The development of affordable digital technologies that allow the collection and analysis of georeferenced field data represents one of the most significant changes in field-based geoscientific study since the invention of the geological map. Digital methods make it easier to re-use pre-existing data (e.g. previous field data, geophysical survey, satellite images) during renewed phases of fieldwork. Increased spatial accuracy from satellite and laser positioning systems provides access to geostatistical and geospatial analyses that can inform hypothesis testing during fieldwork. High-resolution geomatic surveys, including laser scanning methods, allow 3D photorealistic outcrop images to be captured and interpreted using novel visualization and analysis methods. In addition, better data management on projects is possible using geospatially referenced databases that match agreed international data standards. Collectively, the new techniques allow 3D models of geological architectures to be constructed directly from field data in ways that are more robust compared with the abstract models constructed traditionally by geoscientists. This development will permit explicit information on uncertainty to be carried forward from field data to the final product. Current work is focused upon the development and implementation of a more streamlined digital workflow from the initial data acquisition stage to the final project output.

Published length (L) and thickness (T) data on 135 laccolith and 21 granite intrusions define power-law relationships of the form L=kT ^a typical of systems exhibiting scale invariant (fractal) behaviour. Both data sets are characterised by an exponent a< 1 (0.88 ±0.1 for laccoliths and 0.80 ± 0.20 for plutons) that reflects an inherent preference for scale invariant tabular-sheet geometries. These power-law size relationships can be explained in mechanical terms by the need for an incoming magma sheet to travel laterally some distance before vertical thickening can occur. Sheet thickness is a function of available magma pressure which for an intrusion fed by a feeder dyke is proportional to the vertical magma transport distance.