A PEEK INTO THE SUBSURFACE WITH COMPUTERS: MICHIGAN GEOLOGICAL SURVEY CROSS-SECTION TOOLS

Visualizing geologic information in multiple dimensions is critical for making interpretations and informed decisions. Whether informing the public on aquifer storage, generating subsurface models, or presenting spatial information, cross-sections are powerful tools to show what is happening beneath the surface. Advances in computer programming have made subsurface visualizations more accessible, yet many tools remain proprietary and unavailable for general use. The Michigan Geological Survey is developing a suite of cross-section tools that works seamlessly with Michigan’s water well database within ArcGIS Pro to visualize water well and borehole data. These tools have also been developed to produce profile views of elevation surface rasters (ranging bedrock tops, formation tops, etc.) as well as single-field specific geophysical logs, such as gamma ray logs, resistivity logs, etc. These tools produce feature class displays in ArcGIS Pro for each cross-section line provided in separate maps. While these tools are being developed for the needs of the Michigan Geological Survey, it is recognized that other organizations have similar needs and could make use of the cross-section tools presented here to work with their own datasets. We have developed and tested our tools to work with a broad range of datasets from multiple states and organizations. We have made the code available on GitHub for other organizations to use and modify for their specific needs. This suite of cross-section tools have allowed team members at the Michigan Geological Survey to more quickly produce cross-sections of borehole data, saving both time and effort for time-sensitive projects, requiring only a well point feature class, lithology or intervals table, cross-section polyline feature class, and a project specific DEM raster.