Basin-scale Geothermal Model Calibration: Experience from the Perth Basin, Australia

The calibration of large-scale geothermal models for entire sedimentary basins is challenging as direct measurements of rock properties and subsurface temperatures are commonly scarce and the basal boundary conditions poorly constrained. Instead of the often-applied trial-and-error manual model calibration, we examine here the use of an automatic model calibration method, implemented in iTOUGH2, for a large-scale conductive geothermal simulation of the Perth Basin, Australia. The application shows that we obtain valuable insights into parameter sensitivities and correlations. In addition, outlier analysis, parameter bounds and the spatial variation of temperature residuals provide indication for convective heat transport in the basin. These interesting results will be addressed with future work.