Traditionally, field geology and the use of outcrop analogs have been crucial in aiding subsurface understanding, with fieldwork and excursions playing an important role in the training and continued professional development of multidisciplinary geoscientists.
The COVID-19 pandemic caused a major disruption to industry training programs and university geoscience courses as travel restrictions and lockdowns created the need for digital alternatives. Although virtual field trips (VFTs) had been gaining traction before the pandemic, the sudden need to replace physical field activities has driven a rising interest to allow geologists and geoscientists to keep in touch with the rocks.
This paper presents the state of the art of virtual field trips, covering the process of conceptualizing and building a VFT, as well as delivery methods available. We argue that VFTs have an important place in geoscience education, not as a replacement for physical field trips but as a complement to assist participants’ orientation before a course and retention of learning outcomes after the trip and as an enabler of accessible and nondiscriminatory experience of field geology to a wider group of people.
Central to the successful creation of virtual field trips is the availability of 3D virtual outcrops and other geospatial data to populate a VFT. Databases of virtual outcrops, such as SAFARI and V3Geo, allow efficient creation of high-resolution frameworks for field trips, which then are used to integrate conventional field or subsurface data. Finally, VFT leaders add their narratives and learning processes around the 3D virtual environment and deliver the content to participants.
A VFT can be organized by topic (e.g., depositional environment or structural setting) rather than restricted to a limited geographical area. In addition, a VFT can be created to fit any available timescale, from a tour lasting minutes to look at a particular geological feature through to a multiday agenda mirroring a conventional field trip.