Method and system for modeling geological structures using an unstructured four-dimensional mesh

A computer readable medium having one or more instructions embodied therein, wherein the instructions are configured to cause a computer to:

• convert a three-dimensional mesh to a four-dimensional mesh, wherein the three-dimensional mesh corresponds to a system to be modeled and the four-dimensional mesh corresponds to the system to be modeled over a range of time, wherein the four-dimensional mesh comprises a plurality of nodes and wherein the instructions are configured to cause the computer to associate the plurality of nodes with a plurality of different time values;
• and
• generate a solution the four-dimensional mesh.

A method for generating a second mesh of dimension n+1 from a first mesh of dimension n, wherein each mesh includes a plurality of simplices, the method comprising:

• for each n-simplex of the first mesh,
• creating an (n+1)-prism by extruding the simplex in the n+1th dimension, and
• dividing the (n+1)-prism into n+1 (n+1)-simplices.