Comparative Tertiary stratigraphic evolution of the Porcupine and Rockall basins

Abstract

Abstract The Tertiary development of the Porcupine and Rockall basins is compared in terms of stratigraphy and sedimentation. Four main unconformities are correlated between the basins and these are interpreted as being of Paleocene (C40), latest Eocene-Early Oligocene (C30), latest Early Miocene (C20) and Early Pliocene (C10) age. Seismic stratigraphic analysis of both basins suggests a greater similarity in post-Eocene deposition than in the Paleocene to Eocene stratigraphy. During Early Tertiary time a regressive succession, punctuated by minor transgressions, marks a major interruption in the general post-rift thermal subsidence pattern of the region. This regression, possibly triggered by lithospheric thermal effects and/or ridge-push stresses, resulted in deltaic and submarine fan deposition in the Porcupine Basin, with submarine channel trends indicating that sediment was sourced mainly from the Porcupine High to the north and west. Sand deposition in the Porcupine Basin occurred principally during Mid- to Late Eocene times. In contrast, Early Eocene sand input is postulated in the Rockall Basin, whereas deposition during the Mid- to Late Eocene times was more mud-prone. In Oligocene and Mio-Pliocene times, sediment build-ups, interpreted as contourites, developed towards the margins of both basins, with sedimentation principally influenced by oceanographic circulation patterns at this time. During Neogene to Recent times limited marginal sediment influx occurred in the Porcupine Basin whereas sediment input continued locally, during Neogene time, in the Hebrides region of the Rockall Basin.