The image shows an underground bedrock ridge
that could influence groundwater and contaminant flow.
What's New?
My
results
are consistent with the findings in
Dr. Reynolds' paper (PDF format, 15MB).
However, I took a different approach.
Dr. Reynolds drew contour lines around known data points based on his knowledge of
Phoenix structural geology.
I generated a shape mathematically using GMT.
With the Virtual Reality images I produced,
we can now look at these underground shapes from any angle or distance.
Next Steps
Obtain coordinates for more wells
Much of the data was incomplete or unusable because it didn't have the latitude and longitude
of the well,
or it didn't clearly indicate depth to bedrock.
This project could be improved with more complete data about the wells that have already been drilled.
Plot a more detailed surface
With more data I could plot a better surface,
showing the topographic features in more detail.
Check accuracy of computed surfaces vs. known ground topography
I used a data set of bedrock depth at several known points (the wells).
I also have surface elevation as measured at each of those same points.
It would be possible to use the same
methods
to generate a mathematical prediction of surface topography.
This could then be subtracted from actual topography to identify the error in the computation.
Where the error is minimal, we could have more confidence in the subsurface prediction.
Convert for GeoWall
Because the
results
are in Virtual Reality format,
it would be easy to convert them for viewing in the GeoWall.
This would make it even easier to see the wells,
materials encountered at depth,
and underground shapes.
Credits
My sources and tools are cited on the
Data
and
Methods
pages.
