Interactive Three-Dimensional Display of Simulated Sedimentary Basins

Simulated sedimentary basins that are represented by volumetric data obtained from a numerical model are visualized by a set of isochron sediment surfaces,a lattice of vertical sections,basement topography, andwater body.Sediment surfaces and sections are color-coded to represent sediment composition in alternative ways, including sediment type and sediment age. It is possible to interactively show or hide any portion of the basin,rotate, resize, and vertically exaggerate the basin,highlight a sediment type,show basin evolution through time, andswitch sediment classification methods.Two viewing programs implemented on top of two different graphics systems (Doré[2] and GL[1]) are described and compared. One viewing application is built from a set of independent but cooperating programs that provide graphic functions and a user interface under X-Windows.