Computers & Geosciences 45 (2012) 52–56

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Short note

Visualizing structural geology: From Excel to Google Earth

T.G. Blenkinsop n
School of Earth and Environmental Science, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4812, Australia

a r t i c l e i n f o

Article history:
Received 12 January 2012
Received in revised form
2 March 2012
Accepted 6 March 2012
Available online 18 March 2012

Keywords:
Virtual globe
Excel
Kmz
Structural geology
Google Earth
Visualization

1. Introduction latitude and longitude), and orientations of structures such as

Virtual globes are outstandingly useful for visualizing struc-
tural geology (e.g. McCaffrey et al., 2008; Simpson and De Paor,
2009; Whitmeyer et al., 2009, 2010; De Paor and Whitmeyer,
2011). Virtual globes can combine displays of geology and
topography, allow rapid changes of scale and view point, and
can easily integrate other digital data such as outcrop photo-
graphs (Whitmeyer et al., 2010). Virtual globes are also very
effective for teaching structural geology (Tewksbury and
Tewksbury, 2009), partly because they give more intuitive views
of geology than traditional maps. Keyhole Markup Language
(KML) allows users of virtual globes to visualize and manipulate
spatial data without having to learn or purchase more sophisti-
cated GIS packages (Bailey and Chen, 2011).
Structural data acquired digitally are compiled in databases,
spreadsheet or workbook. Data from traditional mapping techni-
ques are also usually transcribed from hand-written notes
or maps into a spreadsheet, used for subsequent digital map
creation and/or stereoplotting. Most, if not all, structural geolo-
gists therefore have spreadsheets containing structural data
(perhaps including data collected in the pre-digital era), which are
typically organized by rows corresponding to observation points and
columns containing location information (UTM coordinates or
n
Tel.: þ61 7 47814318; fax: þ61 7 4781 5581.
E-mail address: Thomas.Blenkinsop@jcu.edu.au
bedding, foliation and lineation.
This short note presents an Excel workbook that converts field
data into a KML document via a Visual Basic for Applications
macro. The KML document uses a new method for visualizing the
structural data, which may be understood more intuitively than
conventional map symbols in the 3D environment of a virtual
globe. The spreadsheet is called S2K (Structures to KML), available
in two versions (Appendix A). S2K.xlsm works with Excel 2011 for
Macintosh and Windows, while S2K.xls works for Excel 2007 for
Windows and Excel 2004 for Macintosh.
2. Example: the Mary Kathleen synform, Mount Isa Inlier
The Mary Kathleen synform, in the Mount Isa Inlier, is a km
scale, tight, fold of early Proterozoic Corella Formation metasedi-
mentary rocks (biotite schists, laminated calcsilicates, and
marbles) and skarns, with secondary structures that include
minor folds, hinge surface parallel cleavage. The fold plunges
gently NW with an upright hinge surface (Fig. 1), and most
probably formed during the second deformation event (D2) of
the Isan orogeny (Oliver et al., 1991). Exposure is good, there is
significant topography, and the area has an excellent Google Earth
aerial image and DTM. The synform therefore furnishes a useful
illustration of the advantages of visualizing structure as proposed
here. The figures in this note are taken from an area of
2 km  2 km that shows the hinge and limbs of the Mary Kathleen
synform. The data shown are a subset of a larger database and
illustrate only the basic structure.

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cageo.2012.03.007
 T.G. Blenkinsop / Computers & Geosciences 45 (2012) 52–56 53

Fig. 1. Overview of the structure of the Mary Kathleen synform, shown by symbols to represent bedding, schistosity, intersection lineations, fold hinge surfaces, fold
hinges, and mylonitic foliations and lineations. Screen overlays show key and stereoplot from jpg files.

Fig. 2. (a) Library of symbols available to S2K. Planar structures can be directly represented by rectangular, disc and hexagon shaped sheets, or by conventional dip and
strike symbols. Linear structures are represented by cylinders and pencil shapes. (b) Colours available in the library.

3. Visualizing structural data in virtual globes
Whitmeyer et al. (2010) suggested the use of rotating 3D
structural symbols for representing orientations of planar struc-
tures. These are readily appreciated by any geologist with map-
ping experience, and an online orientation symbol generator is
available (Whitmeyer, 2012). The alternative presented here is a
more direct representation of planar structures as planar symbols,
and linear structures as cylinders or prisms (Fig. 2; Karabinos,
2010). Sheets with a visible thickness show the planar features
clearly from above even when they have a vertical dip. This
representation may be more intuitively understood by novices.
The symbols used here were created in Google Sketch Up, (cf.
Whitmeyer et al., 2010; De Paor and Whitmeyer, 2011). The
models have long dimensions of 10–15 m: this seems appropriate
to represent the scale of outcrops. A scale parameter is provided
in S2K to adjust the size of these symbols. A scale factor of 10 is a
useful default value for km scale folding mapped on a scale of
1:5000.
A library of symbols provided with the S2K workbook includes
rectangles, discs and hexagons, as well as conventional bedding
and foliation strike marks, for planar data, and cylinders and
prisms for linear data (Fig. 2). All models have been created in a
range of Apple colours (Fig. 2). Experience suggests that colour
selection should complement the background colour light in the
Google Earth image: light colours for dark images and vice versa.
Each model can be displayed at a variable height above ground,
set by the height parameter. Models that show rectangles emer-
ging from the ground are particularly effective for understanding
the relation between topography and geological surfaces (Fig. 3).
Combinations of colours and symbols can be used to represent
different types of structures, rock types or structural domains.
When two planar surfaces are plotted at the same locality
(e.g. bedding, cleavage), the two symbols intersect each other,
54 T.G. Blenkinsop / Computers & Geosciences 45 (2012) 52–56

Fig. 3. Eastern limb of the Mary Kathleen synform, showing how planes emerging from the ground convey structural orientations graphically. White planes are bedding,
maraschino planes are S2 Schistosity, and red thin pencils are measured bedding/schistosity intersections. Note clockwise schistosity vergence (red planes must be rotated
clockwise to become parallel to white planes). (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

Fig. 4. Western limb of Mary Kathleen synform. Symbols as above with sky coloured planes and lines representing the hinge surfaces and hinges of small-scale folds. Note
measured bedding/schistosity intersections (maraschino thin pencils) are parallel to intersections of bedding (white) and schistosity (maraschino) planes; measured fold
hinges (sky pencils) are also parallel to this direction, and the hinge surface (sky rectangle) is parallel to the measured schistosity. Cleavage vergence is anticlockwise on
this limb of the fold. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

making their line of intersection readily visible (Figs. 3 and 4).
Measured small-scale fold hinges in the Mary Kathleen synform
example are also parallel to this direction, and fold hinge surfaces
are parallel to the schistosity. The change in cleavage vergence
from clockwise on the east limb to anticlockwise on the west limb
is clearly visible in the example from comparing Figs. 3 and 4. The
consistency of measurements can be evaluated and used for
structural interpretation: in this case all the structures are
consistent with the formation of a synclinal synform in a single
deformation event (D2), except for some enigmatic younging
indicators on the east limb of the fold.
S2K can create a KML document from multiple types of structural
data, like the online symbol generator of Whitmeyer (2012). One
advantage of S2K is that the intermediate step of copying and pasting
text that is output to a web page into a new file, required in the
online symbol generator, is omitted. On the other hand, S2K does
require downloading and becoming familiar with the spreadsheet,
which is more demanding than using the exceptionally simple
interface of the online generator. Equally, a spreadsheet approach
such as S2K requires a specific piece of software (Excel in a macro-
enabled version), in comparison to the online option that requires
only a web browser, and is not machine-specific.
 T.G. Blenkinsop / Computers & Geosciences 45 (2012) 52–56 55

4. Data input corresponding to each measurement. Orientation is given as Dip

Structural data is entered into the S2K Excel workbook, which
is arranged in a typical format that any structural geologist might
use to record field data (Fig. 5). Data can be entered in up to 10
worksheets: different worksheets could be used for structural
domains and/or rock types. The name of the data set is entered
into cell B1 in each worksheet: this name appears as a folder title
in the KML document. The first four columns are the UTM
coordinates and the latitude and longitude. Only the latter pair
of coordinates, in decimal degrees, is required by Google Earth
and S2K, so they must be present for any row of data to be
represented. Many ways are available on the web and through GIS
software to convert from UTM to Geographic coordinates
(e.g. Dutch, 2011; Geoscience Australia, 2011). Google Earth uses
the WGS84 datum, and any coordinate transformation must be
effected with this datum.
Each pair of columns following the coordinates records orien-
tation data for a particular structure. The name of the structure is
entered at the head of the second of the pair of columns (Fig. 5):
this name becomes the name of a folder that contains symbols
Azimuth (azimuth of the down dip direction) and Dip for planar
data, and Trend and Plunge for linear data. The colour and type of
symbol are chosen via drop down menus that read from a list in a
Selection worksheet, which is hidden in the S2K workbook. The
type of symbol is used to discriminate between planar and linear
data. A younging arrow is provided that points in the horizontal
direction of increasingly younger strata, entered as an azimuth.
5. Creating the kmz document with S2K
The Visual Basic code, contained in the macro ‘‘KMLCreator’’,
simply places the necessary KML code to represent the chosen
colours and symbols in their correct orientation into a KML
document (Fig. 6). The KML document name is automatically
created as the name of the Excel spreadsheet, with the .xlms
or .xls suffix replaced by .kml. The KML document is saved into
the currently active folder.
Within the KML document, folders are created for each work-
sheet, named after the entry in cell B1. Each folder in the

Fig. 5. Data entry in S2K, showing a typical worksheet. Bold black borders denote cells in which symbols or names are entered. The drop-down list of colours is shown.

Fig. 6. Structure of the kmz document created by S2K. (a) The document consists of folders corresponding to each worksheet. Folders contain subfolders corresponding to
each structure. Each datum is numbered by the row in the spreadsheet. (b) Example from the Mary Kathleen synform.
56 T.G. Blenkinsop / Computers & Geosciences 45 (2012) 52–56
worksheets contains symbols for the data from each pair of
columns (Figs. 5 and 6). Each structural observation is labelled
as the type of structure, followed by its row number in the
worksheet: these numbers could be used as identifiers for the
stations from which the data came, since they are not consecu-
tive, but increment to include rows that do not have data in that
particular column. If the check boxes in row 1, columns H and J on
the first worksheet are set to Yes, the macro reads files called
‘‘Stereoplot.jpg’’ and ‘‘Key.jpg’’ if they are provided in the desktop
folder, and makes them into screen overlays (Fig. 1).
The programme is executed by opening the visual basic editor
under the Tools-Macro menu, and choosing KMLCreator as the
macro to be run. The S2K folder must contain the symbol folder
(Symbols) and the Stereoplot.jpg and Key.jpg files if used. The S2K
folder supplied with this short note contains two versions of S2K:
S2K.xlsm works with Excel 2011 for Macintosh and Windows,
while S2K.xls works for Excel 2007 for Windows and Excel 2004
for Macintosh. The folder also contains the example document
used in this paper, MaryKathleenExample.kmz, and the source
files for the Symbols in the folder SketchUpModels. S2KReadMe
contains more detailed instructions about running the macro.
More information and updates will be posted on /https://
eresearch.jcu.edu.au/spaces/thomas.blenkinsop/S.
6. Conclusion
Virtual globes are becoming a standard way to visualize
structural data. S2K is a macro-enabled Excel workbook with a
Visual Basic macro for creating a KML document to be used in a
virtual globe, which draws upon a library of symbols to enable
rapid and intuitive visualization of structural geology in Google
Earth. The simplicity of the data input and file creation, combined
with the widespread use of Excel and Google Earth, should make
this workbook widely applicable. The library of structural models
can easily be expanded to encompass less common symbols—or
adapted for representing other types of spatial data entirely.
Acknowledgement
Joao Babo, Rob Holm and Mark Munro are thanked for
testing S2K.
Appendix A. Supporting information
Supplementary data associated with this article can be found
in the online version at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cageo.2012.03.
007.
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