From top Above to Down Under: Linking the Real World With UnderWorld Models

Intraplate sedimentary basins often show a subsidence behaviour which can not be explained by the classical rift models. It appears that the basement heterogeneity is one of the major factors controlling the formation and long-term evolution of those basins. In our project we have tried to integrate the results of an observational study on global intraplate sedimentary basins with particle-in-cell finite element models. By using the UnderWorld(ex SNARK) and Ellipsis2d codes, we are building a numerical model library for different crustal extension scenarios involving a varying heterogeneous basement architecture and attempting to connect the ``pure'' numerical models with real world data as tightly as possible. The direct linking of numerical models with large scale observations offers a new powerful way to investigate the complex lithosphere dynamics and geological processes that account for the evolution of intraplate basins, and the influence of the basement architecture on basin evolution. Here we present the infrastructure and workflow of this new approach together with a first set of modelling results.