Based on an extensive study of biostratigraphic and strontium data from 39 wells and boreholes from along the entire Norwegian shelf, one outcrop from north-western Svalbard, one ODP borehole off east Greenland, 50 boreholes and 20 outcrops onshore Denmark and 6 wells offshore Denmark, we present an improved stratigraphy and depositional history for the Oligocene to Early Pliocene. Emphasis has been placed on investigations of sandy deposits. Most wells and boreholes have been integrated with wire-line log and seismic data. Seismic data indicate an important change in the depositional systems starting in the Early Oligocene. Offshore West and Mid Norway and along the Barents Sea margin, progradation of Palaeocene-Eocene sediments terminated, and the Eocene clinoforms are onlapped by Oligocene shales. A possible shift in the drainage divide of West Norway caused a transport of Oligocene coarser clastics mainly towards the Norwegian-Danish basin and the Norwegian Sea. Prograding deltaic complexes developed in the Danish-Norwegian Basin (Vade and Dufa Fm). In the northern North Sea gravity-flow sandstones were sourced from the Shetland Platform and Fennoscandia. Coarse clastic sediments were deposited in the north-western Svalbard, while argillaceous sedimentation prevailed elsewhere, except for the Norwegian Sea where mainly siliceous ooze accumulated until the Early Pliocene. During the Early Miocene, deltas (Ribe Fm) prograded southwards in the south-eastern North Sea. In the western part of the Viking Graben sand-rich gravity deposits of the Skade Fm were sourced from the Shetland Platform. To the east, in the central part of the basin north of 60 degrees N and in the Central Graben fine-grained sedimentation occurred. Extensive tectonism occurred at the E/M Miocene boundary and major compressional features were formed in the Norwegian Sea, while many major faults were reactivated. The northern North Sea, Norwegian Sea continental shelf and Barents Sea margin were elevated and most parts were eroded. The southern North Sea and the Danish-Norwegian Basin subsided and hiatuses are minor or absent in the southern Viking and Central grabens. In the Late Miocene, a marked relief of the Fennoscandian Shield, accompanied by continued uplift, colder climate and a low global sea level, resulted in a pronounced out-building of coastal plains and deltas all along the inner Norwegian Sea continental shelf (Molo Fm). During the same period the northern North Sea formed a narrow seaway between deeper water in the More Basin and the central North Sea. The strait received large amount of coarse clastics (Utsira Fm) mainly from the East Shetland Platform in the west. Offshore West Norway, only thin and shaly sections are recorded, and deposition continued towards Denmark and the Norwegian Sea, probably in the drainage systems which were established in the Oligocene. This situation lasted trough the Early Pliocene when the global temperature and sea level temporarily rose.

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Provider: SEDIS Publication Catalogue

Data set link: http://sedis.iodp.org/pub-catalogue/index.php?id=2010-071250 (c.f. for more detailed metadata)

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