Do numerical models produce realistic fault evolution patterns?

大陆裂谷作用形成新的洋盆是板块构造的重要组成部分，伸展的几何形状和大小对油气系统的发展具有重要意义。在过去的十年里，数值模型为裂谷过程提供了至关重要的见解，主要是使用低分辨率的2D模型。随着计算能力的进步，现在有可能以高分辨率的3D数值模拟裂谷演化，以模拟裂谷期间裂谷规模的断层阵列如何随时间成核、传播和增长。然而，很少有关于正常断层阵列如何在裂谷尺度上演化的观测，以定量测试现代数值模型是否产生了地质上真实的断层阵列演化预测。本博士学位将侧重于利用来自数据丰富和研究充分的裂谷(如澳大利亚的北海和西北陆架)的3D地震反射和钻井数据的大型汇编，量化完整裂谷上断层阵列的几何和位移历史。然后将其与3D数值模型产生的结果进行比较，以测试其在地质上是否真实。PHD的关键成果将是更好地理解早期大陆裂谷(β因子和lt；1.5)期间的断层排列如何在裂谷规模上演化。新验证的裂谷盆地断层阵列数值模型将极大地适用于其他数据稀少的裂谷系统，涵盖区域大型断裂演化系统、中尺度野外露头和类似物，以及利用岩心和井成像测井的微观尺度。这可以在前沿区域地震数据上提供更好的断层预测，并为断层封闭性分析建立次地震断层密度，最终减少伸展断层体制的不确定性。

Rifting of continents to produce new ocean basins is an important part of plate tectonics, and the geometry and magnitude of stretching has many implications for the development of hydrocarbon systems. Over the last decade numerical models have provided crucial insights into the rifting process, mainly using low-resolution 2D models. With advances in computational power it is now possible to numerically model rift evolution at a high-resolution in 3D to model how rift-scale fault arrays during rifting nucleate, propagate and grow through time. However, there are few observations of how normal fault arrays evolve at the rift scale to quantitatively test if the modern numerical models are producing fault array evolution predictions that are geologically realistic. This PhD will focus on quantifying the geometry and displacement history of fault arrays over complete rifts using large compilations of 3D seismic reflection and well data from data-rich and well-studied rifts such as the North Sea and NW Shelf of Australia. This will then be compared with the results produced by the 3D numerical model in order to test if it is geologically realistic. The key outcome of the PhD will be a better understanding of how fault arrays during early continental rifting (beta factors < 1.5) evolve at the rift scale. A newly validated numerical model of fault arrays in rift basins will be greatly applicable to other rift systems with sparsely populated data, covering a range of scales between regional large scale fault evolution systems, to mesoscale field outcrops and analogues, to the microscale using core and well image logs. This can provide better fault predictions on frontier regional seismic data, as well as establish sub-seismic fault density for fault seal analysis, ultimately reducing uncertainty in an extensional fault regime.