3D subsurface modelling

Asked by Sunshine786 on 2011-10-18T14:09:48-04:00I am a student and initiating a thesis project for MS specialize degree in geophysics... I am workingon tectono - stratigraphy of some area and want to do the 3D subsurface modelling of the samearea but have lesser idea, besides am unable to get some proper guide on this too but since i lovedoing this I want help plzz... as far as i have studied 3D analyst is not very much suitable for this jobyet "may be" used in thesis... but i, again, have lesser idea of how to work it out... thx a lot jakub n mike... im pleased to hear from u guys... :) well, undoubtedly the leapfrog isexcellent software n so is its price the other way around..! & since I am a student and my universitywill never do the job... crappy, right... anyways I suppose I can try a request to the companies toallow me use some beta version or so n in return I can give them a copy of my thesis n stuff if theyask for... :) some companies in Pakistan are using petrel as far as i know... but I was moreinterested to do it using GIS based software... & am hopeful to get through it somehow & thequestion is still same, how... :P

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Answered by Jakub on 2011-10-18T14:47:13-04:003D Analyst can visualize existing models exported from other applications as 3D DXF but it's verydifficult (if not impossible) to create subsurface geology solids in ArcGIS. Geological 3D modelling software = VERY expensive (But that is not a part of your question) My personal favorite for subsurface modelling and 3D interpolation ishttp://www.leapfrog3d.com/mining/ by Aranz in New Zealand. The software is very polished andaimed at "Accelerated Geological Modeling". The features are very intuitive what this software cando is simply "jaw-dropping". (so is the price of the software unfortunately) Leapfrog ships with a manual, tutorials, reference guide and tutorial data and I must say that thetutorial is very well written. According to the tutorial you should be able to go trough it in 6 - 8 hoursand cover most of the features. Personally I needed a lot more time but I went trough it in detail.

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3D subsurface modelling

There are other options: Geosoft uses voxel gridding to create solids but it's not its main focus Gemcom GEMS allows you to digitize geological formations, define trend, etc and generate solidsthat are based on interpretation and knowledge of data rather then interpolation.

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Answered by Mike Toews on 2011-10-18T16:36:36-04:00I agree with Jakub's points, generally that ArcGIS's 3D Analyst is not good for creating subsurfacegeology solids, and that there are no "free"/open source options. Prices generally start at a fewhundred $ and go up to close to $1M. Ask about education discounts. Here are a few other software packages that are used by me or my colleagues: http://www.slb.com/petrel.aspx, integrates nicely with seismic data, very expensive (aimed at oil &gas exploration) http://www.dgi.com/earthvision/evmain.html, can do complicated modelling of faults http://www.aquaveo.com/gms, mostly for groundwater model construction, possibly too simple forserious 3D modelling http://www.gsi3d.org.uk/, non-profit software developed by the BritishGeological Survey, €300 for a student This is, by all means, not a comprehensive list, as thereare many other software packages out there.

Answered by Bryce on 2012-09-29T21:09:11-04:00You can build 3D Geological Structural and Property Models using Mathematica. I developed thesescripts to make geological modelling available to a wider audience. Mathematica also works withmany GIS and CAD formats. This makes it easy to construct models using information from multiplesources. Further details are available on the UNSW Connected Waters web pages.https://www.connectedwaters.unsw.edu.au/resources/articles/3dmappingdatabase.html You can download a tutorial example from here:http://library.wolfram.com/infocenter/Conferences/7457/

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