Visualizations for Teaching About the Ocean System
If you have a visualization that would be helpful for teaching undergraduate oceanography, please contribute to our continually expanding collections.
- Bathymetry - Images and animations that show sea floor topography.
- Coastal Wave Mechanics - Animations and movies depicting how waves and water molecules behave along the shore and in deep water settings.
- Coral Reefs and Atolls - Images and photographs that show the living organism of a coral reef and its marine inhabitants.
- Deltas and Sediment Plumes (in Geomorphology) - Images and animations that illustrate both modern and ancient delta systems. Photos and 3D animations depict the development of deltas on both the temporal and spatial scales.
- Earth Science Image Archives (in Teaching Geoscience with Visualizations) - Contemporary and historic photographs, data-derived and satellite image collections from agencies such as USGS, AGI, NASA, etc. Collections include oceanography-related images and also span the range of earth science topics.
- El Nino/La Nina - Animations, models, and images related to how El Nino affects sea surface temperature, sea surface level, thermocline depth, weather and more.
- Hurricanes (in Hazards) - visualizations of the 2005 hurricane season, various record breaking storms, and models of hurricane structure.
- Longshore Drift and Depositional Landforms (in Geomorphology) - Animations and images showing a variety of depositional landforms resulting from longshore drift and the impact of river and coastal engineering projects on sediment transport processes.
- Ocean Chemistry and Productivity Visualizations - Visualizations about phytoplankton plankton blooms, nutrient circulation, carbon cycling, chlorophyll concentrations and other ocean productivity topics.
- Ocean Circulation and Upwellings - images and animations about ocean surface currents, upwellings and circulation models.
- Ocean Surface Currents - images and animations about the dynamics, causes and effects of ocean surface currents.
- Oil Spills (in Hazards) - Visualizations, activities, and references that speak to the effects of oil spills and aid educators in teaching about these catastrophic events.
- Rocky Coastlines and Erosional Landforms (in Geomorphology) - Animations and images related to erosional landforms such as cliffs, arches, sea stacks and other morphological features.
- Sea Surface Temperature - images and animations about sea surface temperature, including global maps, real-time and observed data, and temperature anomalies related to climate change.
- Sedimentation Models (in Sedimentary Geology) - Animations, videos, photos and images representing conceptual models, output from computer simulations, and physical experimental models of clastic and carbonate sedimentation and stratigraphy.
- Sequence Stratigraphy (in Sedimentary Geology) - Images, animations and videos about the processes and products of sequence stratigraphy.
- Tidal Visualizations - Photos, animations, maps and videos that help teach about tides, their distribution in space and time, their role in sedimentary processes, and their use as an energy source.
- Tsunami Visualizations (in Hazards) - Animations and photos of recent and historic
tsunami episodes.
- Turbidite Visualizations (in Sedimentary Geology) - Photos, videos and images of sediment transport models and events.
Search the Oceanography Visualization Collection

Subject: Oceanography
Resource Type: Audio/Visual
Results 1 - 10 of 27 matches
The 2004 Sumatra Earthquake and Tsunami
Steve Kluge
In this multi-part activity, students study seismograms from different seismic stations recording the Sumatra earthquake of December 26th, 2004 and then determine the epicenter of the quake and track the tsunami it ...
Resource Type: Audio/Visual: Activities:Lab Activity, Audio/Visual:Maps
Air-sea Interactions: Activities in Oceanography
Steve LaDochy, California State University, Los Angeles
This online set of activities help students learn properties of ocean waves, wind-wave relationships and properties of tsunamis.
Resource Type: Audio/Visual: Audio/Visual:Images/Illustrations, Activities:Lab Activity, Assessments, Audio/Visual:Animations/Video, Activities:Classroom Activity
Wind Surge: Interactive On-line Mac and PC
Bob Mackay, Clark College
Wind surge is a JAVA based applet for exploring how water level on the windward and leeward side of a basin depends on wind speed, basin length, water depth, and boundary type. -
Resource Type: Audio/Visual: Activities:Lab Activity, Audio/Visual:Images/Illustrations
Contour Basics: JAVA Mac PC
Steve Ackerman and Tom Whittaker, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Space Science and Engineering Center. Starting Point page organized by R.M. MacKay.
A great on-line resource for introducing students to contour plots.
Resource Type: Audio/Visual: Audio/Visual:Maps, Activities:Classroom Activity, Lab Activity
The Earth Science World ImageBank
Abigail Howe American Geological Institute
Abigail Howe American Geological Institute - The Earth Science World ImageBank (ESWIB) is a free resource under development by AGI in which students and teachers can find a variety of geoscience photographs for use ...
Resource Type: Audio/Visual: Audio/Visual:Images/Illustrations, Collections
Ocean Circulation
Bob Mackay, Clark College
Students view and analyze buoy, satellite, temperature vs. depth data to learn about ocean circulation and how is related to atmospheric circulation. -
Resource Type: Audio/Visual: Datasets and Tools:Datasets with Teaching Activities, Audio/Visual:Images/Illustrations, Activities, :Lab Activity
Tides
Photos, simple animations, animated maps (with video introduction), and field videos that can be integrated into lectures or classes on tides, their distribution in space and time, their role in sedimentary processes, and their use as an energy source.
Resource Type: Audio/Visual: Audio/Visual:Animations/Video, Images/Illustrations, Maps
Tides
Photos, simple animations, animated maps (with video introduction), and field videos that can be integrated into lectures or classes on tides, their distribution in space and time, their role in sedimentary processes, and their use as an energy source.
Resource Type: Audio/Visual: Audio/Visual:Animations/Video, Images/Illustrations, Maps
Ocean Chemistry and Productivity
Compiled by Jen Millner at Montana State University Find illustrations, diagrams and models about carbon cycling, phytoplankton, chlorophyll concentration, algal blooms, nutrient cycling and more. Click here to ...
Resource Type: Audio/Visual: Audio/Visual:Animations/Video, Images/Illustrations
Ocean Chemistry and Productivity
Compiled by Jen Millner at Montana State University Find illustrations, diagrams and models about carbon cycling, phytoplankton, chlorophyll concentration, algal blooms, nutrient cycling and more. Click here to ...
Resource Type: Audio/Visual: Audio/Visual:Animations/Video, Images/Illustrations





