fractopo: A Python package for fracture network analysis

Abstract

In the Earth’s crust, networks of approximately planar discontinuities, fractures, form intricate networks where they cross-cut and abut each other. These fractures control the stability of the crust and act as pathways for fluid flow and subsequently, transfer of geothermal heat and contaminants. Fractures can be observed from exposed bedrock surfaces where these discontinuities appear as two-dimensional fracture traces. Digitizing these fracture trace observations (e.g., from drone imaged outcrops) results in georeferenced two-dimensional trace vector datasets (i.e., fracture networks), which offer a cross-sectional window into the three-dimensional networks within the bedrock. To analyze these datasets, Geographic Information System (GIS) tools are typically used to perform geospatial operations and analysis of the data. However, these tools are not specialized to handle the specific requirements for geometric and topological consistency of the fracture trace data and lack programmability to define repeatable workflows. To fill these gaps, fractopo provides geometric and topological validation, specifically tailored for fracture trace data, and a set of highly specific geospatial analysis tools, including plotting of the results. In contrast to GIS tools, fractopo is more readily usable in Python scripts and data pipelines which allow for better reproducibility of results.