2007 GSA Denver Annual Meeting (28–31 October 2007)

Paper No. 2
Presentation Time: 2:00 PM

DEVELOPMENT OF AN INTERACTIVE 3-D GEOLOGIC MAP


KEEFER, Donald A.1, CARRELL, Jennifer E.2, BYERS, D.L.3 and THOMASON, J.F.3, (1)Illinois State Geological Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois, 615 E. Peabody Dr, Champaign, IL 61820, (2)Illinois State Geological Survey, 615 E. Peabody Dr, Champaign, IL 61820, (3)Illinois State Geological Survey, 615 E Peabody Drive, Champaign, IL 61820, keefer@isgs.illinois.edu

Visualization of geologic maps in 3-D can make it much easier to understand the often complex distributions found in the subsurface. This can be particularly true for geologists who are unfamiliar with the geology of a specific map, or with non-geologists who don't understand much geology. There are limited options available for publishing fully interactive 3-D geologic maps. Some 3-D mapping and visualization packages do provide license options for freely-distributable 3-D viewing software, but these require purchase and licensing of the full 3-D mapping and visualization packages, which are often very expensive. We also found the viewers on some of these packages were complex or difficult to use. As an alternative, we created a 3-D Quicktime VR presentation that provides a large degree of interaction, allowing the user to explore the map in a relatively undirected way. Through use of a third party Quicktime authoring software package, we were able to create a sophisticated presentation that uses graphical elements within each view as links to new views. This allows for the exploration of a map on multiple scales, and allows the user to view customized groupings of maps, cross sections and data elements. To demonstrate, we have generated a Quicktime presentation that includes a bedrock topography map, a Surficial geology map, a land surface elevation model, several base maps, several cross sections and a set of graphical borehole logs all compiled for the Fox Lake quadrangle in Lake County, Illinois.