hide
Free keywords:
-
Abstract:
The formation of mineral and energy resources involves the interaction of groundwater flow, mechanical deformation, mass and heat transport processes. Thereby, groundwater flow patterns, temperature field, and fluid-rock interactions are all interdependent. This calls for a unified description linking the coupling between the different scales and related physical phenomena involved. A mathematical formulation of the main driving processes affecting basin fluid and heat transport allows developing numerical models as tools to examine the interactions of simultaneously active processes and variable parameters within the
constraints given by physical principles and taking into account proper temporal and three dimensional spatial scales. Therefore, the usage of mathematical models is justified by the help they bring in the understanding and verification of specific mechanisms acting in natural systems. In Section “Basin Analysis” at GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences mathematical models of increasing degree of complexity are applied to the study of energy and mass transport processes in complex sedimentary basins.
