Monte Carlo Simulation Code for Sill Emplacement Pressure Estimation

Monte Carlo Simulation Code for Sill Emplacement Pressure Estimation
=====================================================================

Author
------
Martino Foschi  
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford  
© 2025

Description
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This MATLAB function estimates the magma pressure required to emplace a sill at a specified location using a Monte Carlo approach. The model uses normal distributions of layer thickness, density, and tensile strength of host rock to simulate uncertainty in subsurface geological conditions.

The function is designed to be used on a per-station basis. It returns a boxplot showing the distribution of magma pressure values required for sill emplacement.

Function: `computeMagmaPressure.m`

Inputs:
-------
- `thickness_means` — vector of mean thicknesses for each layer [m]
- `thickness_stds`  — vector of standard deviations for thickness [m]
- `density_means`   — vector of mean densities for each layer [kg/m³]
- `density_stds`    — vector of standard deviations for density [kg/m³]
- `sill_idx`        — index of the sill layer (1-based)
- `tensile_strength_MPa` — tensile strength of host rock [MPa]
- `sill_area_m2`    — area of the sill intrusion [m²]

Outputs:
--------
- Boxplot of simulated magma pressure [MPa]

Dependencies:
-------------
- Standard MATLAB toolbox only
- No additional packages required

Example Usage:
--------------
computeMagmaPressure(...
    [800, 60, 170, 600, 2900, 5500], ...
    [50, 10, 50, 50, 100, 200], ...
    [2400, 2700, 2500, 2550, 2600, 2750], ...
    [100, 100, 100, 100, 50, 50], ...
    2, ...
    12.7, ...
    pi * (2500^2) ...
);

Citation:

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Foschi, M., & Cartwright, J.A. (2025). Monte Carlo Simulation Code for Sill Emplacement Pressure Estimation [Software]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16752884