3D Visualization and Advanced Mapping Techniques for Metamorphic Terranes

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Field geology is the foundation of the solid earth sciences but suffers from an image problem that stems in part from field geologists clinging to techniques and technology that have seen little change since the 19th century. Field geology is at the beginnings of a revolution, however, with the advent of new technologies that not only increase field efficiency but allow earth scientists to analyze problems that were impossibly complex in the past. Key to this developing revolution are three-dimensional (3D) visualization capabilities, and true 3D renderings that can be obtained from combinations of high resolution topography and high resolution photography draped on the terrain model. This study is exploring new techniques and workflows that are best suited to analyzing complex metamorphic structures using modern field computer capabilities and software. The study site is the west-central Panamint Mountains where a metamorphic complex is exposed over elevations ranging from near sea level to ~10,000 feet and surface conditions ranging from hyper-arid desert to moderately weathered rocks in open, sub-alpine forest. The study is evaluating different field workflows, beginning with a variant on conventional mapping techniques using Geographic Information System (GIS) field software supplemented with improved positional accuracy using laser ranging devices, limiting 3D visualization to an evening exercise tied to data backup and cleanup. This will be followed by experimentation with real-time, 3D field visualizations based on initial development of a high resolution digital elevation model (DEM) using a terrestrial laser scanner and completed with a real-time, in the field, 3D visualizations. Synergistic activities include using U-Pb geochronology to constrain the absolute age of deformation events, testing rock unit correlations through detrital zircon signature, and finite strain studies to aid kinematic interpretations. This project has potential broader applications and implications for all field sciences with the potential to transform the way in which field studies are conducted. Although the project focus is on complex geologic structure, the techniques developed in the study will be exportable to a wider range of field projects in academia and industry. Digital mapping techniques are already seeing widespread application in a variety of fields but the present generations of methods are flat-map centric in a three-dimensional world. Moving to a true three-dimensional workflow should allow resolution of problems there were impossibly complex based on a flat-map workflow. Moreover, development of these techniques carries educational applications with the potential to allow accelerated learning of spatial concepts. To insure wide dissemination of project results the PI is conducting annual short courses in modern field techniques. The results of this study have the potential to profoundly impact that manner in which field sciences, including geologic mapping, are conducted and will thus be of significant value to the scientific community. In addition to the research goals, the project is supporting the training of students in STEM science at the graduate to undergraduate level at the University of Texas at El Paso. Given the university's demographics, the project will include students from underrepresented groups. The field studies in this project are entirely within Death Valley National Park, and the research products that will derive from this study will provide a resource for the National Park Service and will include outreach activities that will benefit the general public.