{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,7]],"date-time":"2025-11-07T09:12:40Z","timestamp":1762506760495,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":36,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2016,3,2]],"date-time":"2016-03-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1456876800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100013385","name":"National Science and Technology Program of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["SinoProbe-08"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["SinoProbe-08"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100013385","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJGI"],"abstract":"<jats:p>While many of the current methods for representing the existing global lithospheric models are suitable for academic investigators to conduct professional geological and geophysical research, they are not suited to visualize and disseminate the lithospheric information to non-geological users (such as atmospheric scientists, educators, policy-makers, and even the general public) as they rely on dedicated computer programs or systems to read and work with the models. This shortcoming has become more obvious as more and more people from both academic and non-academic institutions struggle to understand the structure and composition of the Earth\u2019s lithosphere. Google Earth and the concomitant Keyhole Markup Language (KML) provide a universal and user-friendly platform to represent, disseminate, and visualize the existing lithospheric models. We present a systematic framework to visualize and disseminate the structure of the Earth\u2019s lithosphere on Google Earth. A KML generator is developed to convert lithospheric information derived from the global lithospheric model LITHO1.0 into KML-formatted models, and a web application is deployed to disseminate and visualize those models on the Internet. The presented framework and associated implementations can be easily exported for application to support interactively integrating and visualizing the internal structure of the Earth with a global perspective.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijgi5030026","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2016,3,2]],"date-time":"2016-03-02T11:20:05Z","timestamp":1456917605000},"page":"26","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":8,"title":["Visualizing the Structure of the Earth\u2019s Lithosphere on the Google Earth Virtual-Globe Platform"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"5","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5280-3452","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Liangfeng","family":"Zhu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of GIS, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China"},{"name":"School of Geography Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China"},{"name":"Shanghai Key Lab for Urban Ecology, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China"}]},{"given":"Wensheng","family":"Kan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of GIS, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China"},{"name":"School of Geography Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China"}]},{"given":"Yu","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of GIS, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China"},{"name":"School of Geography Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China"}]},{"given":"Jianzhong","family":"Sun","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of GIS, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2016,3,2]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Fowler, C.M.R. (2005). The Solid Earth: An Introduction to Global Geophysics, Cambridge University Press.","DOI":"10.1017\/CBO9780511819643"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"727","DOI":"10.1029\/97JB02122","article-title":"CRUST 5.1: A global crustal model at 5\u00b0 \u00d7 5\u00b0","volume":"103","author":"Mooney","year":"1998","journal-title":"J. Geophys. Res. Solid Earth"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"706","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1365-246X.2007.03373.x","article-title":"Global crustal thickness from neural network inversion of surface wave data","volume":"169","author":"Meier","year":"2007","journal-title":"Geophys. J. Int."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"222","DOI":"10.1093\/gji\/ggt247","article-title":"Global Moho from the combination of the CRUST2.0 model and GOCE data","volume":"195","author":"Reguzzoni","year":"2013","journal-title":"Geophys. J. Int."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2153","DOI":"10.1002\/2013JB010626","article-title":"LITHO1.0: An updated crust and lithospheric model of the Earth","volume":"119","author":"Pasyanos","year":"2014","journal-title":"J. Geophys. Res. Solid Earth"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"101","DOI":"10.1016\/0031-9201(95)03105-7","article-title":"3SMAC: An a priori tomographic model of the upper mantle based on geophysical modeling","volume":"95","author":"Nataf","year":"1996","journal-title":"Phys. Earth Planet. In."},{"key":"ref_7","first-page":"897","article-title":"The current limits of resolution for surface wave tomography in North America","volume":"81","author":"Bassin","year":"2000","journal-title":"Eos Trans. AGU"},{"key":"ref_8","unstructured":"CRUST 1.0: A New Global Crustal Model at 1 \u00d7 1 Degrees. Available online: http:\/\/igppweb.ucsd.edu\/~gabi\/crust1.html."},{"key":"ref_9","unstructured":"LITHO1.0: An Updated Crust and Lithospheric Model of the Earth. Available online: http:\/\/igppweb.ucsd.edu\/~gabi\/litho1.0.html."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"11088","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1202383109","article-title":"Next-generation Digital Earth","volume":"109","author":"Goodchild","year":"2012","journal-title":"Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA"},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3966","DOI":"10.1080\/01431161.2011.636081","article-title":"Google Earth as a virtual globe tool for Earth science applications at the global scale: Progress and perspectives","volume":"33","author":"Yu","year":"2012","journal-title":"Int. J. Remote Sens."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"776","DOI":"10.1038\/439776a","article-title":"Virtual globes: The web-wide world","volume":"439","author":"Butler","year":"2006","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cageo.2010.06.001","article-title":"The role of Virtual Globes in geoscience","volume":"37","author":"Bailey","year":"2011","journal-title":"Comput. Geosci."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"83","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cageo.2013.07.020","article-title":"A virtual tour of geological heritage: Valourising geodiversity using Google Earth and QR code","volume":"61","author":"Goy","year":"2013","journal-title":"Comput. Geosci."},{"key":"ref_15","first-page":"15","article-title":"Presenting geoscience using virtual globes","volume":"104","author":"Navin","year":"2011","journal-title":"AusGeo News"},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"23","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cageo.2013.07.016","article-title":"Integration of Google Maps\/Earth with microscale meteorology models and data visualization","volume":"61","author":"Wang","year":"2013","journal-title":"Comput. Geosci."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"524","DOI":"10.1007\/s11707-014-0438-7","article-title":"SolidEarth: A new Digital Earth system for the modeling and visualization of the whole Earth space","volume":"8","author":"Zhu","year":"2014","journal-title":"Front. Earth Sci."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"100","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cageo.2010.05.003","article-title":"Geological and geophysical modeling on virtual globes using KML, COLLADA, and Javascript","volume":"37","author":"Whitmeyer","year":"2011","journal-title":"Comput. Geosci."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"47","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cageo.2010.05.006","article-title":"Standardization of seismic tomographic models and earthquake focal mechanisms data sets based on web technologies, visualization with keyhole markup language","volume":"37","author":"Postpischl","year":"2011","journal-title":"Comput. Geosci."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1029\/2010GC003490","article-title":"Visualization of geochemical data for rocks and sediments in Google Earth: Development of a data converter application for geochemical and isotopic data sets in database systems","volume":"12","author":"Yamagishi","year":"2011","journal-title":"Geochem. Geophy. Geosy."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"56","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cageo.2014.05.013","article-title":"Representation of paleomagnetic data in virtual globes: A case study from the Pyrenees","volume":"70","author":"Mochales","year":"2014","journal-title":"Comput. Geosci."},{"key":"ref_22","unstructured":"De Paor, D.G., Dordevic, M.M., and Wild, S.C. (2011, January 9\u201312). Modeling Earth\u2019s crust, mantle, and core with Google Mars and Google Moon. Proceedings of the 2011 GSA Annual Meeting, MN, MA, USA."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"62","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cageo.2013.09.016","article-title":"Modeling and visualizing borehole information on virtual globes using KML","volume":"62","author":"Zhu","year":"2014","journal-title":"Comput. Geosci."},{"key":"ref_24","unstructured":"OGC KML: OGC07\u201317-147r2. Available online: http:\/\/portal.opengeospatial.org\/files\/?artifact_id=27810."},{"key":"ref_25","unstructured":"Wernecke, J. (2009). The KML Handbook: Geographic Visualization for the Web, Addison-Wesley."},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"176","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cageo.2014.07.016","article-title":"Moving KML geometry elements within Google Earth","volume":"72","author":"Zhu","year":"2014","journal-title":"Comput. Geosci."},{"key":"ref_27","unstructured":"Google Earth API Reference. Available online: https:\/\/developers.google.com\/earth\/documentation\/reference."},{"key":"ref_28","unstructured":"VisualLitho: Visualizing the Lithospheric Structure (derived from LITHO1.0) on the Google Earth Virtual Globe. Available online: http:\/\/www.visualearth.org\/litho10\/litho10web\/visuallitho10.html."},{"key":"ref_29","first-page":"105","article-title":"Designing interactive screen overlays to enhance effectiveness of Google Earth geoscience resources","volume":"492","author":"Dordevic","year":"2012","journal-title":"Geol. Soc. Am. Spec. Pap."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"274","DOI":"10.3390\/ijgi3010274","article-title":"Spatial distribution of greenhouse commercial horticulture in Kenya and the role of demographic, infrastructure and topo-edaphic factors","volume":"3","author":"Justus","year":"2014","journal-title":"ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1157","DOI":"10.3390\/ijgi3041157","article-title":"Mapping VHR water depth, seabed and land cover using Google Earth data","volume":"3","author":"Collin","year":"2014","journal-title":"ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf."},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"320","DOI":"10.3390\/ijgi4010320","article-title":"Categorization and conversions for indexing methods of discrete global grid systems","volume":"4","author":"Amiri","year":"2015","journal-title":"ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf."},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cageo.2015.09.004","article-title":"MaRGEE: Move and rotate Google Earth elements","volume":"85","author":"Dordevic","year":"2015","journal-title":"Comput. Geosci."},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"34","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cageo.2016.01.015","article-title":"Visualization and dissemination of global crustal models on virtual globes","volume":"90","author":"Zhu","year":"2016","journal-title":"Comput. Geosci."},{"key":"ref_35","first-page":"72","article-title":"Assessing place location knowledge using a virtual globe","volume":"115","author":"Zhu","year":"2016","journal-title":"J. Geogr."},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"93","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cageo.2015.05.003","article-title":"Visualizing volcanic processes in SketchUp: An integrated geo-education tool","volume":"81","author":"Lewis","year":"2015","journal-title":"Comput. Geosci."}],"container-title":["ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2220-9964\/5\/3\/26\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T19:20:03Z","timestamp":1760210403000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2220-9964\/5\/3\/26"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2016,3,2]]},"references-count":36,"journal-issue":{"issue":"3","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2016,3]]}},"alternative-id":["ijgi5030026"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/ijgi5030026","relation":{},"ISSN":["2220-9964"],"issn-type":[{"type":"electronic","value":"2220-9964"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2016,3,2]]}}}