Visual integration of multi-displicinary datasets for the geophysical analysis of tectonic processes

Within the scientific community, there is a growing emphasis on interdisciplinary analyses to gain a more complete understanding of how entire earth systems function. Challenges of this approach include integrating the numerous, and often disparate, datasets, while also presenting the integrated data in a manner comprehensible to a wide range of scientists. Three- and four-dimensional visualization is quickly becoming the primary tool for facilitating these challenges. We frequently utilize the modular methodology of the IVS Fledermaus visualization software package to enhance our ability to better understand various geophysical datasets and the tectonic processes occurring within their respective systems. A main benefit of this software is that it allows us to generate individual visual objects from geo-referenced datasets and then combine them to form interactive, multi-dimension visual scenes. Additionally, this visualization process is advantageous to interdisciplinary analyses because: 1) the visual objects are portable across scenes, 2) they can be easily exchanged between scientists to build new user-specific scenes, and 3) both the objects or scenes can be viewed using the full software package or the free viewer, iView3D, on any modern computer operating system (i.e., Mac OSX, Windows, Linux). Here we present examples of Fledermaus and how we have used visualization to better "see" oceanic, coastal, and continental tectonic environments. In one visualization, bathymetric, petrologic and hydrothermal vent information from a spreading system in the Lau back-arc basin is integrated with multichannel seismic (MCS) data to ascertain where the subduction zone influences begin strongly shaping the character of the spreading ridge. In visualizations of coastal environments, we combine high-resolution seismic CHIRP data with bathymetry, side-scan and MCS data, Landsat images, geological maps, and earthquake locations to look at slope stability in the Santa Barbara basin and fault characteristics in San Diego bay. Visualizations of the Lake Tahoe region and Salton Sea trough call upon many of the same type of datasets as previous listed, however in these continental environments we are trying to understand regional and local fault interactions, tectonic extension, and associated geohazards. Like many of the scenes created in conjunction with the Scripps Visualization Center, we make these visualizations freely available to other interested scientists, through the Center's online library (www.siovizcenter.ucsd.edu).