2D SEDFLUX 1.0C: an advanced process-response numerical model for the fillof marine sedimentary basins

Numerical simulators of the dynamics of strata formation of continental mar gins fuse information from the atmosphere, ocean and regional geology. Such models can provide information for areas and times for which actual measur ements are not available, or for when purely statistical estimates are not adequate by themselves. SEDFLUX is such a basin-fill model, written in ANSI -standard C, able to simulate the delivery of sediment and their accumulati on over time scales of tens of thousands of years. SEDFLUX includes the eff ects of sea-level fluctuations, river floods, ocean storms, and other relev ant environmental factors (climate trends, random catastrophic events), at a time step (daily to yearly) that is sensitive to short-term variations of the seafloor. SEDFLUX combines individual process-response models into one fully interactive model, delivering a multi-sized sediment load onto and a cross a continental margin, including sediment redistribution by (1) river mouth dynamics, (2) buoyant surface plumes, (3) hyperpycnal flows, (4) ocea n storms, (5) slope instabilities, (6) turbidity currents, and (7) debris f lows. The model allows for the deposit to compact, to undergo tectonic proc esses (faults, uplift) and isostatic subsidence from the sediment load. The modeled architecture has a typical vertical resolution of 1-25 cm, and a t ypical horizontal resolution of between 1 and 100m. (C) 2001 Elsevier Scien ce Ltd. All rights reserved.