High-Resolution Dating of Cenozoic Sediments from Northern North Sea Using {87}Sr/{86}Sr Stratigraphy: Discussion (1)

Abstract

We demonstrate the potential of Sr isotope stratigraphy as a tool in basin analysis by dating bioclastic carbonate and phosphate fragments from eight seismic units in Cenozoic sedimentary rocks along two east-west profiles in the northern North Sea. The dates, which agree well with available Rb/Sr glauconite dates, have precisions in the range ±0.5 to 3 m.y., thereby providing important chronostratigraphic information for sediments that otherwise are difficult to date. Basinward (southwest) in this area, the most important seismic sequence boundaries are dated at approximately 53 Ma, 33 Ma, 22 Ma, 8 Ma, and 2 Ma. Northeastward toward the basin margin, these boundaries represent important periods of erosion or nondeposition. Deep-water sedimentation predominated from he Paleocene until the early Oligocene (33 Ma), a time of high global sea levels. Close to the basin margin, local tectonic activity contributed turbiditic clastic sediments. An important sequence boundary at 30 Ma involves erosion in the northern area and correlates with a sharp eustatic drop in sea level. Post-early Oligocene seismic sequence boundaries are controlled mainly by basin-margin tectonics related to uplift events in Fennoscandia and in the Shetland Platform area.