Surface-Based 3D Modeling of Geological Structures

Building a 3D geological model from field and subsurface data is a typical task in geological studies involving natural resource evaluation and hazard assessment. However, there is quite often a gap between research papers presenting case studies or specific innovations in 3D modeling and the objectives of a typical class in 3D structural modeling, as more and more is implemented at universities. In this paper, we present general procedures and guidelines to effectively build a structural model made of faults and horizons from typical sparse data. Then we describe a typical 3D structural modeling workflow based on triangulated surfaces. Our goal is not to replace software user guides, but to provide key concepts, principles, and procedures to be applied during geomodeling tasks, with a specific focus on quality control.