I am working on a new illustration that will hopefully be posted very soon that attempts to explain the significance of the Hess Deep Rift. Over the last few weeks I have been meeting with the scientists on board so that they can give me the low down/crash course on geology, oceanography, petrology, sedimentology, etc.

I started collecting all of the illustrations and diagrams they drew during our discussion – drawings they made to help clarify some of my confusions…which is exactly what I will be doing for you with my illustration. So, I thought I’d share with you what they shared with me:

 

Drawn by Katin Faak to explain the different theories of how the lower crust is formed.

Drawn by Andrew Horst to explain what we can interpret from dike formations.

 

This is what I drew after my conversation with Andrew…

 

Drawn by Michael Cheadle to explain the plate interactions in this area.

 

Drawn by Benoit Ildefonse during a Plate Tectonics 101 lesson.

 

Now, my next step is to take everything I’ve learned while on board from these scientists, cut out all of their personal bias, find the overarching themes and similarities between all of my conversations with them, and create an illustration – that isn’t intimidating – that clearly explains the most important concepts to you…without giving you information overload…quite a challenge!