Exploring the Southeastern United States Seismicity and Structure with Virtual Reality

Abstract:

The 2011 Mineral, Virginia earthquake was surprising to much of the public who were generally unaware that damaging seismic activity can occur on the East Coast of the United States. The peaked interest caused by this event presents an exciting opportunity to engage the public in understanding seismic hazard on the east coast and geologic structures beneath their feet. The Southeastern US contains multiple zones of seismicity (Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone, Central Virginia Seismic Zone, South Carolina Seismic Zone) as well as complex subsurface structures created as a result of multiple episodes of continental collision and rifting over billions of years. Complex subsurface structures and seismicity are difficult to represent in 2D figures and charts. Anecdotally, intro to geology students struggle most with comprehending 2D representations of 3D structures such as topography contour lines, fault block diagrams, or seismicity (often voted as the hardest lab) versus when the 3D materials are more readily available i.e. rock/mineral identification or river field trips. Advances in 3D visualization techniques such as 3D printing and Virtual Reality (VR) experiences may be useful to help overcome difficulties in communication and visualization. Therefore, we create a VR experience of the East Coast including topography, seismicity, and crustal structure. The VR experience is built as layers in Paraview (.org) and visualized through the HTC VIVE Pro system. As scientists, this type of 3D visualization experience provides a method to enhance our observations of the 3D subsurface; specifically, it highlights spatial relationships between different earth science datasets that may inform future avenues of study. As geoscience educators and advocates, it provides a method to better explain complex geologic 3D subsurface structures to students and the public in a way that allows them to explore and make their own observations.