Seismic stratigraphy and tectonic evolution of the Lower Cretaceous in the Danish Central Trough

Abstract

The Lower Cretaceous sequence of the Danish Central Trough has been studied by the use of seismic stratigraphic analysis. The sequence has been subdivided into 6 seismic stratigraphic units named LCA, LCB, LCC, LCD, LCE and LCF. The studied area includes the Feda Graben, the Gertrud Graben (new name), the Tail End Graben, the Arne-Elin Graben (new name) and the Salt Dome Province, whereas the Grensen Nose and the Outer Rough Basin are not included. These basins are separated by the Inge High, the Mads High, the Gert Ridge (new name), the Manda! High, the Heno Plateau (new name) and the Pollerne Ridge (new name). The fault controlled subsidence of the Lower Cretaceous basins is claimed to have been governed by left lateral transtensional wrenching. This wrenching gradually ceased and gave way to regional subsidence with intermittent events of inversion resulting from right lateral transpressive wrenching in the Late Cretaceous and Early Tertiary. The first weak inversion is shown to have occurred in the Late Hauterivian. Sedimentation was influenced by a general gradual relative rise in sea-level starting with a low in the Volgian - Early Ryazanian times coeval with the deposition of the Farsund Formation and culminating in the Late Cretaceous. At the beginning of the Early Cretaceous gravity flow became an important depositional mechanism and resulted in preferred deposition in topographical lows, which were generated by simple tensional block-faulting or by wrench-induced, rapid local subsidence. As tectonic activity decreased and the elastic source areas became more remote and worn down, depocentres became less pronounced, especially with the last unit of the Lower Cretaceous.