Abstract: Currently, tetrahedral solid mesh adaptive refinement techniques are predominantly focused on the three-dimensional reconstruction and representation analysis of simple layered geological bodies. Addressing adaptive refinement for complex geological bodies with intricate structures and discontinuous data, such as those containing intersecting faults, remains a challenging task. In this study, we propose an adaptive hierarchical refinement method for tetrahedral meshes incorporating complex fault systems.The approach involves determining the fault refinement range adaptively using a formula for the fault influence range. Subsequently, tetrahedral sets within the refinement range are identified based on the shortest distance formula. Formulas for tetrahedral grading and edge grading are established to determine the grading levels within the tetrahedral sets. To handle various cases during tetrahedral mesh refinement, eight subdivision types are unified into three types through edge upgrading. Finally, adaptive hierarchical refinement of tetrahedral meshes is performed by introducing new vertices and reconnecting tetrahedra around the original vertices in the local region. This process alters the mesh cell sizes, generating a high-quality mesh model.Using a coal mine with intersecting fault zones in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region as a case study, the proposed method is applied to adaptively refine the tetrahedral mesh model containing complex faults. The refinement results demonstrate the successful optimization of mesh elements near fault surfaces, yielding a more accurate tetrahedral mesh model.