Phantom Islands – A Sonic Atlas

The term “phantom island” refers to an island that appeared on historical maps (sometimes for many years) even though it doesn’t exist.  Most phantom islands emerged from the era of European sea exploration and colonization.  Phantom Islands – A Sonic Atlas is a project that pairs original sound recordings with 27 phantom islands.  Each of these islands are placed according to their coordinates on historical maps.  Visitors can explore these individual islands by either taking a “cruise” or by navigating with their cursor.  As one visits each island, they will hear a unique soundscape and can read about the island’s history, including the date of the island’s first and last appearance in print.  Check it out!

phantomatlas

Eruptions, Earthquakes, and Emissions

The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History has an interactive map for you to view a time-lapse animation of volcanic eruptions and earthquakes since 1960, and sulfer dioxide emissions from vulcanic eruptions since 1978.  As you watch the animation, you can click on the symbols to view more information about specific earthquakes or volcanic explosions. If you are interested in further exploring this data you can download the datasets in a CSV or GeoJSON file.  Check it out!

smithsonianvolcanism