Automated identification and mapping of geological folds in cross sections

Abstract

Abstract Cross sections carry information on the spatial distribution of rock strata and the development of geological structures, and it is an important data source for three-dimensional (3D) geological modeling. However, the interpretation and mapping of geological structures in sections by means of manual interpretation are inefficient and costly, and the performance varies greatly with the experts’ ability and experience. The objective of this article is to develop an automatic recognition and mapping method for folds in cross sections. This method mainly includes identifying folds based on stratigraphic sequence characteristics (symmetrical and repetitive), classifying fold types based on geometric attributes of folds (interval scheduling, strike, and section morphology), optimizing strata based on the superposition principle and area conservation principle, and constructing the polygon features of folds. Based on experiments in the Parallel Fold Belt of Eastern Sichuan and the central Appalachian fold-thrust belt in the Appalachian Mountains, the method presented in this article can effectively be used for automatic recognition and high-quality mapping of folds in the cross sections. The method provides a good source of geological cross-sectional data for the 3D modeling of geologic bodies.