Chapter 3: Visual Metaphors in Structural Geology: A Means for Enhancing 3-D Visualization

Abstract In teaching structural geology, I have found it useful to design cartoon metaphors intended to quicken the grasp of meaning of terms, processes, and concepts. Structural geology places strong emphasis on deducing three-dimensional (3-D) forms and how they evolve. Visual metaphors ease students from the ordinary and familiar to the more abstract and unfamiliar. Cartoons can convey understanding in seconds. Analysis of the 67 visual metaphors in Structural Geology of Rocks and Regions shows that they are classified into a hierarchy of types, from simple literal metaphors to higher-order kinematic and dynamic metaphors. Most of these occur in chapters that present fundamentals; these chapters contain the least descriptive, most abstract materials. The visual metaphors aid student learning in unfamiliar territory. The basis for how this works is illuminated by theories of certain cognitive scientists, linguists, and psychologists who increasingly emphasize that conceptual metaphors are fundamental modes of thought, not just modes of language. Our minds continuously integrate vital relations from diverse scenarios, and this is what allows us to see connections between the familiar and the unfamiliar. The most powerful metaphors are analogical comparisons of relationships between objects, not simply literal comparisons of attributes of objects. In this study, the kinematic metaphors appear to be the most effective in grounding 3-D visualization. They express incremental movement and change. When kinematics of development of 3-D forms is grasped, it becomes easier to visualize the complete 3-D forms, even when only small bits of the final forms can be observed.