Virtual fieldtrip to the Esla Nappe (Cantabrian Zone, NW Spain): delivering traditional geological mapping skills remotely using real data

Abstract

Abstract. The restrictions implemented to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic during 2020 and 2021 have forced university-level educators from around the world to seek alternatives to residential physical field trips which constitute a fundamental pillar of geoscience programmes. The field-mapping course for 2nd year Geology BSc students from the Cardiff University was replaced with a virtual mapping course set in the same area as previous years, the Esla Nappe (Cantabrian Zone, NW Spain). The course was designed with the aim of providing the students with the same methodology employed in physical mapping, gathering discrete data in stops located along five daily itineraries. Data included bedding attitude, outcrop descriptions with a certain degree of ambiguity, photographs and/or sketches, panoramic photos and fossil images. Data was provided to the students through georeferenced KMZ files in Google Earth. Students were asked to keep a field notebook, define lithological units of mappable scale, identify large structures such as thrust faults and folds with the aid of age estimations from fossils, construct a geological map on a hard-copy topographic map, draw a stratigraphic column and cross sections, and plot the data in a stereonet to perform structural analysis. The exercise allowed a successful training of diverse geological field skills. In the light of the assessment of reports and student surveys, a series of improvements for the future is considered. Though incapable of replacing a physical field course, the virtual exercise could be used in preparation for the residential fieldtrip.

Detailed structural analysis of digital outcrops: A learning example from the Kermanshah-Qulqula radiolarite basin, Zagros Belt, Iran

“…In addition to the potential for digital photogrammetry to provide quantitative structural data, digital outcrops can be important tools for geoscience education (e.g. Pringle, 2014;De Paor, 2016;Houghton et al, 2016;Carbonell Carrera and Bermejo Asensio, 2017;de Paz-Álvarez et al, 2021). Digital outcrops have the potential to improve geological 3D thinking and can provide a mechanism to improve equality, inclusion and diversity in geoscience education and training (Bond and Cawood, 2021).…”