Ebook: 3D Geoscience Modeling: Computer Techniques for Geological Characterization

This book is a result of a career spent developing and applying computer techniques for the geosciences. The need for a geoscience modeling reference became apparent during participation in several workshops and conferences on the subject in the last three years. For organizing these, and for the lively discussions that ensued and inevitably contributed to the contents, I thank Keith Turner, Brian Kelk, George Pflug and Johnathan Raper. The total number of colleagues who contributed in various ways over the preceding years to the concepts and techniques presented is beyond count. The book is dedicated to all of them. Compilation of the book would have been impossible without assistance from a number of colleagues who contributed directly. In particular, Ed Rychkun, Joe Ringwald, Dave Elliott, Tom Fisher and Richard Saccany reviewed parts of the text and contributed valuable comment. Mohan Srivastava reviewed and contributed to some of the geostatistical presentations. Mark Stoakes, Peter Dettlaff and Simon Wigzell assisted with computer processing of the many application examples. Anar Khanji and Randal Crombe assisted in preparation of the text and computer images. Klaus Lamers assisted with printing. The US Geological Survey, the British Columbia Ministry of Environment, Dave Elliott and others provided data for the application examples. My sincere thanks to all of them.

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This book introduces an integrated, three-dimensional approach to geological characterization using a computer, covering information management, geological interpretation and modeling, geostatistical analysis and prediction, spatial analysis, risk assessment and computer visualization. It emphasizes the practical application of modern computer techniques, and provides the necessary theoretical detail and background. The book includes case studies of applications to soil contamination assessment, hazardous waste site characterization, mineral deposit evaluation, oil reservoir evaluation and geotechnical investigation, and contains numerous gray scale and color illustrations from computer visualization.