VIRTUAL ROCKS

This presentation will showcase the virtual rocks, minerals, fossils, and crystal models described in the August 2016 cover story of GSAToday. Three-dimensional digital models of geological objects are relatively easy to create and geolocate on virtual globes such as Google Earth and Cesium. Emerging technologies allow the design of realistic virtual rocks with free or inexpensive software, relatively inexpensive 3D scanners and printers, and smartphone cameras linked to point-cloud computing services. Virtual rocks can be gradually altered to illustrate geological processes such as weathering, deformation, and metamorphic mineral growth. Implications for primary, secondary, and tertiary geoeducation include student exposure to a wide range of specimens, expecially ones of worldwide importance; inclusion of students who could not join a physical field trip; and enhanced teacher training at pre- and in-service stages. The virtual rocks displayed in this digital poster presentation can be downloaded from the Supplemental Data Repository accompanying the GSAToday article or from www.geode.net.