3D Simulation and Visualization of Carbonate Platform Stratal Geometries

Three-dimensional simulation of carbonate platform stratal geometries requires a robust mathematical formulation for the growth carbonate fades, a good understanding of the spatial distribution of various fades types, and a spatial grid that will accommodate rapid lateral changes in stratal geometries and depositionalfades. The simplest spatial grid is a rectangular (equal spacing in x and y \ dx(dy) grid and in this paper, the application of simple rectangular gridding is investigated for validity. A synthetic case is constructed and several model grids are built to investigate the impact of grid-spacing. The results of the different simulations are compared using 3D visualization. 3D visualization of 3D model results is as crucial as the mathematical formulation of the model and can be done in various ways, including contour maps, and full 3D rendering of model output. The transfer of the spatial grid into a full 3D model and the advantages of utilizing 3D visualization are discussed.