Projects Overview
Unlike other virtual field experiences like virtual field trips (guided or unguided), the activities listed here can best be described as virtual field work. Described below are potential examples of how to utilize the site for in-course assignments, a simplified one that might be used in an introductory undergraduate historical geology course, and a more advanced one to potentially use in an upper-division undergraduate or graduate-level course in sedimentology and/or stratigraphy. Both example activities/projects attempt to virtually simulate the process/learning and outcomes of a field-based project in geoscience courses. For both example projects/assignments, students will virtually collect sedimentologic and stratigraphic data at different scales, integrate and synthesize data to develop depositional model and communicate their results with a stratigraphic log and/or written report.
Historical Geology Project/Assignment and Learning Outcomes
An example assignment using the VFE for a historical geology class can be downloaded here:
Example Historical Geology Activity/Assignment [1 MB pdf document]
Audience. This example project is designed for first year undergraduate geoscience students enrolled in a historical geology or earth history course.
Skills and concepts that students should have mastered prior to activity. For a first-year geoscience activity appropriate for a historical geology course, students should be able to:
- Have a basic understanding of sedimentary rocks and how and where they form.
- Have some knowledge of basic stratigraphic principles (superposition, lateral continuity, correlation, etc.)
- Have an understanding of the concept of sedimentary facies and Walther’s law
- Have an understanding of unconformities (particularly disconformities)
Activity length. The activity should take approximately 3 hours of full-time activity or can be spread out over longer periods. It could be modified by the instructor to be longer or shorter, as needed.
Content and skill goals for this activity. During this assignment students will:
- Collect primary sedimentary and stratigraphic data from digital imagery and videos.
- Develop a simplified facies model for a carbonate system.
- Apply Walther’s Law to identified facies and interpret the stratigraphic succession with respect to sea level changes.
- Identify an erosional hiatus (disconformity) based on rock attributes and facies analysis.
- Communicate observations and findings in a simplified stratigraphic log.
Sedimentary Geology Project/Assignment and Learning Outcomes
An example assignment using the VFE for a stratigraphy and/or sedimentology class can be downloaded here:
Example Sedimentology Activity/Assignment [1.5 MB pdf document]
Audience. This example project is designed for mid to upper-level undergraduate or graduate geoscience students enrolled in a sedimentology and/or stratigraphy course. It could also be modified or adapted for an introductory geoscience course (e.g., historical geology) or as part of a capstone “field camp” exercise.
Skills and concepts that students should have mastered prior to activity. For an upper division (e.g., junior, senior or graduate-level) geoscience activity, students should be able to:
- Describe sedimentary rocks using textural and compositional classification schemes (e.g., Dunham or Folk).
- Have a working knowledge of, and be able to recognize and describe common sedimentary structures and bedforms and the processes involved in their formation.
- Have some knowledge of marine carbonate facies and depositional environments.
- Have a working knowledge of basic stratigraphic principles (including correlation and unconformities) and how such data are depicted in stratigraphic logs.
Activity length. The activity should take 1-2 days of full-time activity or can be spread out over longer periods (one or more weeks) if part of a semester project. It could be modified by the instructor to be longer or shorter, as needed.
Content and skill goals for this activity. During this assignment students will:
- Collect primary sedimentary and stratigraphic data at various scales (from hand samples to larger structures identifiable across the entire outcrop) derived from high-resolution digital imagery and videos and record data in a virtual field book.
- Interpret and integrate sedimentological and stratigraphic data in terms of depositional facies.
- Synthesize the succession of strata and facies into a set of depositional and interpretive paleoenvironmental models involving changes in depositional facies due to sea-level changes and erosional hiatus (disconformity).
- Communicate data and findings in written and graphical form by writing a comprehensive report and drafting a detailed stratigraphic log.
Additional materials regarding these projects are available for instructors. Contact Christopher McRoberts at SUNY Cortland.
We would be interested to learn of and post on this page other assignments projects using the Split Rock VFE.