A process-based method to predict 3D sedimentary architecture conditioned to real-world data: alluvial architecture in the Rhine-Meuse delta

Abstract

Current methods for interpretation and interpolation of sedimentological records often rely on qualitative process knowledge. This has the disadvantage that results are often subjective and open for multiple interpretations. An alternative approach is to use process-based models simulating processes that were active to produce the observed deposit. Because process-based models formalize process knowledge in mathematical equations, this approach has the advantage of being more objective. Thus far, the use of process-based models to create 3-D models of sedimentological architecture is limited, because it is considered impossible to condition the models to observations.