Adding Wells to Cross Sections in Strater 5

Cross sections are an important tool in illustrating subsurface geology.  Among the many new features added to Strater 5 are several new cross section options including water level display, retaining custom levels, and adding wells to an existing cross section. This blog will address how a new well can be added to a cross section. For this example, we will use the Cross Section.sdg sample file that ships with Strater.

The Strater 5 sample file “Cross Section.sdg” contains a cross section with four wells, well headers, two inset maps, a horizontal cross section, a depth log, and a legend. We will further manipulate this file by adding a new well and reshaping the default layers.

In the image above I’ve already applied some custom fills to the cross section and now I want to add another well.  To do this, I’ll simply add a new well selector to the map view, used to create the cross section, and assign that well selector to the cross section:

1. In the View Manager, click the Map 1 – Detail view.
2. In the Object Manager, click Map 2 to select it.
3. In the Property Manager, click the Limits tab.
4. Click the Fit All button to make all wells visible on the map.
5. Click the Map | Add | Well Selector command.
6. Click on each well in the map from left to right and then press ENTER.&nbsp A new well selector line is drawn beginning at South Barrow 16 (shown in red below).

Update the well selector line in the map view, or add a new well selector line, to update your cross section with a new set of wells.

7. Click Cross Section 1 in the View Manager.
8. In the Object Manager, click the Cross Section object to select it.
9. In the Property Manager, click the current value in the Well selectors field and select the South Barrow 16 well selector.
10. Click Yes in the Strater Warning dialog to redraw the cross section layers.
11. Click the current value in the Well spacing field and select Uniform, if desired.

The new well is added and default layers are drawn. Now I can reshape the layers and add a water level line to finalize the cross section.

Strater 5 allows for even more customization of cross sections, including the ability to add wells, keep custom layers, and draw water level symbols and levels.

The ability to add wells to cross sections is a powerful tool for geologists, making it easy to play around with which wells give the best display and update existing projects with new data. Add to that the other cross section improvements and new features, like water table symbols, and Strater becomes your one-stop-shop for professional and informative cross sections!