Shallow Compaction Modeling and Upscaling: A One-Dimensional Analytical Solution and Upscaling

Abstract

Natural depositional processes frequently give rise to the heterogeneous multilayer system, which is often overlooked but essential for the simulation of a geological process. The sediments undergo the large-strain process in shallow depth and the small-strain process in deep depth. With the transform matrix and Laplace transformation, a new method of solving multilayer small-strain (Terzaghi) and large-strain (Gibson) consolidations is proposed. The results from this work match the numerical results and other analytical solutions well. According to the method of transform matrix which can consider the integral properties of multilayer consolidation, a relevant upscaling method is developed. This method is more effective than the normally used weighted average method. Correspondingly, the upscaling results indicate that the upscaled properties of a multilayer system vary in the consolidation process.