Neogene evolution of the Atlantic continental margin of NW Europe (Lofoten Islands to SW Ireland): anything but passive

A regional stratigraphic framework for the Neogene succession along and across the NW European margin is presented, based on a regional seismic and sample database. The stratigraphy provides constraints on the timing and nature of the mid- to late Cenozoic differential tectonic movements that have drivenmajor changes in sediment supply, oceanographic circulation and climate (culminating in continental glaciation). The overall context for Neogene deposition on the margin was established in the mid-Cenozoic, when rapid, km-scale differential subsidence (sagging) created the present-day deep-water basins. The Neogene is subdivided into lower (Miocene–lower Pliocene) and upper (lower Pliocene–Holocene) intervals. The lower Neogene contains evidence of early to mid-Miocene compressive tectonism, including inversion anticlines and multiple unconformities that record uplift and erosion of basin margins, as well as changes in deep-water currents. These movements culminated in a major expansion of contourite drifts in the mid-Miocene, argued to reflect enhanced deep-water exchange across the Wyville-Thomson Ridge Complex, via the Faroe Conduit. The distribution and amplitude of the intra-Miocene movements are consistent with deformation and basin margin flexure in response to enhanced intra-plate compressive stresses during a local plate reorganization (transfer of the Jan Mayen Ridge from Greenland to Europe). The upper Neogene records a seaward tilting (

[1]  J. Laberg,et al.  Sedimentary and oceanographic responses to early Neogene compression on the NW European margin , 2005 .

[2]  J. Laberg,et al.  Neogene stratigraphy and the sedimentary and oceanographic development of the NW European Atlantic margin , 2005 .

[3]  David J. Evans,et al.  The STRATAGEM project: Stratigraphic development of the glaciated European margin , 2005 .

[4]  J. Laberg,et al.  Episodic Cenozoic tectonism and the development of the NW European ‘passive’ continental margin , 2005 .

[5]  J. Wright,et al.  The closing of a seaway: ocean water masses and global climate change , 2003 .

[6]  H. Johnson,et al.  The nature and age of Cenozoic contractional deformation within the NE Faroe–Shetland Basin , 2003 .

[7]  C. Gable,et al.  Episodic tectonic plate reorganizations driven by mantle convection , 2002 .

[8]  T. Torsvik,et al.  North Atlantic sea-floor spreading rates: implications for the Tertiary development of inversion structures of the Norwegian–Greenland Sea , 2002, Journal of the Geological Society.

[9]  Don L. Anderson,et al.  Top-Down Tectonics? , 2001, Science.

[10]  L. Sloan,et al.  Trends, Rhythms, and Aberrations in Global Climate 65 Ma to Present , 2001, Science.

[11]  J. Cartwright,et al.  Early Oligocene initiation of North Atlantic Deep Water formation , 2001, Nature.

[12]  Peizhen Zhang,et al.  Increased sedimentation rates and grain sizes 2–4 Myr ago due to the influence of climate change on erosion rates , 2001, Nature.

[13]  E. Jansen,et al.  Pliocene-Pleistocene ice rafting history and cyclicity in the Nordic Seas during the last 3.5 Myr , 2000 .

[14]  E. Jansen,et al.  The upper Cainozoic of the Norwegian continental shelf correlated with the deep sea record of the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic , 2000 .

[15]  Peter Japsen,et al.  Neogene uplift and tectonics around the North Atlantic: overview , 2000 .

[16]  T. Nielsen,et al.  Cenozoic sediment distribution and tectonic movements in the Faroe region , 2000 .

[17]  O. Eldholm,et al.  Cenozoic evolution of the northern Vøring margin , 1999 .

[18]  W. Austin,et al.  Oligocene deep-water agglutinated foraminifers at Site 985, Norwegian Basin, southern Norwegian Sea , 1999 .

[19]  C. Keen,et al.  Small‐scale convection and divergent plate boundaries , 1999 .

[20]  S. Cloetingh,et al.  A new multilayered model for intraplate stress‐induced differential subsidence of faulted lithosphere, applied to rifted basins , 1998 .

[21]  D. L. Anderson,et al.  Edge-driven convection , 1998 .

[22]  D. L. Anderson The scales of mantle convection , 1998 .

[23]  M. Gurnis,et al.  Cenozoic subsidence and uplift of continents from time-varying dynamic topography , 1997 .

[24]  M. Stoker Mid- to late Cenozoic sedimentation on the continental margin off NW Britain , 1997, Journal of the Geological Society.

[25]  N. Kusznir,et al.  Early Tertiary plume uplift of the North Sea and Faeroe-Shetland Basins , 1997 .

[26]  P. Clift Plume tectonics as a cause of mass wasting on the southeast Greenland continental margin , 1996 .

[27]  P. Beek,et al.  Cenozoic postrift domal uplift of North Atlantic margins: An asthenospheric diapirism model , 1996 .

[28]  F. Riis Quantification of Cenozoic vertical movements of Scandinavia by correlation of morphological surfaces with offshore data , 1996 .

[29]  T. Vorren,et al.  Late Cenozoic sedimentation and uplift history on the mid-Norwegian continental shelf , 1996 .

[30]  O. Eldholm,et al.  Cenozoic uplift of Fennoscandia inferred from a study of the mid-Norwegian margin , 1996 .

[31]  N. Eyles Passive margin uplift around the North Atlantic region and its role in Northern Hemisphere late Cenozoic glaciation , 1996 .

[32]  W. Berggren,et al.  Late Neogene chronology: New perspectives in high-resolution stratigraphy , 1995 .

[33]  P. Beek,et al.  Meso-Cenozoic morphotectonic evolution of southern Norway: Neogene domal uplift inferred from apatite fission track thermochronology , 1995 .

[34]  B. Hall,et al.  Origin of anomalous Tertiary subsidence adjacent to North Atlantic continental margins , 1994 .

[35]  C. Wold Cenozoic sediment accumulation on drifts in the northern North Atlantic , 1994 .

[36]  S. Planke,et al.  NE Atlantic continental rifting and volcanic margin formation , 1994, Geological Society, London, Special Publications.

[37]  David J. Evans,et al.  A record of late Cenozoic stratigraphy, sedimentation and climate change from the Hebrides Slope, NE Atlantic Ocean , 1994, Journal of the Geological Society.

[38]  T. Vorren,et al.  Miocene to Quaternary paleoenvironments and uplift history on the mid Norwegian shelf , 1993 .

[39]  H. Amundsen,et al.  Late Cenozoic uplift and volcanism on Spitsbergen: Caused by mantle convection? , 1993 .

[40]  O. Eldholm,et al.  Post-Cretaceous uplift events on the Vøring continental margin , 1992 .

[41]  J. Haynes,et al.  Early Tertiary palaeoenvironments and sedimentation in the NE Main Porcupine Basin (well 35/13–1), offshore western Ireland?evidence for global change in the Tertiary , 1991 .

[42]  H. Kooi,et al.  Plate reorganization: a cause of rapid late Neogene subsidence and sedimentation around the North Atlantic? , 1990, Journal of the Geological Society.

[43]  P. Heller,et al.  Episodic post-rift subsidence of the United States Atlantic continental margin , 1982 .

[44]  J. Duplessy,et al.  North Atlantic Deep Water formed by the later middle Miocene , 1980, Nature.

[45]  M. Steckler,et al.  Subsidence of the Atlantic-type continental margin off New York , 1978 .

[46]  J. Thiede,et al.  THE PALEOCEANOGRAPHIC HISTORY OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC-ARCTIC GATEWAYS : SYNTHESIS OF THE LEG 151 DRILLING RESULTS , 2006 .

[47]  H. Johnson,et al.  Aspects of the Cenozoic deformational history of the Northeast Faroe–Shetland Basin, Wyville–Thomson Ridge and Hatton Bank areas , 2005 .

[48]  M. Stoker Late Neogene development of the UK Atlantic margin , 2002, Geological Society, London, Special Publications.

[49]  N. White,et al.  Exhumation of the North Atlantic margin: introduction and background , 2002, Geological Society, London, Special Publications.

[50]  E. Lundin,et al.  Mid-Cenozoic post-breakup deformation in the ‘passive’ margins bordering the Norwegian–Greenland Sea , 2002 .

[51]  J. Faleide,et al.  Tectonic impact on sedimentary processes during Cenozoic evolution of the northern North Sea and surrounding areas , 2002, Geological Society, London, Special Publications.

[52]  M. Huuse,et al.  Paleocene initiation of Cenozoic uplift in Norway , 2002, Geological Society, London, Special Publications.

[53]  K. Hegarty,et al.  Quantifying exhumation from apatite fission-track analysis and vitrinite reflectance data: precision, accuracy and latest results from the Atlantic margin of NW Europe , 2002, Geological Society, London, Special Publications.

[54]  R. D. van der Hilst,et al.  Timing and mechanisms of North Atlantic Cenozoic uplift: evidence for mantle upwelling , 2002, Geological Society, London, Special Publications.

[55]  P. Bryn,et al.  The Storegga Geomodel And Its Use In Slide Risk Evaluation: Geological And Geotecwvical Site Investigations In The Storegga Slide Area , 2002 .

[56]  P. Shannon,et al.  Comparative Tertiary stratigraphic evolution of the Porcupine and Rockall basins , 2001, Geological Society, London, Special Publications.

[57]  M. Stoker,et al.  A Mid- to Late Cenozoic tectonostratigraphic framework for the Rockall Trough , 2001, Geological Society, London, Special Publications.

[58]  R. D. Norris,et al.  Mid-Eocene deep water, the Late Palaeocene Thermal Maximum and continental slope mass wasting during the Cretaceous-Palaeogene impact , 2001, Geological Society, London, Special Publications.

[59]  H. Brekke The tectonic evolution of the Norwegian Sea Continental Margin with emphasis on the Vøring and Møre Basins , 2000, Geological Society, London, Special Publications.

[60]  J. Faleide,et al.  Cenozoic tectonic subsidence from 2D depositional simulations of a regional transect in the northern North Sea basin , 2000, Geological Society, London, Special Publications.

[61]  B. Thyberg,et al.  Cenozoic evolution of the central and northern North Sea with focus on differential vertical movements of the basin floor and surrounding clastic source areas , 2000, Geological Society, London, Special Publications.

[62]  E. Lundin,et al.  Principal tectonic events in the evolution of the northwest European Atlantic margin , 1999 .

[63]  D. Roberts,et al.  Palaeozoic to Tertiary rift and basin dynamics: mid-Norway to the Bay of Biscay – a new context for hydrocarbon prospectivity in the deep water frontier , 1999 .

[64]  Gerald H. Haug,et al.  Effect of the formation of the Isthmus of Panama on Atlantic Ocean thermohaline circulation , 1998, Nature.

[65]  J. Zachos,et al.  A Model of early to middle Miocene Deep Ocean circulation for the Atlantic and Indian Oceans , 1998, Geological Society, London, Special Publications.

[66]  J. Thiede,et al.  36. THE PALEOCEANOGRAPHIC HISTORY OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC-ARCTIC GATEWAYS: SYNTHESIS OF THE LEG 151 DRILLING RESULTS1 , 1996 .

[67]  E. Jansen,et al.  Leg 162 : New frontiers on past climates , 1996 .

[68]  J. Henriet,et al.  Seismic stratigraphy of the Bill Bailey and Lousy Bank area: implications for subsidence history , 1995, Geological Society, London, Special Publications.

[69]  Marie-Pierre Aubry,et al.  A revised Cenozoic geochronology and chronostratigraphy , 1995 .

[70]  L. O. Boldreel,et al.  The relationship between the distribution of Tertiary sediments, tectonic processes and deep-water circulation around the Faeroe Islands , 1995 .

[71]  L. O. Boldreel,et al.  Late Paleocene to Miocene compression in the Faeroe–Rockall area , 1993 .

[72]  P. Vogt Bermuda and Appalachian-Labrador rises: Common non-hotspot processes? , 1991 .

[73]  G. Bohrmann,et al.  Miocene to Quaternary Paleoceanography in the Northern North Atlantic: Variability in Carbonate and Biogenic Opal Accumulation , 1990 .

[74]  P. A. Ziegler,et al.  Evolution of the Arctic-North Atlantic and the Western Tethys , 1988 .

[75]  D. Masson,et al.  Revised Tertiary Seismic Stratigraphy of the Southern Rockall Trough , 1987 .

[76]  C. Keen The dynamics of rifting: deformation of the lithosphere by active and passive driving forces , 1985 .

[77]  Kenneth G. Miller,et al.  Development of Cenozoic Abyssal Circulation South of the Greenland-Scotland Ridge , 1983 .

[78]  O. Eldholm,et al.  Speculations about the Paleodepth of the Greenland-Scotland Ridge During Late Mesozoic and Cenozoic Times , 1983 .

[79]  C. Payton,et al.  Seismic stratigraphy and global changes of sea level; Part 6, Stratigraphic interpretation of seismic reflection patterns in depositional sequences , 1977 .

[80]  C. Payton Seismic Stratigraphy — Applications to Hydrocarbon Exploration , 1977 .

[81]  E. Martini Standard Tertiary and Quaternary calcareous nannoplankton zonation , 1971 .