Controlling factors on the development and evolution of carbonate platforms: isostatic basement response to water-sediment loading

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to accurately use sensitivity analysis on input parameters so a set of numerical simulations will geologically show the relative effects of isostatically compensated water-sediment loads on evolving carbonate platforms. In fact, subsidence or uplift together with isostasy modifies the elevation of the basement and plays a major role in long-term deposition, accumulation, and preservation of carbonate. Basement reaction to loading represents one of the most important geologic processes that determine the profile and sediment accumulation in sedimentary basins. Therefore, the reason for development of the local isostatic-load-induced subsidence is to contribute to ongoing efforts in the modeling of carbonate growth and upgrading an existing carbonate growth code. In fact, subsidence represents one of the most significant factors controlling the evolution of carbonate platforms. A forward model of platform development simulates the dynamics of sediment accumulation and subsidence starting from an initial configuration. The simulation consists of states that appear in a sequence from the past towards the future. Therefore, in this study given an initial configuration of a carbonate platform, a forward model simulates the evolution of that platform and predicts its geometry and character in the future. This forward model is used in a series of experiments characterized by initial boundary conditions and parameters that are modeled both as deterministic and random variables. Furthermore, in this study the opposite approach is taken into consideration, that is inverse modeling or backstripping modeling. This type of modeling starts from a given configuration to reconstruct the past states of the platform under scenarios of sediment accumulation and sea level change.