GeoMos · Development of a Method for the Exploration the Joint Geology-Geophysics Model-Space
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2021-08-23 → 2023-08-22
- EU contribution
- €184,708
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Development of a Method for the Exploration the Joint Geology-Geophysics Model-Space
The Action titled "Development of a Method for the Exploration of the Joint Geology-Geophysics Model-Space" (GeoMos) aimed to develop modeling techniques that integrate geophysical data, such as gravity field anomalies, with geological measurements, such as the orientation of the contacts between rock units and their locations. This development was driven by the need to capture a snapshot of the range of models allowed by the data and the plausible features that the data can accurately resolve. Indeed, the necessity to quantitatively and reproducibly integrate geological and geophysical modeling has been recognized by the geoscientific community as an efficient means to reduce uncertainty in exploration, monitoring, and risk assessment related to natural resources and subsurface management. In addition, given the current challenges in modeling increasingly complex areas, it has become necessary not only to produce a single 'best guess' model but a series of models representing a range of plausible scenarios to provide insights into the 'unknown unknowns', to reduce risks and plan future exploration efforts. To address this, this project introduced methods for the robust integration of geological and geophysical modeling through the development of a modeling algorithm capable of jointly considering geological and geophysical measurements. It relies on new techniques to generate collections of models that fit the data and represent different geological scenarios, using modeling algorithms: 1. For both geological and geophysical data, where geology and geophysics are linked by converting information from a geophysical model into inputs for geological modeling and vice versa. 2. By calculating series of intermediate models between differing scenarios that all fit the geophysical data with a similar level of fidelity. 3. By calculating a large number of models that fit the data within uncertainty using an automated process for the addition or removal of possibly unknown rock units to better explore the full range of possibilities. These algorithms were initially tested with idealized data and successfully applied to real-world measurements in the Western Pyrenees (spanning France and Spain) and the Boulia region in Northeastern Australia (Queensland). This allowed for the generation of plausible models that deviate from commonly accepted interpretations, showcasing the new methods and contributing to discussions about the studied areas. The results are to be made open source upon acceptance of the journal publication presenting the final version of the code developped during the project.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
Subsurface modelling using geoscientific data is essential to understand the Earth and to sustainably manage natural resources. Geology and geophysics are two critical aspects of such modelling. Geological and geophysical models have different resolutions and are sensitive to different features. Considering only geological or geophysical aspects often leads to contradictions as creating an Earth model is a highly non-unique problem. In addition, the sensitivity of the data is limited and many objects cannot be differentiated by a single discipline. The only way to address this is solving the longstanding challenge of integrating of geological data and knowledge (orientation data, contacts and ontologies) and geophysical methods (physical fields). Recent techniques usually focus on features the data is sensitive to and merely use one discipline to falsify hypotheses from the other. Such approach prevents considering the full range of potential outcomes, and fails to exploit the sensitivity of both approaches. This project proposes a different philosophy to solve the challenge of connecting geological and geophysical modelling. It first involves the development of a novel method integrating the two model types in a single framework giving them equal importance. Geological and geophysical data will be modelled simultaneously through an implicit functional mapping one domain into the other by linking their respective models. This will allow the simultaneous recovery of compatible geological and geophysical models. Secondly, this project will use a new hybrid deterministic-stochastic optimisation technique to explore the range of subsurface scenarios to estimate the diversity of features that cannot be differentiated based on the available data. Thirdly, after proof-of-concept, the method will be applied to two cases: imaging of a mantle uplift in the Pyrenees Mountains (France/Spain), and study of potential new subsurface scenarios around the Kevitsa mine (Finland).
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- UNIVERSITE DE LORRAINE · Nancy CedexCoordinatorFrance
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union