TY - JOUR A1 - Noack, Vera A1 - Scheck-Wenderoth, Magdalena A1 - Cacace, Mauro T1 - Sensitivity of 3D thermal models to the choice of boundary conditions and thermal properties: a case study for the area of Brandenburg (NE German Basin) JF - Environmental earth sciences N2 - Based on newly available data of both, the structural setting and thermal properties, we compare 3D thermal models for the area of Brandenburg, located in the Northeast German Basin, to assess the sensitivity of our model results. The structural complexity of the basin fill is given by the configuration of the Zechstein salt with salt diapirs and salt pillows. This special configuration is very relevant for the thermal calculations because salt has a distinctly higher thermal conductivity than other sediments. We calculate the temperature using a FEMethod to solve the steady state heat conduction equation in 3D. Based on this approach, we evaluate the sensitivity of the steady-state conductive thermal field with respect to different lithospheric configurations and to the assigned thermal properties. We compare three different thermal models: (a) a crustal-scale model including a homogeneous crust, (b) a new lithosphere-scale model including a differentiated crust and (c) a crustal-scale model with a stepwise variation of measured thermal properties. The comparison with measured temperatures from different structural locations of the basin shows a good fit to the temperature predictions for the first two models, whereas the third model is distinctly colder. This indicates that effective thermal conductivities may be different from values determined by measurements on rock samples. The results suggest that conduction is the main heat transport mechanism in the Brandenburg area. KW - Conductive thermal field KW - 3D thermal model KW - Lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary KW - Zechstein salt KW - Brandenburg KW - Northeast German Basin Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-012-1614-2 SN - 1866-6280 VL - 67 IS - 6 SP - 1695 EP - 1711 PB - Springer CY - New York ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Scheck-Wenderoth, Magdalena A1 - Cacace, Mauro A1 - Maystrenko, Yuriy Petrovich A1 - Cherubini, Yvonne A1 - Noack, Vera A1 - Kaiser, Bjoern Onno A1 - Sippel, Judith A1 - Bjoern, Lewerenz T1 - Models of heat transport in the Central European Basin System: Effective mechanisms at different scales JF - Marine and petroleum geology N2 - Understanding heat transport in sedimentary basins requires an assessment of the regional 3D heat distribution and of the main physical mechanisms responsible for the transport of heat. We review results from different 3D numerical simulations of heat transport based on 3D basin models of the Central European Basin System (CEBS). Therefore we compare differently detailed 3D structural models of the area, previously published individually, to assess the influence of (1) different configurations of the deeper lithosphere, (2) the mechanism of heat transport considered and (3) large faults dissecting the sedimentary succession on the resulting thermal field and groundwater flow. Based on this comparison we propose a modelling strategy linking the regional and lithosphere-scale to the sub-basin and basin-fill scale and appropriately considering the effective heat transport processes. We find that conduction as the dominant mechanism of heat transport in sedimentary basins is controlled by the distribution of thermal conductivities, compositional and thickness variations of both the conductive and radiogenic crystalline crust as well as the insulating sediments and by variations in the depth to the thermal lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary. Variations of these factors cause thermal anomalies of specific wavelength and must be accounted for in regional thermal studies. In addition advective heat transport also exerts control on the thermal field on the regional scale. In contrast, convective heat transport and heat transport along faults is only locally important and needs to be considered for exploration on the reservoir scale. The general applicability of the proposed workflow makes it of interest for a broad range of application in geosciences including oil and gas exploration, geothermal utilization or carbon capture and sequestration issues. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. KW - 3D thermal model KW - Geothermal field KW - Sedimentary basin KW - Heat transport by conduction KW - Advection and convection KW - Central European Basin System Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2014.03.009 SN - 0264-8172 SN - 1873-4073 VL - 55 SP - 315 EP - 331 PB - Elsevier CY - Oxford ER -