CASQUS: A new simulation tool for coupled 3D finite element modeling of tectonic and surface processes based on ABAQUS™ and CASCADE

CASQUS is a numerical simulation tool to model the feedback mechanism between surface and tectonic processes. It includes the surface processes model CASCADE into the finite element solver ABAQUS/Standard™. The finite element method allows for geomechanical simulations of the subsurface with geometrically complex structures in 3D. Additionally, in the commercial software ABAQUS™ various types of rheological behavior are already implemented. CASCADE simulates erosion and sedimentation as the combination of fluvial transport and hillslope processes. For the integration of CASCADE into ABAQUS/Standard™ an Arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian modeling technique is used, which makes a coupled and automated simulation possible. Two benchmark models that are easy to reproduce demonstrate the functionality of CASQUS. Our tool aims at a better understanding of the feedback between mass redistribution at the Earthʹs surface and processes within a heterogenous subsurface, and at a quantification of the involved processes.