A 3D strata map lifts overlapping shapes into stacked slabs, one level per group: a decade, a year, an event or a category. Where shapes overlap, the slabs pile up, so places that change, burn or flood again and again rise into tall stacks you can read at a glance.
Choose a field with a few ordered values, such as a decade, a year or a severity class (40 groups at most). Each group gets its own level, lowest value at the bottom. Reverse the stacking order to put the highest at the bottom instead.
Set the slab thickness, the slot separation between levels and the gap between them. Heights are display distances that keep levels apart; they are not real altitudes. A number field can set each slab's thickness instead.
Pick a palette or a colour per group under Slab colours. In Cinematic mode, the Strata effect drops each step's shapes onto the stack as the timeline plays, building the history up in order.
Strata suit any boundary recorded more than once, where the change is in the shape itself.
Ice extent by survey year. A retreating glacier reads as a stepped, shrinking stack.
Surface extent by year, so drought drawdown and recovery show as layers.
Shoreline or river channel positions over time, for erosion and channel migration.
City limits or annexations by decade, or built-up area by period.
Borders and territories through time, showing what was held, lost and regained.
Tract or district boundaries by census year, or redistricting plans side by side.
Clearing by year, such as Brazil's PRODES polygons, showing where loss spreads.
Species ranges or disease outbreak zones by period, showing shifts and spread.
Broadband or transit service areas by year, showing where coverage arrived first.
When the same ground is affected by many events, the stack height shows how often it happened.
Fire perimeters by decade or year. Places that burn again and again build tall stacks. This is the example below.
Inundation extent by event, picking out the places that flood repeatedly.
Wind swaths or forecast cones by storm or by advisory.
Drought areas by year (filter weekly maps to a few dates; a chart holds 40 groups at most).
Strong-shaking areas by event, showing where shaking overlaps.
Groups can be categories instead of dates. Stacked footprints show how many layers cover a place; real layered things keep their natural order.
School, water, fire and tax districts stacked by type, showing how many cover each place.
Flood return periods (100-year, 500-year) or sea-level-rise scenarios (1 ft, 3 ft, 6 ft).
Protected areas by protection type, or by the year they were acquired.
Geologic units or aquifers in their real order. Reverse the stacking order to put the oldest at the bottom.
Excavation layers by phase or period.
Airspace classes by altitude band. Heights are for display, not true altitude.
Each record is one shape in one group. Data whose values change while the shapes stay the same, such as census counts on fixed tracts, reads better as a colour map with a time slider. Census boundary changes between counts do suit strata.
Add a polygon layer, open its Advanced style, tick Show as a 3D chart and choose Temporal strata or Stacked footprints. Tilt the map to see the stack. It works on both map engines.
