Development of Software to Assist Teaching Petrography to Undergraduate Earth Science Students

地球科学本科生面临的一个重要困难是学习如何在显微镜下识别岩石薄片中的矿物。我们将开发计算机软件(PetroDisc)，帮助学生了解火成岩、变质岩和沉积岩薄片中的矿物和结构。该应用程序将是一个交互式教程，从CD-ROM或激光光盘上绘制显微照片。多种图像(平面和交叉偏振光、舞台旋转、反射光、干涉图形、阴极发光等)同样的薄片将模拟岩相显微镜，并在薄片中说明矿物的基本性质。图像上的每一种矿物颗粒都将被输入到矿物名称、光学、成分和X射线属性的数据库中。学生们将能够互动地探索一系列薄片，从而增强实验室教师的有效性。该计划的扩展工作将提高他们识别矿物和处理各种岩石学数据(包括X射线图、背散射电子图像、模式丰度和晶体尺寸分布)的能力。PetroDisc将由一个由地质学家和一名指导性程序员组成的小组建造。该项目的早期版本将在实验室课堂上进行评估，由其他岩石学家进行评估，并在发布之前在互联网上提供可供使用和评论的原型。PetroDisc将由杨百翰大学以最低成本提供给高校地球科学系。

An important difficulty faced by undergraduate Earth Science students is learning how to identify minerals in thin sections of rocks under a microscope. We will develop computer software (PetroDisc) to help students understand minerals and textures in thin sections of igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks. The application will be an interactive tutorial that draws photomicrographs from a CD-ROM or laser disk. Multiple images (plane and cross polarized light, stage rotation, reflected light, interference figures, cathodoluminescence, etc.) of the same thin section will simulate a petrographic microscope and illustrate the fundamental properties of minerals in thin sections. Each mineral grain on the image will be keyed to a database of mineral names, optical, compositional, and x-ray properties. Students will be able to interactively explore a series of thin sections, amplifying a laboratory instructor's effectiveness. Extended work with this program should increase their ability to identify minerals and manipulate various kinds of petrographic data (including x-ray maps, back scattered electron images, modal abundances, and crystal size distributions). PetroDisc will be constructed by a small team of geologists and an instructional programmer. Early versions of the program will be evaluated in laboratory classes, by other petrologists, and by making a prototype available for use and comment on the Internet before it is released. PetroDisc will be supplied by BYU to Earth Science departments at colleges and universities for minimal cost.