Image & Map Credits
Frontline Earth does not hotlink images from other sites. Every photograph used as a hero image is a public-domain work from a U.S. government agency — the U.S. Geological Survey, NASA, the National Park Service, or NOAA — downloaded, stored directly on this site, and credited below with a link back to its original source page. Explanatory diagrams and the world map are original illustrations created for this site rather than photographs; they are credited separately.
World map
The base image on the world map page is NASA's "Blue Marble" composite satellite image of Earth (land surface, shallow water, and shaded topography), a public-domain U.S. government work created by Reto Stöckli and Robert Simmon, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, based on data from the MODIS science team. It is stored directly on this site rather than loaded from a third-party tile service. Marker pins are an original design, and marker coordinates are approximate decimal-degree locations for well-known, publicly documented places.
Diagrams
All explanatory diagrams are original illustrations created for Frontline Earth to accompany the relevant article. They are not copies of any third-party textbook or institutional figure.
Hero photographs, by article
| Article | Credit | License | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| How Badlands Are Formed | U.S. Geological Survey, Geology and Ecology of National Parks | Public Domain (U.S. Government Work) | Original page |
| How Canyons Are Carved | Emily Palmquist, U.S. Geological Survey | Public Domain (U.S. Government Work) | Original page |
| How Caves and Caverns Develop | Vickie Carson, U.S. Geological Survey | Public Domain (U.S. Government Work) | Original page |
| How Coastal Cliffs Develop | Monty Hampton, USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center | Public Domain (U.S. Government Work) | Original page |
| How Coastal Erosion Creates New Landforms | U.S. Geological Survey, Geology and Ecology of National Parks | Public Domain (U.S. Government Work) | Original page |
| How Coral Atolls Develop | Ecosystems Land Change Science Program, U.S. Geological Survey | Public Domain (U.S. Government Work) | Original page |
| How Deserts Form | Southwest Biological Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey | Public Domain (U.S. Government Work) | Original page |
| How Fjords Are Created | U.S. Geological Survey | Public Domain (U.S. Government Work) | Original page |
| How Floodplains Develop | Eileen Kirsch, U.S. Geological Survey | Public Domain (U.S. Government Work) | Original page |
| How Geysers and Hot Springs Work | Jacob W. Frank, National Park Service | Public Domain (U.S. Government Work) | Original page |
| How Glaciers Shape the Landscape | Dennis G. Dye, U.S. Geological Survey | Public Domain (U.S. Government Work) | Original page |
| How Impact Craters Are Created | U.S. Geological Survey | Public Domain (U.S. Government Work) | Original page |
| How Maps Represent Elevation and Relief | Jennifer L. Walter, National Geospatial Program, U.S. Geological Survey | Public Domain (U.S. Government Work) | Original page |
| How Mountains Form | Grand Teton National Park, National Park Service / U.S. Geological Survey | Public Domain (U.S. Government Work) | Original page |
| How Plateaus Form | Annie Scott, U.S. Geological Survey | Public Domain (U.S. Government Work) | Original page |
| How Rift Valleys Are Created | NASA / ISS Crew Earth Observations, Johnson Space Center | Public Domain (U.S. Government Work) | Original page |
| How River Deltas Develop | NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS and the U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team | Public Domain (U.S. Government Work) | Original page |
| How Salt Flats Develop | NASA / ISS Crew Earth Observations Facility, Johnson Space Center | Public Domain (U.S. Government Work) | Original page |
| How Sand Dunes Move and Change | Paul Stone, U.S. Geological Survey | Public Domain (U.S. Government Work) | Original page |
| How Sinkholes Form | Anthony S. Navoy, U.S. Geological Survey | Public Domain (U.S. Government Work) | Original page |
| How Valleys Are Formed | U.S. Geological Survey, Geology and Ecology of National Parks | Public Domain (U.S. Government Work) | Original page |
| How Waterfalls Form and Change | U.S. Geological Survey, Office of Communications | Public Domain (U.S. Government Work) | Original page |
| How Wetlands Form | Michael Osland, USGS Wetland and Aquatic Research Center | Public Domain (U.S. Government Work) | Original page |
| Karst Landscapes and Limestone Erosion | NASA Earth Observatory image by Michala Garrison, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey | Public Domain (U.S. Government Work) | Original page |
| Natural Arches and the Power of Erosion | Annie Scott, U.S. Geological Survey | Public Domain (U.S. Government Work) | Original page |
| Permafrost Landscapes and Seasonal Change | Christopher Arp, U.S. Geological Survey | Public Domain (U.S. Government Work) | Original page |
| Plains and the Processes That Create Them | Jamieson Scott, U.S. Geological Survey | Public Domain (U.S. Government Work) | Original page |
| The Main Types of Volcanoes | Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center / U.S. Geological Survey | Public Domain (U.S. Government Work) | Original page |
| Volcanic Islands vs Continental Islands | Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, U.S. Geological Survey | Public Domain (U.S. Government Work) | Original page |
| Why Some Natural Landscapes Take Millions of Years to Form | Ian Hillenbrand, U.S. Geological Survey | Public Domain (U.S. Government Work) | Original page |
Reporting a credit issue
If you believe an image is misattributed or used outside its license, please contact us via the contact page and we will investigate promptly.