EASING THE OVERBURDEN: USING ONLINE WEB-BASED TOOLS IN CLASSROOM STRATIGRAPHY STUDIES

Undergraduate studies in sedimentology and stratigraphy have traditionally required no small measure of artistry, particularly as students construct stratigraphic models and correlative diagrams. Instructors spend valuable classroom or discussion time on what amounts to drawing technique, and students commit many hours to revisions, drafts, layout, and stylization. A forgotten unit, mismeasured bed, or newly-discovered sedimentary structure can cost an evening or more in redrawing time, and a poorly-placed cup of coffee can destroy a nearly-complete final draft. Instructors must consider whether the artistic aspect of these studies is integral to the study itself, or whether the subject matter can be taught just as effectively without the time-honored tradition of manually-illustrated stratigraphic diagrams.

With the pervasiveness of web-connected personal computers and the availability of network programming libraries, it is now possible to build a dynamic centralized service which allows users to input a description of their model and receive a visual representation within seconds instead of hours or days. Using the well-known and well-documented combination of the Apache web server and PHP server scripting language, I have built a demonstration web application which accepts any number of stratigraphic types, bed thicknesses, and weathering profiles to create a stratigraphic column that can then be printed to the size specifications of the user. By making use of tools such as this, students may be released from the time-demanding constraints of pen-and-paper construction, and instructors may make use of this recovered time to present subject matter more efficiently.