U. S.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

Make your own Earth and Tectonic

Globes
By
Tau Rho Alpha*, Scott W. Starratt* and Cecily C. Chang1
Open - File Report 93-380-A

Earth globe Tectonic globe

This report is preliminary and has not been reviewed for conformity
with U. S. Geological Survey editorial standards. Any use of trade,
firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not
imply endorsement by the U. S. Government.
Although this program has been used by the U. S. Geological Survey,
no warranty, expressed or implied, is made by the USGS as to the
accuracy and functioning of the program and related program
material, nor shall the fact of distribution constitute any such
warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by the USGS in
connection therewith.

*U. S. Geological Survey

Menlo Park, CA 94025
 Description
This report contains instructions and two patterns for making a
terrestrial globe and a tectonic globe. The pattern or map projection
is designed to be glued onto a used tennis ball. The terrestrial globe
is intended to help visualize the location of the continents and
oceans. The purpose of the tectonic globe is to help visualize the
location of the Earth's plates and types of plate boundaries (e.g.,
spreading, convergent, and transform). By constructing and
examining the globes, students and others will obtain a greater
appreciation of why the edges of continents are located where they
are, and of the shape and position of the Earth's plates and their
boundaries. This exercise will give the students an insight as to how
the parts of Earth's surface are put together. Included in this report
are the paper patterns (map projections), instructions for assembly,
educator's guides, and a simple description of terrestrial and tectonic
globes.
Requirements for the diskette version are an Apple Macintosh
computer with a hard disk and generic graphics and word-processing
software (not supplied). The map projections and graphics are saved
in PICT and paint format: the text was saved in Microsoft Word. The
paper version of this report has the same map projections,
illustrations, and text. Any theme or subject can be added to the
terrestrial map projection before or after attaching it to the tennis
ball. Global themes as ocean currents, tropical rain forests,
population centers, geology, sedimentary basins, and mountain
ranges are more easily understood when seen in a global context.
The date of this Open-File Report is 11/2/1993. OF 93-380- A,
paper copy, 14p. OF 93-380-B, 3.5-in. Macintosh 1.4 MB high-
density diskette.
To order this report, contact: U. S. Geological Survey, Book and
Open-File Report Sales, Box 25286 Denver, CO. or call (303) 236 -
4476.
Educator's Guide
Globes
A globe is a world map on the surface of a small sphere that
represents the Earth. Of all the world maps, the globe is the easiest
to understand because it gives us the most realistic picture of the
Earth and has the same attributes as the Earth; round and immense,
and impossible to see all at once. Spatial attributes such as distance,
direction, shape, and area are preserved as well as the continuity of
the all-curved surface. Globes represent the best possible map
projection because they include a minimum of distortion and are the
ultimate in geographic realism. Globes come in all sizes and are
designed for many uses. Most are terrestrial or geographic globes,
some are for decoration, without much thought given to geography as
we know it, and some are training globes for navigation and general
education. Globes that represent the heavens are called celestial
globes. Today's globes are constructed of plastic, but, before plastic
was available, paper and plaster were used. Early globes used hand-
drawn segments of a map projection that were attached to a sphere.
These segments, called gores, were tied together near the equator
and separated or interrupted toward the poles. As most printing
machines cannot print on the all-curved surface of a sphere, the gore
method of making globes is still used.
Tennis ball globes
Two globes can be constructed using the enclosed world maps.
Each of the world maps is composed of twelve gores that are
designed to be attached to a tennis ball. Each gore has a width of
30°, the time it takes the sun to travel two hours over the surface of
the Earth. The twelve gores can be cut into four groups of three
gores each and glued onto the tennis ball, or the gores can be glued
on as a group of twelve. Either way, it is important to have the
equator divide the tennis ball into two equal parts and for the
equator to be in a straight line. See instructions for the construction
of tennis ball globes, pages 9 and 10 in this report.
 The Earth globe or terrestrial globe (pertaining to the Earth) is
a world map that outlines the continents. This globe can be the base
for showing any theme or subject, such as ocean currents, tropical
rain forests, mountain ranges, river systems, human population,
geology and so on. The second globe is a tectonic globe (tectonic
means a structural deformation in the earth's crust) that shows the
earth's major tectonic plates. On the tectonic globe, the edges of the
plates symbolize divergent (spreading) plate boundaries, convergent
plate boundaries, and transform plate boundaries. These two globes
allow us to see the whole world and to look at the world from a
different angle, giving us a better understanding of the Earth's
relationships.
Great-Circle Indicator
You can use the great-circle indicator to measure both latitude
and longitude. To find the latitude of your city align the great-circle
indicator for latitude over both poles and your city. Use the indicator
like a ruler to find the degree of latitude directly over your city. To
find the longitude of your city, hold the great-circle indicator on the
equator. Where a meridian, a north-south line, from your city
intersects the great-circle indicator is the longitude for your city.
Longitude is read in degrees east or west of the Greenwich (prime)
meridian.
The theory of plate tectonics
Seashells more than 50 million years old have been found near
the summit of Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth (29,028 ft;
8840 m). Oil (the remains of one-celled marine plants and animals)
is found deep beneath the Earth's surface from Texas to central
Canada, hundreds of miles from the nearest ocean. How can this be?
The Theory of Plate Tectonics provides the answer. But, let's go back
to the beginning.......
More than 2000 years ago Aristotle wondered aloud about the
discovery of marine animals on the mountains of ancient Greece. The
people laughed.
In the 15th century, Leonardo da Vinci wrote that above the
plains of Italy where birds now fly, fish once swam. The people
laughed.
 In the early 1600fs Sir Francis Bacon commented on the
similarity between the shape of the western shoreline of Africa and
the eastern shoreline of South America. The people laughed.
In 1912, meteorologist Alfred Wegener published his Theory of
Continental Drift. Earth scientists in Europe and North America
laughed. Earth scientists in South America said, "Hmm, why not?"
Wegener based his Theory of Continental Drift on several
observations. These included 1) the fit of continental margins, 2)
matching mountain chains in North America (Appalachians north
through Nova Scotia and Newfoundland) and Europe (British Isles
north into Norway), 3) the presence of similar 250-million-year-old
fossil leaves and reptiles in South America, Australia, Antarctica,
India, and Madagascar, and 4) sediments deposited by glaciers more
than 250 million years ago on Africa, South America, India, Australia,
and Madagascar. The one critical question that Wegener was unable
to answer was, "what made the continents drift?"
It was not until the mid-1960fs that the Theory of Plate
Tectonics was generally accepted (some scientists are still not
convinced).
More recently, supporting evidence has come from the
magnetic history of the Earth, the topography of the ocean basins,
radioactive dating of rocks, and the location of earthquakes and
volcanic eruptions. The last piece of the puzzle was the proposal of
convection cells as the means by which the plates moved. The two
theories have been joined into a underlying model of crustal
development called plate tectonics.
The Earth's surface is divided into more than twelve rigid
crustal plates, each plate is 70 to 100 km thick (43 to 65 miles). The
Tectonic Globe of this report is too small to show the names of all the
plates, so only the larger plates are named. These plates are moved
around by forces (heat) from within the earth. The crust under the
ocean is as thin as 3 mi (5 km) thick; continental crust is as much as
45 mi (72 km) thick. Average plate movement is about 2 in (5 cm)
a year, or about the diameter of the tennis-ball globe.
 There are three different type of plate boundaries: 1)
Divergent plate boundaries- at divergent (spreading) plate
boundaries, the two plates are moving away from each other. As the
plates move apart, the space between them is immediately filled
with magma rising from below forming new oceanic crust. Since the
plates do not move apart uniformly, fracture zones are sometimes
formed. Fracture zones usually form along ocean ridges where sea-
floor spreading is taking place (for example, the Atlantic and Indian
Oceans). 2) Convergent plate boundaries- At these boundaries,
where two plates come together, or converge, one plate usually slides
under the other plate (this process is called subduction). The
Tectonic Globe marks this type of plate edge with triangles. For
example when a continental plate (South American plate) and an
oceanic plate (Pacific plate) converge, the denser oceanic plate is
subducted under the less dense continental plate. When two oceanic
plates converge, as in the western Pacific Ocean, the faster plate is
subducted under the slower one. When two continental plates collide
(Eurasian and Indian plates), a mountain range (Himalayas, in this
example) is formed. 3) Transform plate boundaries-At this type
of boundary, the two plates slide past each other to facilitate the
motion of curved "plates" on a spherical surface. Crust is neither
destroyed or produced at this boundary. Crustal plates shear
laterally past each other producing many earthquakes. Part of the
eastern boundary of the Pacific Plate is a long transform fault
system. The San Andreas fault system in California is the most
famous of the many faults which form a transform plate boundary
between the Pacific and North American plates.
The idea of continental drift and its successor, plate tectonics,
has been discussed for hundreds of years. But the recent proposal of
convection cells as the mechanism for plate movement made the
theory of Plate Tectonics complete.
WHAT'S IN IT FOR ME?
The consequences of plate movement are evident in our daily
lives. The movement of plates is responsible for present-day
earthquake and volcanic activity. Knowledge of past plate location
and movement helps in the search for oil and minerals.
Glossary
The following glossary will help you get acquainted with some of the
terms associated with earth globes.
Geology: the study of the planet Earth.
Globe: a body having the form of a sphere that has a map of the
Earth attached to it.
Gore: a lune-shaped piece of paper that conforms to a spherical base.
Great circle: the shortest distance between any two points on the
globe. Lune: a crescent-shaped figure on a plane or sphere.
Plate tectonics: A widely accepted theory that the Earth's crust is
composed of a dozen or more rigid slabs or plates that move slowly
relative to one another.
Plate: a large mobile segment of the Earth's crust.
Sphere: an object bounded by a uniformly all curved surface, all
points on which are equidistant from the center.
Tectonic: The cause and result of structural deformation of the
Earth's crust.
Terrestrial globe: an earth globe.
Up: Which way is up?
On the earth "up" means away from the center of the earth and
"down" means toward the center of the earth. That's why people in
the southern hemisphere can stand "up" with their feet pointing
"down" to the center of the earth.
Questions
In what direction does the earth rotate?
In what direction does the day travel?
What is the circumference of the earth?
list the names of the plates.
What kinds of boundaries does each plate have?
In which oceans are the ocean ridges found?
Can you find a spreading center that isn't at the bottom of an ocean?
(Hint: it's in a cold place at a high latitude.)
Along which boundaries is oceanic crust formed?
Along which boundaries is oceanic crust destroyed?
Why is the theory of plate tectonics important to the people who live
in the state of California?
Millions of years from now, will Los Angeles be a suburb of San
Francisco or San Diego?.

8
Acknowledgments
A project of this kind is a journey into the unknown-no one
knows what the outcome will be. There is no guarantee that the
pattern will work, nor that all of the different software used to
compile such a publication will provide satisfactory solutions.
Without Daan Strebe's map-projection software, Geocart (distributed
in the U.S.A. by Terra Data Inc., Bramblebush, Croton-on-Hudson, N.
Y., 10520), this report could not have been completed. The patterns
for the globes are similar to a map projection called Rectangular
Polyconic that was invented by Strebe. Many people, mostly
teachers, provided help and encouragement in development of the
globes. Although there is not enough space here to list them
individually, their support is gratefully acknowledged. This report
was enhanced by the excellent reviews by Wilma Kious, John
Galloway, and Jim Pinkerton.

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U.S.Geological Survey
Open-File Report 93-380-A
Make your own tectonic and earth
Globes
By
Tau Rho Alpha, Scott W. Starratt and Cecily C. Chang

Earth and Tectonic globe Tennis ball

Label for diskette

 Instructions for constructing a tennis ball globe
1. Cut out the pattern of the map projection
2. Cut the map projection into four groups of gores (three gores each)
3. Apply glue to the back side of first set of gores
4. Apply the glued gore set to the tennis ball
Glue here for 5. Apply glue to the other sets of gores and apply them to the tennis ball
globe base 6. Cut out the base pattern and glue its ends together to form the base

Earth globe
By
Tau Rho Alpha, Scott W. Starratt and Cecily C Chang
Open-File Report 93-380-A

Cut through Cut through Cut through

Gore set pattern
pattern pattern
 Instructions for constructing a tennis ball globe
1. Cut out the pattern of the map projection
2. Cut the map projection into four groups of gores (three gores each)
3. Apply glue to the back side of first set of gores
4. Apply the glued gore set to the tennis ball
Glue here for 5. Apply glue to the other sets of gores and apply them to the tennis ball
globe base 6. Cut out the base pattern and glue its ends together to form the base

Divergent (spreading) The Earth's major tectonic plates

plate boundaries ^<
By
/ Tau Rho Alpha, Open-File Report 93-380-A
Fracture Zone Scott W.Starratt
and Cecily C. Chang

Cut through Cut through Cut through

Gore set pattern
pattern pattern
 Hov to construct the tennis ball globes.
(Page one of two)

Step 1. Cut out pattern of the map projection.

Step 2. Cut the map projection into four groups of gores

(three gores each)

Back side of first set of gores.

Step 3. Apply glue to the back side of first set of gores.
12
 HOT to construct the tennis ball globes.
(Page two of two)

Step 4. Apply the glued gore set to the tennis ball.

Step 5. Apply glue to the other sets of gores and apply them to the tennis ball.

v
Glue here for \
globe base *

Step 6. Cut out the base pattern and glue its ends together to form the base.
13
 North Pole Great-Circle
Great-Circle North Pole
Indicator

Indicator for
Latitude Globe

Scale indicates South Pole

degrees of
latitude To use this side
from the equator. *>* \ of the Great-Circle
Fold page along dashed line Indicator, hold
Glue page together. vertical and align
on any meridian.
Equator Equator

Cut out this inner dashed circle

for placement on any
meridian of th

South Pole
Fold so printed side is out. -
North Pole
Great-Circle Globe

Indicator for
Great-Circle Indicator
* South Pole

To use this side

Scale indicates of the Great-Circle
degrees of Indicator,
longitude e along dashed lin hold horizontal and
at the equator. Glue page together. align on equator.
Western Eastern
Hemisphere Hemisphere
us inner dashed circle
for placement on the
equator of the globe.
Position
Great-circle
Indicator on
equator. U. S. Geological Survey
Open-File Report 93-380-A

Longitude west of Greenwich Longitude east of Greenwich

Greenwich

14