Using a Microcomputer for Interactive Section
Construction
and Balancing
Peter Geiser, Roy Kligfield, James Geiser
A program that constructs geologic cross
sections has been linked to a set of
routines that permit the user to balance the
section
interactively as it is
constructed. This ability raises important issues for the process of
section
construction. The present procedure constructs the
section
first and balances it
after the entire
section
is complete. Although interactive construction and
balancing can be done by hand, the task is slow, so it is not a common practice.
Drastically cutting the time required for this procedure opens the way for it to
become a standard method. However, the procedure is only possible if the
component contains a pin line. This study explores the nature and method of
locating such pin lines. We also discuss under what conditions, if any, a
section
should be balanced before construction is completed. Generally,
interactive
section
construction and restoration work best if the deformational
sequence is known. Otherwise, the geologist may correct features that appear to
be inaccurate, such as fault trajectories with dip angles unacceptably steep,
but which in fact may be the product of break-back or fold-first sequences.
AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91043©1986 AAPG Annual Convention, Atlanta, Georgia, June 15-18, 1986.