ABSTRACT
Many existing contour plotting algorithms are unstable for complex geological models in 3D mining GIS. This paper describes a method which produces better results for those models. An object-oriented data model including a framework structure and a data structure has been firstly designed so as to represent the complex distribution of geological data. Based on the objects and methodologies of multi-resolution area filling, contours are generated by interpolating attributes of vertices, smoothing polygons using the available contour points computed with different elevations, and performing fractal-based subdivision operations for the faces whose curvatures are greater than a given threshold. The instances are tested with the method, indicating that it can exactly reflect the characteristics of geology and mineral resources in mining area.
