A brief review of the Late Cretaceous “Oceanic Red Beds” of the North Sea offshore region

Abstract

Late Cretaceous red chalk units of “deep” marine origin were recognised and published from the North Sea Basin almost thirty years ago (King et al., 1989), however it is only now that we are beginning to recognise their oceanographic, depositional and climatic significance. Their stratigraphic occurrence is redefined and an additional red unit is proposed. The palaeoceanographic implications of these red units are considered in the light of recent studies on the origins and occurrences of Cretaceous Oceanic Red Beds (CORB’s) and of the red horizons in the onshore Cretaceous Chalk of North West Europe.