Abstract. The restrictions implemented to contain the spread of the
COVID-19 pandemic during 2020 and 2021 have forced university-level
educators from around the world to seek alternatives to the residential physical
field trips that constitute a fundamental pillar of Geoscience programmes.
The field-mapping course for second-year Geology BSc students from
Cardiff University was replaced with a virtual mapping course set in the
same area as previous years, the Esla Nappe (Cantabrian Zone, NW Spain). The
course was designed with the aim of providing the students with the same
methodology employed in physical mapping, including such skills as gathering discrete data at stops
located along five daily itineraries. Data included bedding attitude,
outcrop descriptions with a certain degree of ambiguity, photographs and/or
sketches, panoramic photos, and fossil images. Data were provided to the
students through georeferenced KMZ files in Google Earth. Students were
asked to keep a field notebook, define lithological units of mappable scale,
identify large structures such as thrust faults and folds with the aid of
age estimations from fossils, construct a geological map on a hard-copy
topographic map, draw a stratigraphic column and cross sections, and plot
the data in a stereonet to perform structural analysis. The exercise allowed
for successful training of diverse geological field skills. In light of
the assessment of reports and student surveys, a series of improvements for
the future is considered. Though incapable of replacing a physical field
course, the virtual exercise could be used in preparation for the
residential field trip.