Acquire skills for structural analyses producing subsurface models using
geological and geophysical data. Familiarity with kinematic models and
validation techniques (e.g. balancing and restoring models) using specific
softwares

Basic knowledge on stratigraphy and structural geology.

Anatomy of contractional, extensional and transcurrent systems:
glossary.
Differences between subsurface models derived by geological or
geophysical data using validation method, e.g. balancing and restoring
tectonic structures. Critical wedge theory. Kinematic modeling.
Connection between tectonic and sedimentation.

Haakon Fossen, 2016. Structural Geology, second ed. Cambridge
University Press, New York.

Structural Geology: A Quantitative Introduction di Pollard, David D.,
Martel, Stephen.

Modeling uncertainty in the Earth Sciences di Jef Caers

One of the peculiarities of a geoscientist is the ability to predict the subsoil structure using direct data (e.g., geology of surface) and indirect (e.g., geophysical techniques). The models that
derive are inherently uncertain, i.e., the limited amount of data of the interpretation of indirect data (e.g., data derived from geophysical analyses) impact the proposed model's uncertainty. Over the years, new techniques have been developed to reduce these uncertainties, at least from a formal point of view. For example, kinematic modeling analyzes the
geometries of structures through the study of their motion. The
kinematic modeling is able to find formal solutions to relationships
existing geometric relationships between tectonic structures (e.g., kinematic relationships between
faults and folds), which reduces uncertainties. Other
formal techniques that can reduce uncertainties are those of
balancing the subsurface's geological models, i.e., the applications
of formal rules make it possible to reduce and at least quantify the
model uncertainties. However, one more step towards the best model
must pass through the modeling of physical processes
responsible for the structures or the relationship between tectonic stresses and the
rocks' rheology, or rather the relationship between stress and the
mechanical stratigraphy of the case studies. All this has no result
in the proposition of a “true” model but of a structural model of
subsurface that is correct from a formal point of view. This step is necessary to quantify the
intrinsic uncertainties, a fundamental step
to communicate the reliability of the geological model to stakeholders.
In the first part of the course, a student acquires the correct terminology for qualitatively describing the geological structures and tectonic settings in which
they form. Modern kinematic models and rules will be studied, as well as the rules about accretionary systems (e.g., critical wedge theory). It learns the rules of balancing and the restoration of the tectonic structures. Natural or laboratory case studies are used to better understand the theory in all these phases. Software for structural analyses
(e.g., Move Suite Petex) helps a student to understand the modeling processes.

Frontal teaching

Exercise on subsurface models using structural analyses