Correlation of the Palaeogene successions on the North-East Greenland and Barents Sea margins.

Abstract

In this study we use seismic stratigraphy to link the Palaeogene succession of the North-East Green- land shelf with that of the more accurately dated Cenozoic succession on the partly conjugate Nor- wegian margin in the West Barents Sea. The margins show a comparable stacking of seismic facies and we propose that this symmetry reflects a genetic relationship between the conjugate plates. On both margins, the earliest deposition is constricted by highs inherited from Mesozoic rifting. On the North-East Greenland shelf, the Danmarkshavn Ridge forms a barrier, whereas the footwall uplift along the west margin of Veslemøy High constrains the deposition in the West Barents Sea area. Pronounced progradational events shifted the depocentres of both margins towards the central axis of breakup during the more tectonically active breakup phase. Deposition during the early drift stage is dominated by a relatively homogenous distribution of sediments across both margins and further basinward migration of the depocentres. Based on correlation of the seismic stratigraphic units, the Palaeogene succession of the North-East Greenland shelf is subdivided into pre-breakup deposits of early Paleocene age, syn-breakup deposits of latest Paleocene to early Eocene age and (early) drift deposits of late Eocene to Oligocene age.