MAPPING IN 4 DIMENSIONS – RAISING THE GAME IN GEOLOGY FOR THE 21st CENTURY

With increasing need for resource security (energy, raw materials, water), waste management, sequestration along with a more sensitive management of the environment geologists need to be able to deliver better predictive sub-surface models where both precision and accuracy are understood. As uncertainty in geological interpretations can be large and is often unconstrained by hard data a single interpretation may not be adequate to characterise and understand the relationship between surface and subsurface geology.

These models need to be accessible to stakeholders and end users, not just to geologists. Traditional paper and pencil representations of the surface and subsurface accompanied by descriptive geo-histories are no longer represent appropriate deliverables for these evolving needs where the end user requires a digital model that can be visualised and manipulated as input for work by other discipline groups.

By looking at geology from a consumer point of view we can adopt and adapt best practice from a wide range of technologies to develop professional workflows, training and the necessary tools to meet this new paradigm. This contribution illustrates one approach to how we might address this for the 21^st century and integrate the needs of a range of end user communities.