Numerical Modelling to Evaluate Sedimentation Effects on Heat Flow and Subsidence during Continental Rifting

Abstract

Sedimentation impacts thermal and subsidence evolution in continental rifting. Estimating the blanketing effect of sediments is crucial to reconstructing the heat flow during rifting. The sedimentary load affects the basin subsidence rate. Numerical investigation of these effects requires active and complex simulations of the thermal structure, lithospheric stretching, and sedimentation. In this paper, we introduce a numerical model to quantify these effects, which was developed using the COMSOL Multiphysics® simulation software. Our numerical setting for the analytical and numerical solutions of thermal structure and subsidence is based on previous continental rifting studies. In our model, we accumulate a column of 5 m thick sediment layers with varied stretching factors and sedimentation rates, spanning the syn-rift to early post-rift phases over a period of 12 myr. Our results provide intuitive models to understand these sedimentation effects. The models show that an increase in sedimentation thickness significantly decreases surface heat flow, leading to lower geothermal temperature, and amplifies the subsidence magnitude. The findings also demonstrate that increases in the stretching factor and sedimentation rate enhance the blanketing effect and subsidence rate. Based on these results, we discuss key outcomes for geological applications and the possible limitations of our approach.

Keywords

• numerical modelling
• continental rifting
• extensional basin
• sedimentation
• heat flow
• geothermal gradient