T172 Virtual Tectonics

Tuesday, 2 November 2010
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Hall E

THE NEXT PHASE OF THE GOOGLE EARTH SCIENCE REVOLUTION

Paper number: T172-1
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 8:00 AM – 8:15 AM

Authors

Abstract

Virtual Globes such as Google Earth have been around for less than a decade yet their impact is already fueling a scientific revolution in geoscience education, research, and outreach. It can be argued that Google Earth Science (GES) is now a distinct subfield of inquiry with its own attributes and methods. GES is an instantaneous, virtual study-abroad experience. It brings global as well as local fieldwork into any computer laboratory and allows dozens or hundreds of geologists (whether agile or disabled) to collaborate in geological map design and production. Virtual field trips can be chosen based on research interests or desired learning outcomes, not on outcrop convenience, and “mission impossible” trips can allow students to explore the interior of a volcanic conduit or the past physiography of Mars. Among the new principles of GES is the requirement that every mark on a virtual map be justified by hyperlinks to scientific models based on field evidence – photographs, structural measurements, field notes, analyses, etc. Another principal is that all geological models must be restorable in 4-D in the way that many cross sections have been “balanced” in recent structural studies.

The GES research teams at Old Dominion University and James Madison University are developing ways to study the present and past surface and sub-surface in Google Earth using COLLADA models and terrain overlays. Recently, we created interactive virtual specimens based on rocks scanned in a NextEngine 3-D scanner; dynamic maps that feature easily generated 3-D models of structural elements; and cross sections that change with time. In two new research projects, we are experimenting will social mapping and self-directed student exploration through scaffolded, logged, virtual fieldwork. Instantaneous assessment is built in; when students wander off task, they receive automated mentoring. Our ultimate goal is a 4-D model of the Earth and other planets and moons that can be explored with deep zoom, pan, tilt, and play (i.e., time-travel) by students who act as free-agent learners. We believe this endeavor will transform how we study – and care for – the Earth and will blur the distinction between geoscience education and research as we replace canned laboratory exercises that have know outcomes with open-ended research questions.