A model for compaction of sedimentary basins

Abstract This article describes a two-dimensional model for sedimentation and compaction of geological basins. The compaction is ruled by a porosity function of the sediment pressure and a permeability function of the porosity. The main results of the model are the following variables as a function of time: temperature, water pressure, excess pressure, sediment pressure, bulk pressure, porosity, and Darcy velocities. The pores are filled only with water. The pressure and temperature equations are solved by the finite element method. The equations are expressed in the fully compacted z-coordinate, and the formulation is implicit. The main variable in the pressure equation is the excess pressure. It is straightforward to generalize this concept to three dimensions.