Lowering Barriers to Public Communication with 3D Groundwater Mapping at Alberta Geological Survey: Examples from Canada

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Lowering Barriers to Public Communication with 3D
Groundwater Mapping at Alberta Geological Survey
Examples from Canadas Oil Sands Areas.

• Kevin Parks, Laurence Andriashek
• and Nigel Atkinson,
• Alberta Geological Survey,
• Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

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Introduction

• Introduction
• Databases
• Digitizing legacy data
• Thinking about grids
• 3D media
• Animation
• Familiar visual idioms
• Tactile models
• Take home points

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Oil Sands in Alberta
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Why 3D for the Public?

• Need to show value for expensive work.
• Need to communicate complex ideas to lay
  audiences with as few barriers as possible.
• Need to communicate uncertainty without
  undermining credibility.

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Adaptation of Relational Databases
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Structured Databases a prerequisite for 3D
Mapping
Borehole information
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Digitizing Legacy Data
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Digitizing Legacy Materials
Location of Study Area
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Wolf Lake, AB, south shore, June 2003
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Lake Bottom BathymetryOriginal Paper Version
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Lake Bottom BathymetryDigital Capture
Bathymetry 25-m DEM
Digitized contours
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Hill-Hole Pair Glacio-tectonic Feature
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Regional DEM with Lake Bathymetry
Wolf Lake
Marie Lake
High 700m to 860masl
Cold Lake
Moose Lake
Low 435masl
Muriel Lake
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Muriel Lake, AB, south shore, June 2003
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3D Representation of Surface Topography and
Stratigraphy
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Thinking About Grids
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Cross-Sectional Representations Geological
Versus Numerical Model
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Chronostratigraphy meets Finite Difference
Gridding
tgreen
tpurple
tgrey
tpurple
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Bedrock Topography and Buried Valleys
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Distribution and Topography of Empress Formation
Unit 1
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Distribution and Topography of Muriel Lake
Formation
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Distribution and Topography of the Sand River
Formation
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Cross-section of Quaternary Strata Superposed on
3D model of Bedrock Surface
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Using Animation
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Ice Recession In Alberta
16,000 to 9,000 Years before Present
Modified from Dyke et al. 2003
Dyke, A S Moore, A Robertson, L.
2003. Deglaciation of North America Geological
Survey of Canada, Open File 1574.
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Development of glacial tunnel channel
1 Glacial advance over bedrock surface
Bedrock high
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Development of glacial tunnel channel
2 Accumulation of meltwater at base of glacier
Frozen ground
Geothermal heat
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Development of glacial tunnel channel
3 Hydrostatic loading on basal meltwater
catastrophic erosion
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Employing Familiar Visual Idioms
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Sequence of channel infill
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Making Tactile Models
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Bedrock topography graphic rendering
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Bedrock topography 3D printing
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Take Away Points

• The public has a large inherent capacity to
  understand and appreciate groundwater maps and
  concepts provided the barriers to perception and
  understanding are low enough.
• 3D Mapping lowers barriers but requires more data
  processing, more technical skill, and more
  artistic flair on the part of the geoscientist.
• Making things look easy is hard work.