Testing 3D computer simulation of carbonate platform growth with REPRO:: the Miocene Llucmajor carbonate platform (Mallorca)

REPRO, a 3D computer-based simulation program for reef and carbonate platform growth, was tested using published data from the late Miocene Llucmajor carbonate platform in Mallorca. The device central to the program is a depth-dependent logistic growth function for carbonate growth combined with linear diffusion, so accounting for the lateral spreading of reefs. Evolution of the carbonate platform was simulated using a composite sea level curve consisting of superposed sine functions with different frequencies and amplitudes. Overall carbonate platform shape and internal geometries as produced by the program match fairly well with the outcrop data. Thus we demonstrate that REPRO has the potential to model lateral facies changes and lateral variations in the depositional geometries of carbonate platforms in three dimensions. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.