Model Creation Using Stacked Surfaces

This chapter highlights the concepts, methods, and tools that used to create 3-D stacked-surface geological framework models and demonstrates effective modeling strategies and applications using stacked surfaces. The stacked-surface approach has been widely used to conceptualize geology. The stacked-surface approach to 3-D modeling utilizes regular 2-D grids to represent individual surfaces. Many geographic information systems software products support a broad range of interpolation algorithms with variable parameter-control options and allow the user to specify combinations of these basic interpolation methods. Three-dimensional visualization is very useful for ensuring model consistency and accuracy. Geophysical surveys, synthetic boreholes, and supplemental elevation data are principal sources of synthetic data used in stacked-surface modeling. The chapter describes selected examples where stacked-surface modeling was effective at building geologic frameworks directly associated with aquifer delineation. Stacked-surface modeling will continue to be applied as an independent modeling strategy, and as a component of more complex and varied 3-D modeling software applications and workflows.