Modeling of the thermo-hydro-mechanical–chemical response of sedimentary rocks to past glaciations

Nasir, Othman; Fall, Mamadou; Nguyen, Son Truong; Evgin, E.

doi:10.1016/j.ijrmms.2013.08.002

Cited by 23 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 32 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In addition, fluid migration takes place during hydrothermal ore genesis (Garven et al 1993(Garven et al , 1999, petroleum generation and migration (Ungerer et al 1990) or may be induced by buoyancy forces as a result of temperature and density gradients (Garven 1995). Groundwater flow and migration of deep brines is also affected by continental glaciation and deglaciation events involving the build-up and melting of ice sheets (Person et al 2007;Bense & Person 2008;Lemieux et al 2008a,b;McIntosh et al 2011;Nasir et al 2011Nasir et al , 2013Provost et al 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reactive transport and thermo‐hydro‐mechanical coupling in deep sedimentary basins affected by glaciation cycles: model development, verification, and illustrative example

2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Deep sedimentary basins are complex systems that over long time scales may be affected by numerous interacting processes including groundwater flow, heat and mass transport, water–rock interactions, and mechanical loads induced by ice sheets. Understanding the interactions among these processes is important for the evaluation of the hydrodynamic and geochemical stability of geological CO2 disposal sites and is equally relevant to the safety evaluation of deep geologic repositories for nuclear waste. We present a reactive transport formulation coupled to thermo‐hydrodynamic and simplified mechanical processes. The formulation determines solution density and ion activities for ionic strengths ranging from freshwater to dense brines based on solution composition and simultaneously accounts for the hydro‐mechanical effects caused by long‐term surface loading during a glaciation cycle. The formulation was implemented into the existing MIN3P reactive transport code (MIN3P‐THCm) and was used to illustrate the processes occurring in a two‐dimensional cross section of a sedimentary basin subjected to a simplified glaciation scenario consisting of a single cycle of ice‐sheet advance and retreat over a time period of 32 500 years. Although the sedimentary basin simulation is illustrative in nature, it captures the key geological features of deep Paleozoic sedimentary basins in North America, including interbedded sandstones, shales, evaporites, and carbonates in the presence of dense brines. Simulated fluid pressures are shown to increase in low hydraulic conductivity units during ice‐sheet advance due to hydro‐mechanical coupling. During the period of deglaciation, Darcy velocities increase in the shallow aquifers and to a lesser extent in deeper high‐hydraulic conductivity units (e.g., sandstones) as a result of the infiltration of glacial meltwater below the warm‐based ice sheet. Dedolomitization is predicted to be the most widespread geochemical process, focused near the freshwater/brine interface. For the illustrative sedimentary basin, the results suggest a high degree of hydrodynamic and geochemical stability.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reactive transport and thermo‐hydro‐mechanical coupling in deep sedimentary basins affected by glaciation cycles: model development, verification, and illustrative example

2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Following exhumation, whereby an estimated maximum of 1000 m of Paleozoic sediment was eroded at the Bruce Site over an approximate 20-million-year period prior to the mid-Jurassic [4], Pleistocene glaciation imposed significant hydraulic and mechanical loads on the geosphere leading to the generation of both over-and underpressures, depending on the rock mechanical properties and the rate of glacial loading and unloading [20,29,37,40].…”

Section: Simulation Results and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Following the work of Sykes et al [37], the twodimensional model studies of Nasir et al [29] and Khader and Novakowski [30] illustrated that formation underpressures could be partially attributed to the removal of glacial ice loads. The authors suggested that discrepancies between the model predicted results and observed underpressures could be the result of factors not evaluated, such as the presence of a gas phase, osmotic pressure, and/or erosion.…”

Section: Prior Analyses Of Bruce Site Underpressuresmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…They include, among other osmosis, the presence of a nonwetting gas phase, hydromechanical effects due to exhumation, cyclic glacial loading, and crustal flexure [22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30]. Abnormal underpressures in geologic formations have been reported in many regions of the globe [2], including China [31,32], Canada [33][34][35], and Switzerland [36].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Assessing Alternative Scenarios for the Cause of Underpressures in the Ordovician Sediments along the Eastern Flank of the Michigan Basin

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Geoscientific investigations for a proposed deep geologic repository at the Bruce Site, located on the eastern flank of the Michigan Basin, have identified unique and significant underpressured conditions. Along with the measurement of environmental tracer profiles (e.g., helium), this study aims to explore, through a series of numerical simulations, the nature of long-term phenomena responsible for the generation and preservation of formation underpressures. Three families of inverse numerical experiments for underpressure formation were examined by means of one-dimensional hydromechanically coupled models through the vertical hydrostratigraphic column: (i) uncertainty in glaciation scenarios; (ii) uncertainty in initial heads prior to glaciation; and (iii) uncertainty in the degree of hydraulic connectivity between the more permeable Guelph Formation at the Bruce Site and the applied glacial loading, for a total of 20 scenarios, assuming fully saturated conditions. Underpressured initial heads for the paleohydrogeologic simulations lead to lower calibrated vertical hydraulic conductivities. The robustness and resilience of the groundwater system to external perturbations are greater for the state where underpressured conditions predate the onset of glaciation and are better able to preserve the present day helium tracer profile in 260 Ma exhumation analyses.

show abstract

“…A number of numerical simulation tools have been presented to model THMC processes [16][17][18]. While considering a similar mathematical approach, our work introduces the following new features with respect to previous studies: (i) it combines the global deformation of the lithosphere with the local simulation of pressure and temperature fields; (ii) it is built on available geophysical and geological information on the whole sedimentary system and relying on information available at selected wells; (iii) it allows considering the effects of erosion induced by glaciation, which is often neglected in previous studies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multiscale Modeling of Glacial Loading by a 3D Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical Approach Including Erosion and Isostasy

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We present a computational framework that allows investigating the Thermo-Hydro- Mechanical response of a representative part of a sedimentary basin during a glaciation cycle. We tackle the complexity of the problem, arising by the mutual interaction among several phenomena, by means of a multi-physics, multi-scale model with respect to both space and time. Our contribution addresses both the generation of the computational grid and the algorithm for the numerical solution of the problem. In particular we present a multi-scale approach accounting for the global deformation field of the lithosphere coupled with the Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical feedback of the ice load on a representative part of the domain at a finer scale. In the fine scale model we also include the erosion possibly caused by the ice melting. This methodology allows investigating the evolution of the sedimentary basin as a response to glaciation cycle at a fine scale, taking also into account the large spatial scale movement of the lithosphere due to isostasy. The numerical experiments are based on the analysis of simple scenario, and show the emergence of effects due to the multi-physics nature of the problem that are barely captured by simpler approaches.

show abstract

Modeling of the thermo-hydro-mechanical–chemical response of sedimentary rocks to past glaciations

Cited by 23 publications

References 32 publications

Reactive transport and thermo‐hydro‐mechanical coupling in deep sedimentary basins affected by glaciation cycles: model development, verification, and illustrative example

Reactive transport and thermo‐hydro‐mechanical coupling in deep sedimentary basins affected by glaciation cycles: model development, verification, and illustrative example

Assessing Alternative Scenarios for the Cause of Underpressures in the Ordovician Sediments along the Eastern Flank of the Michigan Basin

Multiscale Modeling of Glacial Loading by a 3D Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical Approach Including Erosion and Isostasy

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About