Geology of the Southern North Sea Basin

Cameron, D.; van Doorn, D.; Laban, C.; Streif, H. J.; ,

Geology of the Southern North Sea Basin

by D. Cameron, British Geological Survey, Edinburgh, United Kingdom,
D. van Doorn, British Geological Survey, Edinburgh, United Kingdom,
C. Laban, British Geological Survey, Edinburgh, United Kingdom,
H. J. Streif, British Geological Survey, Edinburgh, United Kingdom,

Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: Coastlines of the Southern North Sea

Abstract:

The southern North Sea basin has had a long and complex geological history. Between Late Carboniferous and the end of Triassic times, the basin was largely confined between two ancient east-west trending Palaeozoic upland areas, the London-Brabant Massif and the Mid North Sea High/Ringkobing-fyn High. Crustal stritching, followed by thermal subsidence, then enabled up to 3500 metres of Jurassic, Cretaceous, Tertiary and Quaternary sediments to accumulate, with the depocentre striking NNW from Netherlands towards the central North Sea. Late Miocene, Pliocene and Early Pleistocene sedimentation were dominated by te buildout of major delta systems across the basin, principally from its eastern seaboard. The subsequent history of the basin has included three episodes of regional glaciation, punctuated by strongly tidal, marine environments similar to those of the present day.

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