Point your camera at a landscape to learn about its geology

A closer look at Point your camera at a landscape to learn about its geology

What Outcrop does on your phone

Outcrop is a geology app for iPhone and Android that overlays geologic maps in augmented reality when you point your camera at the landscape around you.

It identifies the rock in the center of the screen, labels nearby peaks and lakes, and lets you tap a rock to highlight it while graying out everything else.

Maps, timelines and plate reconstructions

The app shows where each rock fits in Earth’s 4.5-billion-year history with a timeline you can hover over or tap to see periods and events.

Where Macrostrat has a stratigraphic column for an area, you can view subsurface layers, their ages, gaps in the record and fossils; you can also see the globe as it looked when a rock formed using Christopher Scotese’s PALEOMAP maps and play an animation of plate motion.

Layers, search and offline use

Outcrop uses bedrock and fault data from Macrostrat, and offers Quaternary geology and Soils layers (the latter show soil and plants) that work both on the map and in the camera view.

You can search for rock types, ages, named units or faults, highlight matching places and find how far the nearest match is, and you can outline and download an area so the map and camera view work offline (fossil records and active faults in camera view still need a connection).

Who will find Outcrop useful

People who want to identify and learn about rocks and local geology in the field will find the app practical, including those interested in stratigraphy, faults, soils or seeing past plate positions.

It’s set up for use at outcrops like canyon walls, road cuts or ridges and for exploring both nearby ground and more distant features labeled on the map.

Questions people ask about Point your camera at a landscape to learn about its geology

Do I need a connection to use Outcrop in the field?

You can download an outlined area so the map and camera view work without a signal, but fossil records and active faults in the camera view still require a connection.

What geographic data does Outcrop use?

Bedrock and faults come from Macrostrat, and paleogeographic reconstructions use Christopher Scotese’s PALEOMAP maps.

Where can I get the app?

Outcrop is available on the App Store and Google Play.

Point your camera at a landscape to learn about its geology was shared on NexURLs by Nexis on November 2, 2026, in Travel & Places.