f A Strategy for Automatically Modelling Extensional Sedimentary Basins

1008 A STRATEGY FOR AUTOMATICALLY MODELLING EXTENSIONAL SEDIMENTARY BASINS 1 NICHOLAS J WHITE 1 DETLEF HANNE 1 and PAUL BELLINGHAM 2 1 Earth Sciences University of Cambridge Bullard Laboratories Madingley Rise Madingley Road Cambridge CB3 0EZ UK A two-dimensional inverse model for extracting the spatial and temporal variation of strain rate from extensional sedimentary basins is described. Our starting point is a forward model which allows basin stratigraphy to be calculated from any given strain rate distribution. This forward model includes potentially important effects such as flexural rigidity and the twodimensional conduction/advection of heat. Conversely inverse modelling determines strain rate