3D geology in a 2D country: perspectives for geological surveying in the Netherlands

Abstract

ScopePursuant to a new law that will become effective in 2015, DINO, the national Dutch subsurface database operated by the Geological Survey of the Netherlands, is to become an official government register (a 'key register' / basisregistratie). In facing the responsibilities associated with this new status, the Survey is reconsidering and redesigning its operation and in that process a new, or at least sharper picture is emerging of geological surveying in the future.These developments set the final stages of a process of modernisation that geological survey organisations all over the world are currently entangled in (Allen, 2003;Jackson, 2010). Most surveys are replacing paper archives that were built in the AbstractOver the last ten to twenty years, geological surveys all over the world have been entangled in a process of digitisation. Their paper archives, built over many decades, have largely been replaced by electronic databases. The systematic production of geological map sheets is being replaced by 3D subsurface modelling, the results of which are distributed electronically. In the Netherlands, this transition is both being accelerated and concluded by a new law that will govern management and utilisation of subsurface information. Under this law, the Geological Survey of the Netherlands has been commissioned to build a key register for the subsurface: a single national database for subsurface data and information, which Dutch government bodies are obliged to use when making policies or decisions that pertain to, or can be affected by the subsurface. This requires the Survey to rethink and redesign a substantial part of its operation: from data acquisition and interpretation to delivery. It has also helped shape our view on geological surveying in the future.The key register, which is expected to start becoming operational in 2015, will contain vast quantities of subsurface data, as well as their interpretation into 3D models. The obligatory consultation of the register will raise user expectations of the reliability of all information it contains, and requires a strong focus on confidence issues. Building the necessary systems and meeting quality requirements is our biggest challenge in the upcoming years. The next step change will be towards building 4D models, which represent not only geological conditions in space, but also processes in time such as subsidence, anthropogenic effects, and those associated with global change.Keywords: Netherlands, applied geoscience, hydrogeology, geological surveying, mapping, geomodelling, geodatabase Netherlands Journal of Geosciences -Geologie en Mijnbouw | 92 -4 | 217-241 | 2013 217 course of many decades by electronic databases; many surveys started producing electronically distributed 3D subsurface models in addition to or instead of 2D geological maps that were their primary output since their establishment. For a variety of reasons explained below, the Dutch survey is among the early adapters in both respects.In this overview paper we present the Geological S...

Managing Geological Profiles in Databases for 3d Visualisation

“…Most of Geological Surveys are working on replacing paper archives that were build for many years by electronic databases, and 2D maps that were primary output are enriched with 3D subsurface models (Mathers, Ford 2014, van der Meulen, Doornenbal et al 2013, Conventional 2D geological maps are useful. They present, for example, the rocks found at the surface and include some cross sections as representation of a slice through the earth's crust.…”

Characterisation of the Groningen subsurface for seismic hazard and risk modelling

“…The transect depicts data from the GeoTOP model (Fig. 1A), the Digital Geological Model (DGM; Gunnink et al, 2013;Fig. 1B) and the Digital Geological Model Deep (TNO, 2016;Fig.…”

“…Geological Model (version 2.2;Gunnink et al 2013);(C) Digital Geological Model Deep (version 4.0;TNO, 2016 Figure 3. All models can be accessed on www.dinoloket.nl.…”

“…TNO -Geological Survey of the Netherlands (TNO-GSN) systematically produces 3D geological models of the Dutch subsurface (Van der Meulen et al, 2013). One of these models is the voxel model GeoTOP, which describes the geometry and properties of the shallow subsurface to a maximum depth of NAP −50 m (Stafleu et al, 2011(Stafleu et al, , 2012Maljers et al, 2015;Stafleu & Dubelaar, 2016).…”

Quality control of geological voxel models using experts' gaze

“…Especially when undertaken at national scale, geological voxel modeling uses and produces vastly more data and information than traditional 2D geological mapping (van der Meulen et al, 2013). This in its turn presents new challenges, since it surpasses the capabilities of current model quality control.…”