In this study, we evaluated affective components of the learning processes of students after being exposed to a virtual geology field trip of the Baengnyeong Island, South Korea. Changes in students’ cognition of and interest in science and scientific attitude were measured before and after exposure to the virtual field trip. We exposed 106 middle school students to the program and our results revealed that this program had a positive impact on their scientific attitude (p value = 0.014) but no significant changes were observed in the students’ cognition of and interest in science (p value = 0.166). The significant finding from this study was that the VFT program can bring positive scientific attitude as a component of affective learning process. The affective learning process influences the cognitive learning processes and eventually the academic achievement of the students can be improved. In the students’ satisfaction survey, the highest satisfaction level was in the convenience of the program. As access to Baengnyeong Island is limited, though the island is an ideal location for studying geological phenomena, the VFT can be a useful tool for instilling a positive scientific attitude in students via indirect field experience. It can be a good alternative to bridge the education gap between students with special needs who are less mobile and other students.

The major and trace elements of Quaternary alkaline volcanic rocks on Jeju Island were analyzed to determine their origin and formation mechanism. The samples included tephrite, trachybasalts, basaltic trachyandesites, tephriphonolites, trachytes, and mantle xenoliths in the host basalt. Although the samples exhibited diversity in SiO₂ contents, the relations of Zr vs. Nb and La vs. Nb indicated that the rocks were formed from the fractional crystallization of a single parent magma with slight continental crustal contamination (r: 0–0.3 by AFC modeling), rather than by the mixing of different magma sources. The volcanic rocks had an enriched-mantle-2-like ocean island basalt signature and the basalt was formed by partial melting of the upper mantle, represented by the xenolith samples of our study. The upper mantle of Jeju was affected by arc magmatism, associated with the subduction of the Pacific Plate beneath the Eurasian Plate. Therefore, we inferred that two separate magmatic events occurred on Jeju Island: one associated with the subduction of the Pacific Plate beneath the Eurasian Plate (represented by xenoliths), and another associated with a divergent setting when intraplate magmatism occurred (represented by the host rocks). With AFC modeling, it can be proposed that the Jeju volcanic rocks were formed by the fractional crystallization of the upper mantle combined with assimilation of the continental crust. The xenoliths in this study had different geochemical patterns from previously reported xenoliths, warranting further investigations.

Reconstructing placer-gold provenance requires mineral-specific interpretation because detrital minerals may record different source rocks and geological processes. This study investigates the Upper Wang River placer gold deposit, northern Thailand, by integrating placer gold morphology and chemistry with rutile, zircon, and magnetite geochemistry. Placer sediments were analyzed using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, electron probe microanalysis, and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Most gold grains display irregular morphologies and limited rounding, indicating relatively short fluvial transport. Gold fineness ranges from 737 to 998‰, and quality-screened core–margin EPMA data show no consistent fineness trend, whereas Hg is a reproducible compositional feature of most analyzed gold grains. Rutile records high-temperature formation conditions (~600–900 °C) and mainly crustal affinities, with a possible metamorphic contribution, whereas zircon geochemistry provides the strongest evidence for a felsic calc-alkaline granitoid source. Magnetite provides local supporting evidence but is restricted to one sampling site. Integrated interpretation suggests that the placer gold was most plausibly derived from hydrothermal quartz-vein and/or sulfide mineralization associated with a granitoid-dominated source terrane, although a specific primary bedrock gold source has not been identified. This mineral-specific approach provides a robust framework for provenance reconstruction in tropical fluvial placer systems.