlining the solid-Earth induced sea-level change mechanisms over different time periods, covering elastic, viscous, and mantle convection time scales.

Sketches outlining the solid-Earth induced change of sea level over different time periods, covering elastic (instantaneous), viscous (thousand to hundred thousand years), and mantle convection (Million to Billion years) time scales. Shown are the solid Earth and oceans (filled areas) and their surfaces after an applied change to the system (lines).

On the shortest time scales, the solid Earth deforms elastically in response to an imposed load: an ice sheet uplifts the ground near areas of mass loss and depresses the ocean basins, which gain mass. The sea surface drops near the mass loss because the diminished ice sheet gravitationally attracts less seawater. Relative to the ground surface, sea-level drops near melting ice, but rises faster than average over the rest of the ocean.

Following glacial unloading, Earth deforms viscously on time scales of 1’000–100’000 years as the mantle flows back into the depressed region. This uplifts the region near the former ice sheet (locally causing relative sea-level drop) and depresses the surrounding peripheral forebulge. If the forebulge collapses beneath the sea surface, the added basin volume causes far-field (eustatic) sea-level drop.

On time scales of one Million years and longer, solid Earth processes associated with plate tectonics and mantle dynamics dominate sea-level change (Harrison, 1990; Miller et al., 2005). Shown here are the major processes that can elevate global average (eustatic) sea level (and depress it when acting oppositely). Global sea level rises when the “container” volume of the ocean basins decreases, which can have multiple reasons. Sea level also rises, if water exchange with the deep mantle becomes imbalanced.

  • Creator: Clint P. Conrad
  • This version: 27.10.2021
  • License: Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0)
  • Specific citation: This graphic by Clint Conrad based on Conrad (2013) is available via the open-access s-Ink repository.
  • Related reference: Conrad, C.P. (2013), The solid earth’s influence on sea level, Geological Society of America Bulletin, 125, 1027-1052, doi:10.1130/B30764.1.
  • Vector format
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  • Light & dark background versions
  • Colour-vision deficiency friendly
  • Readable in black&white
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Paleo surface topography

Earth’s reconstructed global surface topography from the beginning of the Cenozoic era (66 Million years ago) until today.

Still images of the Earth’s global surface topography reconstructed through the Cenozoic time (66 – 0 Ma). Shown is the Straume et al. (2020) paleogeography model. The Scientific colour map ‘bukavu‘ is used to represent data accurately and to all readers.

  • Various time snapshots
  • Alternative map projections
  • Transparent background
  • Light & dark background versions
  • Perceptually uniform colour map
  • Colour-vision deficiency friendly
  • Readable in black&white
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Paleo surface topography (animated)

Animations of the Earth’s global surface topography reconstructed through the Cenozoic time (66 – 0 Ma).

Animations of the Earth’s global surface topography reconstructed through the Cenozoic time (66 – 0 Ma). Shown is the Straume et al. (2020) paleogeography model. The Scientific colour map ‘bukavu‘ is used to represent data accurately and to all readers.

  • Alternative map projections
  • Transparent background
  • Light & dark background versions
  • Perceptually uniform colour map
  • Colour-vision deficiency friendly
  • Readable in black&white
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Geoid

Global maps of the Geoid height, which is the difference of an imaginary sea level surface to a perfect ellipsoid.

Global maps of the Geoid height, which is the difference of an imaginary sea level surface that in fact has a wavy surface over all of the Earth, to a perfect ellipsoid. The rendered data is based on EGM2008 (Pavlis et al., 2012). The Scientific colour map ‘vik‘ is used to represent data accurately and to all readers.

  • Creator: Fabio Crameri
  • This version: 19.09.2021
  • License: Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0)
  • Specific citation: This graphic by Fabio Crameri is available via the open-access s-Ink repository.
  • Related references: Nikolaos K. Pavlis, Simon A. Holmes, Steve C. Kenyon, John K. Factor; 2012, EGM2008: The development and evaluation of the Earth Gravitational Model 2008 (EGM2008) -Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth (1978-2012) Volume 117, Issue B4, April 2012. https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JB008916
  • Alternative map projections
  • Alternative colour maps
  • Transparent background
  • Light & dark background versions
  • Perceptually uniform
  • Colour-vision deficiency friendly
  • Readable in black&white
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Surface topography (relief)

Global maps of the Earth’s surface topography showing the bedrock elevation across oceans, land, and ice sheets.

Global maps of the Earth’s surface topography showing the bedrock elevation across oceans, land, and ice sheets. Shown is ETOPO1 (Amante and Eakins 2009), a 1 arc-minute global relief model of Earth’s surface that integrates land topography and ocean bathymetry. The Scientific colour map ‘bukavu‘ is used to represent data accurately and to all readers.

  • Alternative map projections & colour map
  • Transparent background
  • Light & dark background versions
  • Perceptually uniform colour map
  • Colour-vision deficiency friendly
  • Readable in black&white
Download

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