3D stratigraphic forward numerical modelling approach for prediction of organic-rich deposits and their heterogeneities

Results show that favourable conditions for the deposition of organic-rich sediment can occur even with moderate primary productivity and without requiring anoxic conditions. These windows are firstly dependent on internal factors directly linked to the basin morphology, such as sedimentation rate, bathymetry and distance from the coastline. We do not need to evoke external factors such as oceanic anoxic events or enhancement of primary production to account for the deposition of organic-rich sediments.