dSED: A database tool for modeling sediment early diagenesis

Mathematical modeling of sediment early diagenesis always involves choosing and describing a set of chemical reactions and processes that is both self-consistent and sufficient for the problem at hand. This critical choice is always a compromise between describing the system's complexity in all details and using a manageable set of reactions with known or obtainable parameters such as equilibrium and rate constants. We present a database tool for modeling sediment early diagenesis (dSED) that is designed to help modelers and sediment geochemists in this difficult conceptual step. The database should facilitate the development of state-of-the-art spatially continuous reaction-transport models (RTM), as well as simpler interacting-compartment (box) models. It allows one to explore: available kinetic and thermodynamic information, alternative descriptions of the same major processes, different degrees of completeness in description, processes and reactions that could be added or modeled differently, published solutions used by previous workers, and other information. The database is searchable and allows viewing reactions by specific products or reactants, types of processes, or other customized criteria. It operates under Microsoft Access™ and can be added to, modified and programmed by the user. The latest version of dSED and its user manual can be downloaded at http://www.science.uottawa.ca/LSSE/dSED.