Geology and Geophysics Receives Software Donation

 

Baton Rouge- The LSU College of Science Geology and Geophysics department has received a $2 million MOVE Suite software donation from Petroleum Experts Ltd. The MOVE Suite is a structural modeling and analysis software. It allows users to input a variety of data to create 2D and 3D models of the rock layers at the surface of the Earth and in the subsurface.

“Most importantly, it allows a user to take this 3D model and ‘retro-deform’ it, which means the software can take rock layers that used to be flat but have been deformed through tectonic processes and undo this deformation,” explained Adam M. Forte, assistant professor, LSU Department of Geology & Geophysics. “Undoing the deformation allows us to better understand the geologic history of an area.”

Forte and his graduate students will be using MOVE in projects related to structural cross sections, including an ongoing project to understand shortening rates within the Greater Caucasus Mountains. The software will also be used in a graduate course on orogenic and fold-thrust belts systems.

According to Forte, MOVE is unique in that it can be used effectively without using subsurface data, like seismic data. This is an important feature because access to seismic data has become extremely limited in some areas and reliance on surface observation is crucial. With MOVE, graduate students and faculty will be able to use surface observations to approximate what the subsurface looks like and quantitatively describe the history of deformation in these areas.

“The software will allow both graduate students and faculty to explore a range of research questions which are challenging or extremely time consuming to otherwise answer,” said Forte. “As MOVE is widely used in the petroleum industry, it will also provide graduate students an important opportunity to learn marketable skills for future career applications.” 

About Petroleum Experts:

Petroleum Experts (Petex) is a petroleum engineering and structural geology company, developing a wide range of software tools. We are a team of highly skilled professionals with extensive experience in petroleum engineering, structural geology and engineering software. Visit http://www.petex.com/ to learn more about Petroleum Experts Ltd. and the MOVE software.

 

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