SPATIALLY ANALYZED PHOTOREALISTIC 3D MODELS AND THEIR APPLICATION TO TEACHING IN THE GEOSCIENCES. CASE STUDY: THE MEANDER POINT BAR SEQUENCE OF THE PENNSYLVANIAN HARTSHORNE FORMATION AT THE HUCKLEBERRY CREEK SPILLWAY ARKANSAS

Photorealistic three-dimensional models that can be spatially analyzed for structural and sedimentological data offer educators a unique, effective, and innovative method of teaching in the geosciences. Students enrolled in The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) and the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) Sedimentology and Stratigraphy (Sed/Strat.) class travel to the Huckleberry Creek Spillway each year to study the fluvial meander point bar sequence present in the Hartshorne Sandstone. In spring 2007, an undergraduate organized and lead team, with prior experience in three-dimensional modeling, mapped the outcrop using RTK GPS, a Riegl LPM 800 laser scanner, and a digital camera. Virtual mapping of this outcrop preserves the site as a highly accurate three-dimensional photorealistic model. Teaching with three-dimensional models allows educators to introduce their students to a large variety of geologic formations such as the Huckleberry Creek Spillway point bar without having to travel to the site. Unfortunately, the usage of such models has traditionally been limited due to the inability to acquire useful spatial measurements from the created models. Recent developments at UTD have led to the creation of methods to extrapolate spatial measurements such as strike and dip, trend and plunge, and bed thicknesses from the created models. The usefulness of this spatial data as an educational tool when applied to the Huckleberry Creek Spillway will be evaluated.