Innovations in virtual reality (VR) technology have led to exciting possibilities in teaching earth sciences, allowing students to experience complex geological sites that, due to cost and logistical reasons, they would not normally be able to experience. The need for high quality online digital learning resources and blended learning was brought to the forefront during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, as courses with a traditional physical field work component were forced to move online and provide alternatives to students. While it is unlikely that virtual field trips (VFT) would be accepted by students as a replacement of real-world fieldwork moving out of the pandemic, research shows promise that using IVR experiences can lead to enhanced learning outcomes in geosciences, warranting its inclusion on the curricula. This paper presents the outputs of a project to improve student learning in complex geological environments using VR. Here we outline a workflow that was developed to collect high resolution imagery using remote sensing to create digital outcrop models (DOM) of complex geological sites. Using this framework, this paper will then explore the use of VR for an investigation of the Husavik Triple Junction, a complex structural site in northern Iceland, explaining how the drone data was converted to a 3D DOM and demonstrating how VR can be used to simulate real world field mapping. Finally, we describe how these IVR activities have been integrated into taught modules at postgraduate level and discuss how the use of IVR experiences can complement existing geoscience curriculum design.

In northern Iceland the European-North American plate boundary is broad and complex but includes a remarkable subaerial triple-junction intersection between the Husavik-Flatey Fault (HFF) dextral transform and rifting in the Northern Volcanic Zone. Fortuitously, the triple junction occurs in a sheet of ~12 ka pahoehoe lavas; a tabula rasa recording innumerable fault features displayed in exquisite detail. High-resolution drone imagery, coupled with 120 field measurements of fault slip directions and opening amounts, made possible the mapping and analysis of this detail and, importantly, enabled recognition and exclusion of potentially misleading primary deformation features associated with emplacement of the lavas. Rift-transform interactions in this natural laboratory have remained spatially stable throughout post-glacial time, although with transform-affinity faults reactivated to accommodate rift extension and transform ‘encroachment’ into the rift domain. First-order en-echelon Riedel fault complexes are recognised, linked by transpressional faulting and compressional strike-slip relay ramps, as well as second-order R shears, R’ and P shears, and previously undescribed R’ Riedel-in-Riedel relationships. A pahoehoe flow front offset along a first-order Riedel fault complex records slip at ~3.8 mm a −1 , which may be consistent with the published GPS-based current slip-rate estimate of ~6.8 mm a −1 across the HFF as a whole.

Geological features and hazards have no geographical and political boundaries. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has been funding several international Earth Science research projects in Central Asia and the Caucasus over the last ten years. The projects are aimed at improving the security of people and the safety of infrastructures, and fostering peaceful scientific collaboration between scientists from NATO and non-NATO countries. In the present work, we show how Earth Science can contribute to improving scientific collaboration also among countries that are politically in tension, and how it can also play a key role in preventing situations that may escalate into conflicts. This paper showcases the main results, partially unpublished, of three different research projects that have been aimed at assessing, through an interdisciplinary approach, different geohazards affecting important infrastructure and lifelines of a number of countries in Central Asia and the Caucasus. For each region, we also describe the societal relevance of the research, considering possible geopolitical issues that might be brought about by natural disasters. The research efforts have focused on geohazards threatening: i) the Enguri hydropower plant, located partly in the Republic of Georgia and partly in the disputed territory of Abkhazia, the Toktogul water reservoir, in Kyrgyzstan, and the Caspian oil and gas pipelines crossing the Republic of Georgia.

Detailed new paleoseismic field investigations at two sites on the Talas‐Fergana fault, a poorly known strike‐slip structure that transects the Tien Shan mountain range, document late Holocene slip rates of 11–16 mm a−1. This prominent structure is distinctive in striking obliquely NW‐SE across the Tien Shan, which is otherwise dominated by contractional structures striking generally E‐W. Moreover, a satellite‐based Global Positioning System network spanning the Tien Shan orogen records active N‐S contraction rates of ~20 mm a−1, but limits slip on the Talas‐Fergana fault to <2 mm a−1. This profound mismatch between long‐term geologic and short‐term geodetic slip rates, which may suggest temporal variability in slip, highlights the importance of field‐based investigations as a complement to remotely sensed data, particularly in evaluating models of lithosphere behavior and earthquake probabilities on presently locked faults such as the Talas‐Fergana.

This study of drainage systems in a tectonically active region is based on the Geographical Information Systems (GIS) integration of data from an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and a weighted linear combination (WLC) procedure with multiple criteria data. A set of thematic maps were produced, based on existing geological maps and freely-available ASTER Global DEM elevation data, using various geological information (i.e. lineaments and lithologies), geomorphometric indices (i.e. slope gradient, drainage density, stream frequency, and the topographic wetness index) and morphotectonic indices (i.e. amplitude of relief and stream length gradient) that highlight areas of neotectonic landscape deformation. The weights of the factors were determined using AHP and WLC. A neotectonic landscape deformation index (NLDI) is computed as the sum of the various weighted factors to provide a map of NLDI distribution across the study region (western Crete). The main objective of this study was to analyse and map the intra-basin spatial variations in neotectonic landscape deformation: five classes, very low to very high, were determined. High to very high deformation zones are linked with known and newly detected active fault zones. The methodology could be developed into a low-cost technique for assessing seismic hazard, guiding disaster risk reduction activities. It can provide an alternative to the Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) approach for highlighting zones of neotectonic deformation, particularly in regions where dense vegetation or snow cover renders InSAR ineffective.

Structural and stratigraphic mapping within the Bornu Basin in north east Nigeria was commonly carried out using traditional field geological methods. However, such traditional approaches remain inadequate in the semi-arid region characterised by topographically flat areas and lack of continuous bedrock outcrops that are mostly concealed beneath sand cover. Previous studies in the north-eastern part of the basin carried out using ditch cuttings from few wells and disconnected seismic data were largely inadequate and the resulting stratigraphic analyses were more often generalised. This paper presents an integrated structural and stratigraphic study of the basin using combined subsurface geophysical datasets. A Combined Log Pattern (CLP) method is a well log analysis, which utilises various well log data including gamma ray, resistivity, bulk density and sonic logs to identify lithology and stratigraphic boundaries of subsurface formations. This method is applied to constrain the subsurface stratigraphy of the north-eastern part of the Bornu Basin bordering the Lake Chad. In addition to qualitative combined well log analysis, the time-depth relationship of the sonic log and seismic data was quantitatively determined by tying a well with an intersecting seismic section to validate the stratigraphic facies horizons identified. Four well log facies and their environments of deposition were characterised from the combined well log analysis of the different log types. It is discovered that the Cretaceous basement structural features controlled the deposition of overlying formations in the basin. Without intact core data, the shallower wells were discovered to have bottomed over subsurface horst features while deeper wells penetrated into the basal facies contained mainly within the grabens. Main subsurface structural lineaments in the area include NW-SE, NE-SW and NNW-SSE trending faults, which mainly formed the horst and graben features. Some stratigraphic formations described in previous generalised stratigraphic schemes for the Bornu Basin were herein not found in the north-eastern part of the basin.

Our research focuses on Holocene tectonics in a broad area surrounding the junction between the active NW–SE trending Husavik-Flatey transform fault (HFF) and the N–S Gudfinnugja normal fault (GF), an exceptional example of onshore transform-ridge intersection. We mapped 637 minor and major faults, and measured the dip-slip and strike-slip offset components on the major faults. We also mapped 1016 individual tension fractures, as well as opening directions on the most reliable ones. The results indicate that this portion of the HFF comprises major right-stepping segments, with both normal and right-lateral strike-slip components, linked by local normal faults. The entire GF always shows pure dip-slip normal displacements, with a strong decrease in offset at the junction with the HFF. Fissure opening directions are in the range N45°-65°E along the HFF, N90°E along the GF, and N110°E within the area south of the HFF and west of the GF. Fault kinematics and fissure openings suggest a displacement field in good agreement with most of present-day GPS measurements, although our data indicate the possible long-term Holocene effects of the superimposition of magma-related stresses on the regional tectonic stresses. The HFF and the GF work together as a structural system able to accommodate differential crustal block motion, and possibly past dyke intrusions.

This paper shows, by field palaeoseismological data, the Holocene activity of the central segment of the intracontinental Talas–Fergana Fault (TFF), and the relevance of possible future seismic shaking on slope stability around a large water reservoir. The fault, striking NW–SE, is marked by a continuous series of scarps, deflected streams and water divides, and prehistoric earthquakes that offset substrate and Holocene deposits. Fault movements are characterised by right-lateral strike-slip kinematics with a subordinate component of uplift of the NE block. Structural, geological and geomorphological field data indicate that shallow and deep landslides are aligned along the TFF, and some of them are active. Where the TFF runs close to the reservoir, the fault trace is obscured by a series of landslides, affecting rock and soil materials and ranging in size from small slope instabilities to deep-seated gravity-induced slope deformations (DGSDs). The largest of these, which does not show clear evidence of present-day activity, involves a volume of about 1km3 and is associated with smaller but active landslides in its lower part, with volumes in the order of 2.5×104m3 to 1×106m3. Based on the spatial and temporal relations between landslides and faults, we argue that at least some of these slope failures may have a coseismic character. Stability analyses by means of limit equilibrium methods (LEMs), and stress–strain analysis by finite difference numerical modelling (FDM), were carried out to evaluate different hazard scenarios linked to these slope instabilities. The results indicate concern for the different threats posed, ranging from the possible disruption of the M-41 highway, the main transportation route in central Asia, to the possible collapse of huge rock masses into the reservoir, possibly generating a tsunami.

Geological conditions for hydrocarbon potential have been identified in the Bornu Basin in north Eastern Nigeria. The basin is part of the Chad Basin and other tectonically related contiguous basins within the West and Central Africa Rift System (WCARS) formed from the failed extensional rifting at an aulacogen junction during the separation of the South American and the African continents. The Bornu Basin covers about one tenth of the Chad Basin with limited geological mapping campaigns and unsuccessful exploration for oil and gas. Significant gaps still remain particularly in the vast northern areas characterised by flat topography, lack of continuous bedrock outcrops with structures concealed beneath sand cover. Remote sensing and GIS techniques offer potential for improving structural geological mapping in the basin but has not been used for these purposes. This research presents the use of combined remote sensing data including Landsat ETM , ASTER, SRTM and Radar with other existing geosciences data including gravity, seismic, aeromagnetic and well log data to constrain the structure and tectonics of the basin through lineament analysis. The research involved mapping of lineaments, lithology, palaeodrainage and palaeo-shorelines in the basin. Two physiographically distinct study areas are selected in the basin to provide an appropriate comprehensive coverage of the basin attributes. The study sub-area 1 having mostly flat topography and lacking surface outcrops but comprising all the data sets available provides an enabling ground control site while the study sub-area 2 where outcrops are present provides an enabling site for validation of inferred field mapping and new observations of unmapped geology in the basin.

The study of the segment of the Karasu River valley (Kyrgyzstan), where it coincides with the Talas-Fergana Fault, the largest shear zone in Central Asia, was conducted. All the age data available for strong paleoearthquakes and significant rock landslides that occurred in the region were collected and analyzed; new age data were obtained using lichenometric and radiocarbon analyzers. It was established that the majority of earthquakes and landslide phases are coeval (within the limits of error of determination methods). This confirms the supposition that significant rockslides were induced by strong seismic events.

A paleoseismological study in the Talas-Fergana Fault Zone of the Tien Shan was accompanied by age determination of ancient seismic events. The calibrated radiocarbon datings of recent and buried soils allowed us to recognize the fault segments reactivated during strong earthquakes that occurred in the 14th- 16th centuries A.D. The magnitude of the paleoseismological event in the 16th century was no lower than 7.0 and no lower than IX in seismic intensity.

The purpose of this survey is the fault zone determination in Kissamos (NW Crete) and Paleohora (SW Crete) basins. The study area is located within the central forearc of the Hellenic subduction zone. 2D electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) has been applied to reveal fault zones. Ground-truthed fault evidence in the coast northwest of Kastelli–Kissamou and northeast of Paleohora is incorporated into the ERT data. Thirteen ERT profiles were obtained at several sites. Seven of the eight ERT profiles intersect fault zones in Kissamos. Five ERT profiles were conducted in Paleohora and three significant faults were identified. The results indicated the continuation of previously mapped faults as well as revealing unreported faults. The coastline of Paleohora and Grammeno can be associated with a system of fault zone striking almost E–W. We propose that the ERT method is a reliable and economic method at identifying buried fault zones in populated areas. Considering the proximity of the revealed fault zones in densely populated areas and the high seismic activity of the region the determination of the identified fault zones could contribute in earthquake hazard assessment studies for future seismic mitigation and urban planning strategies in the two areas for western Crete.

This paper provides the first detailed structural description of 48 vertical dykes, 384 inclined sheets and two large intrusions and the geometry (strike, dip direction and dip) of 1116 fractures in the central area of the Snaefellsnes peninsula, NW Iceland. Our data show a more complex setting than that depicted by the WNW-ESE en-echelon trend of the volcanic structures at the surface. In the Miocene basement lavas, dykes dominantly strike N50–100°E whereas other directions are also present with a higher dispersion. Two main swarms of centrally dipping sheets have also been recognized, focussing towards two areas. Sheet dips range from 2 to 75° with the higher frequency between 10 and 45°. In section view, there is no systematic variation of sheet dip with distance from the focus area. Gabbro and granophyre laccoliths are present in the studied area but cross-cutting relations indicate that most of the inclined sheets are younger. Comparison with regional tectonics suggests that the N50–80°E-striking dykes are coherent with emplacement under the stress field of the pre-6 Ma Snaefellsnes Rift dominated by a NNW-SSE-directed least principal stress (σ3). The N80–100°E dykes and the late Quaternary WNW-trending sub-aerial volcanic features are instead consistent with the development of a more recent E-W, right-lateral shear zone affecting the Snaefellsnes peninsula. Coherent sets of fractures have also been found. Within the inclined sheet swarms, the stress tensor rotated in response to an excess magma pressure linked to two underlying magma chambers of lobate shape, located at an estimated depth of about 400 and 500 m below sea level. This local magmatic stress also produced the centrally inclined fracture swarms that have been found in this area.

Structural data were collected on 1100 cone sheets and dykes with the aim of reconstructing the geometry of the complex, recognizing emplacement phases, and contributing to understanding this classical area and the evolution of cone sheets in general. Mean sheet dip angles are 40 degrees, 43 degrees, 47 degrees and 50 degrees in four sections transecting the complex. Sheet thickness ranges from a few centimetres to 5 m, with a dominant thickness of < 1 m. Intrusion intensity ranges from 1% to 35%, increasing towards the central zone. Initial cone sheet emplacement occurred within a gabbroid pluton that was hot enough to amalgamate the sheets. Dykes striking N155-165 degrees were then emplaced, followed by shallow-dipping cone sheets, dykes striking N135-145 degrees, steep-dipping cone sheets, dykes striking roughly east-west and, finally, dykes striking N150-165 degrees. The NW-SE-striking dykes were emplaced during re-establishment of regional stresses, after perturbation by local magma-induced stresses when cone sheets were emplaced, interspersed with magma escaping horizontally from the volcano conduit to feed local dykes. Two successive magma chambers at different depths, with flat geometries and different volumes, may explain sheet architecture and location. The whole cone sheet system consists of a stack of parallel concentric sheets, rather than a model of convergence towards a single focus.

Mount Etna produces frequent eruptions from its summit craters and from fissures on its flanks. The flank fissures trend approximately radially to the summit, and are mainly concentrated in three rift zones that are located on the NE, S and W flanks. Many flank eruptions result from lateral magma transfer from the central conduit into fractures intersecting the flanks, although some eruptions are fed through newly formed conduits that are not directly linked to the central conduit. We analyzed the structural features of eruptions from 1900 to the present, one of the most active periods in the documented eruptive history of Etna, which comprised 35 summit and 33 flank events. Except for a small eruption on the W flank in 1974, all of the flank eruptions in this interval occurred on or near the NE and S rifts. Eruptions in the NE sector were generally shorter, but their fissure systems developed more rapidly and were longer than those in the S sector. In contrast, summit eruptions had longer mean durations, but generally lower effusion rates (excluding paroxysmal events characterized by very high effusion rates that lasted only a few hours). This database was examined considering the main parameters (frequency and strike) of the eruptive fissures that were active over the last ~2 ka. The distribution in time and space of summit and flank eruptions appears to be closely linked to the dynamics of the unstable E to S flank sector of Etna, which is undergoing periodic displacements induced by subvolcanic magma accumulation and gravitational pull. In this framework, magma accumulation below Etna exerts pressure against the unbuttressed E and S flanks, which have moved away from the rest of the volcano. This has caused an extension to the detachment zones, and has facilitated magma transfer from the central conduit into the flanks.