3D Geomodelling of Alpine structures with PZero

Three-dimensional geological modelling is a rapidly growing field of interest and application, both in research and industry, leading to the emergence of open-source software to make this technology more accessible. Here we present PZero, an open-source software written in Python, created and developed by GECOS-LAB (github.com/gecos-lab) and now supported by the GeoSciences IR project (geosciences-ir.it). PZero is a 3D geological modelling software with a user-friendly Qt graphical interface designed for the structural geologist, allowing explicit and implicit interpolation (using LoopStructural) of geological structures from different input datasets, including field geological and structural surveys, Digital Outcrop Models, but also subsurface data such as wells and seismics. One important development branch of PZero is focused on modelling strategies and interpolation algorithms for 3D modelling of complex ductile structures, such as refolded isoclinal folds and shear zones. For this task we have selected a case study from the Penninic Domain of the Central Alps, characterized by continental and oceanic units that were deeply involved in subduction- and collision-related tectonics, then exhumed and crosscut by late-stage brittle faults, resulting in very challenging natural laboratory, where the latest modelling strategies can be tested in depth.