The Neogene stratigraphy of the glaciated European margin from Lofoten to Porcupine

Preface ] Introduction ] Unified Stratigraphy ] Pre-Neogene Framework ] Miocene to Lower Pliocene ] Lower Pliocene To Holocene ] High-Resolution Stratigraphy ] Key Geoseismic Sections ]

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WP1 - NORTH SEA FAN-VØRING

Geoseismic panel 1

This multichannel seismic profile shows the distribution, geometry, thickness and seismic facies of the Cenozoic sediments on the upper Møre continental slope. On this profile, the Kai Formation has a maximum thickness of up to 800ms TWTT. The unit is thickest on the lower palaoeslope and thins gradually westward and upslope. It is characterised predominantly by an acoustically parallel internal seismic signature, which displays an onlapping reflection configuration onto the margin. This is indicative of a progressive upslope accretion of the Kai Formation deposits onto the continental slope of the Møre Margin, and is consistent with a contouritic origin for the Kai Formation.

The overlying Naust Formation has a variable thickness ranging from about 500–1100ms TWTT. At the base of the unit, the Base Naust Unconformity is partly erosive into the underlying Kai Formation. The internal seismic signature of the Naust Formation on the upper slope is complex and includes transparent, discontinuous and onlapping parallel to subparallel reflections. This complexity is inferred to reflect interplay between glacigenic debris-flow sediments from the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet at the shelf break interbedded with units of hemipelagic sediments. These sediments have subsequently been remobilised by small and large-scale mass wasting events. The most prominent of these slide events was the giant Storegga Slide, which has resulted in several prominent escarpments that can be observed on the present-day sea floor. 

 


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[ Geoseismic Panel 1 ] Geoseismic Panel 2 ] Geoseismic Panel 3 ]

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Preface ] Introduction ] Unified Stratigraphy ] Pre-Neogene Framework ] Miocene to Lower Pliocene ] Lower Pliocene To Holocene ] High-Resolution Stratigraphy ] Key Geoseismic Sections ]


This page was Last updated 17 September 2002