Earth uncovered

"Have you ever wondered what our world would look like stripped bare of all plants, soils, water and man-made structures?" No? Well, you're not thinking like a geologist. "Wonder no longer," say the publicists for OneGeology, a global project sponsored by UNESCO, the British Geological Survey, and several other groups. OneGeology is bringing together geologists and computer scientists from 79 nations to create new maps that represent the Earth's underlying topology in fresh ways: Old rock, new rock, and every manner of tectonic collision -- faults and all.

Representatives of OneGeology met in Lillestrom, Norway, last week, during the International Geological Congress, saying they hope to do for the geologic Earth what Google has already accomplished with maps and images of the Earth's surface. This image is a hint of what's to come:

Via BLDGBLOG, which deemed the project "cool" but carped about a few aesthetic choices. "Badly colored and with a 1970s funk album sunrise coming round the planet?"