COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Forward and Inverse Modeling of TwoCretaceous Foreland Basins

最近开发的一个定量模型预测， 前陆盆地和被动边缘的地层学和几何学 盆地变形历史和海平面变化的响应。 该模型结合了广泛接受的机械描述， 岩石圈的一种新的方法，即模拟的表面 沉积物通过扩散的迁移。 新的鲁棒性 将通过比较预测的地层来检验这种方法 两个前陆盆地，科尔维尔盆地和西部内陆 海道，到地质资料。 沉积物通量和沉积 将在已知的时间间隔内测量曲线， 岩石圈载荷的二维回剥计算 程序. 然后，负荷历史和沉积物通量将是 盆地演化正演模型的输入。 该项目是康奈尔大学科学家的合作 拉蒙特-多尔蒂地质观测站，以及 科罗拉多大学。 结果将决定是否 前陆盆地形成期间岩石圈显著松弛 形成，逆冲推覆对沉降的构造影响， 海盆远端及海平面变化的贡献 地层层序的变化。 这些发现将 对地质构造学和沉积学的重要影响。

A recently developed quantitative model predicts the stratigraphy and geometry of foreland basins and passive margin basins in response to deformation history and sea-level change. The model combines a largely-accepted mechanical description of the lithosphere with a new approach, that of simulation of the surface transport of sediments by diffusion. The robustness of the new approach will be tested by comparing the predicted stratigraphies of two foreland basins, the colville basin and the Western Interior Seaway, to the geological data. Sediment fluxes and depositional profiles will be measured over known time intervals and the lithospheric loads calculated by two-dimensional back-stripping procedures. The load histories and sediment fluxes will then be input to the forward model of basin evolution. The project is a collaboration of scientists from Cornell University, Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory, and the University of Colorado. The results will resolve whether or not the lithosphere relaxes significantly during foreland basin formation, the tectonic effects of thrusting on subsidence in the distal parts of basins, and the contribution of eustatic sea-level change to stratigraphic sequences. These findings will have important consequences for tectonics and sedimentology.