Objectives: An entirely new map has been created using current information on seismisity, plate motions, topography and so forth. This version of the map is entirely digital in form using mapping tools in Arc/Info and PCI software.The purpose of the map, like that of the original, is to present an accurate, objective, and realistic graphical compilation of contemporary global tectonic and volcanic activity, which can serve as a scientific, educational, and research planning tool
History: The Digital Tectonic Activity Map was first drawn in 1977, under the title "Global Tectonic and Volcanic Activity of the Last One Million Years," as an overlay to the National Geographic Society's Physical World map. It underwent many revisions up to 1998. However, new data bases and cartographic method made a completely new map possible, the result being the Digital Tectonic Activity Map (DTAM) in which different versions depicting crustal motions, seismicity, earthquakes, & continental and oceanic crust.
Publications: The maps have been published in the Journal of Geological Education (1982) the Bulletin of the International Association of Engineering Geology (1981), and the Journal of Geoscience Education (1999), in addition to many other scientific papers.
Books: The maps have appeared in at least 15 textbooks, most recently Understanding Earth, by F. Press and R. Siever 3rd. Ed. (2001), L. Long, Geology 9th Ed. (1999), and Basics of Pure Geophysics, by Karoly Kis. (2002). It has also appeared in the newly released Exploring Space, Exploring Earth, by P.D. Lowman, published by Cambridge University Press (July, 2002).
Space Geodesy: The tectonic map was used to plan baselines and monitoring sites for the NASA Crustal Dynamics Program (1979 and ensuing years). It has helped quantify plate motions with respect to one another.
Education: The map has been used in many universities for geology courses, including: the California Institute of Technology, the University of California, the University of Texas, and the University of Maryland.
Astronaut Training: The map is currently used for astronaut training at the Johnson Space Center in earth observation of geological and tectonic features that may be observed by Shuttle missions and the International Space Station.
Internet: The map has been posted on the Internet (http://denali.gsfc.nasa.gov/dtam/) since 1998. It has had approximately 5,000 hits per week since then. The DTAM has also received countless e-mails of support and additional queries.
Acknowledgements: The DTAM team sincerely appreciates the support from the 1997 and 1998 Director's Discretionary Fund (DDF) of the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center. We also gratefully acknowledge a 2002 DDF grant to study Intraplate Tectonic Activity for the upcoming Global Earthquake Satellite System (GESS).