Norwegian Sea Oceanic Basin and Prograded Margins Composite Tectono-Sedimentary Element

Abstract

Abstract The Norwegian Sea oceanic basins and prograded margins developed since NE Atlantic breakup in the earliest Eocene. Significant amounts of sediments were fed to the regionally subsiding and widening Norwegian Sea during the Cenozoic as a result of several phases of uplift and erosion of the bounding shelves and their hinterland. Despite an overall passive margin evolution, the area experienced tectonic events and associated processes that interrupted the regional subsidence causing contraction/inversion and tilting. The post-breakup depositional history of the mid-Norwegian margin comprises two main stages: (1) middle Eocene-Pliocene margin subsidence and relatively modest sedimentation during a period of climatic decline; and (2) latest Pliocene-Pleistocene full-scale Northern Hemisphere glaciations resulting in deep erosion of shelves and hinterlands, and very high sedimentation rates and large-scale continental margin progradation. Slope failures within rapidly deposited glacial sediments affected both prograded margins releasing large slides travelling down-slope into the oceanic Norway and Lofoten basins. Despite a long exploration history for prospects in deeper waters and large amounts of data acquisition, no significant discovery has been made.