NEW WAYS OF LOOKING AT THE WHALEBACK ANTICLINE: A VIDEOGAME-BASED VIRTUAL FIELD EXPERIENCE TO ENHANCE ACCESS, LEARNING, AND SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY

The Whaleback Anticline, a ~30-m-high fold exhumed by coal mining near Shamokin PA, has been an important field trip destination for generations of geoscience students. As the physical landscape around the Whaleback has been redeveloped, access to the privately-owned site is increasingly controlled. Concurrently, the educational landscape has also changed, with new expectations for online learning and digital resources. We present an original, video-game-style virtual field-geology experience featuring the Whaleback and adjacent folds, based on a terrain model acquired through structure-from-motion photogrammetry. The simulation is designed to allow flexible, open-ended exploration for geologic mapping and structural geology, with novel visualization opportunities through tools such as: a geodetic compass that instantly plots data to a stereonet; a profile tool that accurately portrays overhangs; and a jetpack simulation which permits interrogation of surfaces in hard-to-reach locations. Users move through the terrain as if in the field, selecting where to make observations and what data to collect. Because the virtual experience is open-ended, instructors can design different exercises to meet different learning goals. We built the virtual field experience in a widely-used video-game-creation software, with access via the internet and common web browsers, so that no special hardware or software is required to play. (See the game at www.virtualfieldgeology.com). Although we implemented this field simulation to partially replace field and lab exercises during pandemic-related restrictions, this format could also augment more traditional visits to the Whaleback, overcoming several challenges to accessing the site or particular outcrops and thereby broadening opportunities for participation and scientific collaboration. A mobile version of the simulation can be used in the field. We invite attendees to play the game at our poster and to consider how this tool could enhance on-the-ground trips and further study of this iconic field site.