Forward compositional modelling of Alpine orogenic sediments

A decisive factor of success in such an approach is the use of large multiple datasets displaying sufficiently distinct values in diverse end members. Forward mixing models can be made for bulk petrography and heavy-mineral suites as well as for any physical (grain density), geochemical (element concentrations, stable-isotope ratios), or geochronological parameters (apatite fission tracks, zircon U-Pb age spectra), and separately on sediments of various sizes and transport modes (suspended load and bedload). By comparing and integrating several independent estimates thus obtained we progressively gain a more robust insight about diverse geological processes, and may converge eventually toward a truer vision of our past.