Deciphering exhumation and burial history with multi‐sample down‐well thermochronometric inverse modelling |
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| Abstract: | The ability of thermochronometric data to shed light on the geologic history of samples and localities through thermal history inverse modelling is enhanced by the degree to which additional geological information can be incorporated into the modelling process. In this contribution, we describe a new set of methods and processes implemented in the HeFTy modelling software for specifying the stratigraphic relationships between samples down a well or borehole, allowing them to be modelled simultaneously, and demonstrate their use in bringing better definition to both predepositional and burial histories. Data from two wells in the Colombian Andes are examined, one in the Middle Magdalena Valley that experienced not only fast Miocene burial but also features a Mio‐Pliocene unconformity, and one in the eastern foothills of the Eastern Cordillera in which burial was accomplished by a combination of sedimentation and overthrusting. Multiple‐sample modelling in both wells considerably refines the results that are obtained from single‐sample modelling. We also demonstrate how to use these methods to pose and evaluate distinct hypotheses concerning the geologic history. As a general rule, it is best practice to set up thermal history inverse models to pose specific geological questions while ruling out geologically impossible or inconsistent solutions. |
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