Development of new, integrated computer modelling and inversion methods for applied geophysics and for joint geology-geophysics Earth modelling

拟议的研究方案的目标是为地球物理调查数据发展改进的计算机模拟和解释方法，这些方法可以真正与现代计算机化地质模型建立技术结合起来。人们普遍认为，容易找的矿床都已被发现。由于矿床所处地质环境的复杂性，特别是当寄主岩石的几何和构造关系复杂且难以解开时，矿床往往被遗漏。在过去十年左右的时间里，利用地球物理反演软件从大多数类型的地球物理调查数据中构建物理属性（即地球物理地球模型）的三维地下分布已经变得广泛。事实证明，在地质环境不是特别复杂的情况下，现有的反演技术可以成功地提供有关矿床位置、深度、大小和成分的可靠、可靠的定量信息。然而，现有的反演技术本身在地下复杂情况下识别特征的能力有限，不适合与地质建模方法相结合。最近，已经开发了用于构建三维地质模型的方法和软件，即由表示岩石单元、断层和矿床轮廓之间接触的线框表面组成的计算机模型。这些模型本质上是地下的3D地图，可以用来更好地了解矿床与其周围地质特征之间的空间和结构关系，并提供矿床的位置、深度和大小的定量估计。然而，这种地质模型构建方法所使用的数据仅限于非常稀疏的点测量，并且所构建的表面是在没有地质数据存在的大面积地下进行外推的。将这两个过程结合成一个单一的综合程序，将产生地球模拟能力，可以处理比目前可能处理的更复杂的地下情景：构造地质信息将减少地球物理反演的非唯一性和模糊性，而关于更大规模的平均物性分布的地球物理信息将指导整个地下地质面的外推，因此，新方法将特别有利于矿产勘探行业，这是加拿大经济的重要贡献者，并寻找新的矿床。这项研究也将大大提高我们对计算地球物理方法的认识和理解。

The goal of the proposed research programme is to develop improved computer modelling and interpretation methods for geophysical survey data that can be truly integrated with modern computerized geological model-building techniques.It is generally recognized that the easy-to-find ore deposits have all been discovered. Deposits are often missed because of the complexity of the geological environment in which they are hosted, especially when the geometrical and structural relationships of the host rocks are complicated and hard to unravel.In the last decade or so, the use of geophysical inversion software that can construct 3D subsurface distributions of a physical property (i.e., a geophysical Earth model) from most types of geophysical survey data has become widespread. Existing inversion technology has proven to be successful in providing reliable, robust quantitative information about the location, depth, size and composition of ore deposits when the geological environment is not particularly complicated. However, on its own, existing inversion technology is limited in its ability to distinguish features when the subsurface is more complex, and it is not suited for integration with geological modelling methods.Recently, methodology and software for constructing 3D geological models, i.e, computer models comprising wireframe surfaces that represent contacts between rock units, faults, and outlines of ore deposits, have been developed. Such models, which are essentially 3D maps of the subsurface, can then be used to better understand the spatial and structural relationships between an ore deposit and its surrounding geological features, and to provide quantitative estimates of the location, depth and size of a mineral deposit. However, the data that such geological model-building methods use is limited to very sparse point measurements and the constructed surfaces are extrapolated throughout large expanses of the subsurface where no geological data exists.Combining these two processes into a single, integrated procedure will result in Earth modelling capabilities that can handle significantly more complex subsurface scenarios than is currently possible: the structural geological information will reduce the non-uniqueness and indistinctness of the geophysical inversion, and the geophysical information about the larger-scale, averaged physical property distribution will guide extrapolation of the geological surfaces throughout the subsurface,As such, the new methods will be of particular benefit to the mineral exploration industry, which is a significant contributor to Canada's economy, and its search for new ore deposits. The research will also significantly advance our knowledge and understanding of computational geophysical methods.