THE (VIRTUAL) GEOLOGY FIELD CAMP IN THE APENNINES

Since 2017 The University of Camerino (Unicam) and George Mason University (GMU) have offered a six-week undergraduate capstone field camp set in the central Apennines of Italy. Previously collected digital content from the field sites, including UAV and ground-based structure-from-motion-derived Virtual Outcrop Models (VOM) and dynamically scaled Gigapan images, presented an opportunity to introduce students to emerging digital geology methods alongside traditional field methods during the COVID19 pandemic. The five-week virtual field camp included five projects designed using a mix of interactive virtual field experiences hosted in Google Earth, and group virtual mapping exercises facilitated by Zoom ‘Breakout Rooms’. The class included an introductory project focused on building skills in fundamentals of geologic mapping, using the University of Leeds Virtual Landscapes, and four virtual Apennines field projects. Students visited virtual field-sites across a range of scales using Google Earth (resolving meter to >10 km features) and 3D virtual outcrop models as well as outcrop Gigapans (resolving cm- to mm-scale features). Virtual exercises in Google Earth contained located outcrops with strike and dip data as well as outcrop photos. Scaled, high-resolution imagery allowed students to make observations and measurements at a comparable level of detail as in person. Geologically important virtual outcrops were exported to Lime Virtual Outcrop software, allowing students to extract structural orientation data from georeferenced 3D models. Students made observations and measurements at the virtual outcrops and synthesized their data by manually constructing (on paper) geologic maps, cross-sections, stratigraphic sections, outcrop descriptions and written reports. Students seemed to experience a similar thought process as in a traditional field camp and met some of the same challenges. Hurdles to teaching the course in the virtual environment included maintaining attention and student engagement, “Zoom Fatigue” and appropriate workloads. Aside from providing a solution for 2020 graduating seniors, in the future this course could provide a lower cost and more accessible option to a traditional field camp.