Structure from photographs of oriented core: STORC

Measuring the orientation of structures on drill core is laborious. However, the measurements can be carried out with a similar accuracy from high-quality digital photographs of drill core. This approach is much faster and has better quality control than manual measurement. Software has been developed that speeds up the measurement of structural data - both planes and lines - in oriented core, with only minor loss in precision of measurement. Where high-quality drill core images are available, the orientation of planes can be measured at about 2/min. One area where the improved throughput is significant is in discontinuity analysis for modelling blast fragmentation and geotechnical rock quality. In this case it is important to measure all the joints to define the population spacing. A manual is provided in the online supplement. The installer for the software is available from the corresponding author.