The use of Sr isotope stratigraphy to date the Pleistocene sediments of the Norwegian continental shelf – a review

Tor Eidvin,Fridtjof Riis,Dag Ottesen,Karen Dybkjær,Erik Skovbjerg Rasmussen

doi:10.17850/njg100-3-1

Abstract

The use of Sr isotope stratigraphy to date the Pleistocene sediments of the Norwegian continental shelf – a review

Highlights

In the present paper, Sr isotope data from hydrocarbon wells from the Pleistocene succession in four areas on the Norwegian continental shelf have been compared with previously published biostratigraphic, lithostratigraphic and seismic data and with new micropaleontological and palynological data from one of the areas, the Visund Field
In the northern North Sea, on the Norwegian Sea shelf and along the western margin of the Barents Sea, the Pleistocene succession consists of prograding shelf sediments overlain by flat-lying sequences
We assume that the large variations in estimated ages, within the same samples, for a significant part are due to the uncertainty in calculation of ages from the flat, latest Pliocene to earliest Pleistocene part of the Sr curve (Fig. 2)

Summary

Introduction

Sr isotope data from hydrocarbon wells from the Pleistocene succession in four areas on the Norwegian continental shelf have been compared with previously published biostratigraphic, lithostratigraphic and seismic data and with new micropaleontological and palynological data from one of the areas, the Visund Field. In the northern North Sea, on the Norwegian Sea shelf and along the western margin of the Barents Sea, the Pleistocene succession (referred to as the Naust Formation) consists of prograding shelf sediments overlain by flat-lying sequences. In the Møre Basin (Fig. 1) and in the area northeast of the Utgard High (Norwegian Sea shelf), the Naust Formation succession reaches a thickness of approximately 1500 m (Eidvin et al, 2000; Dahlgren et al, 2005; Rise et al, 2005; Ottesen et al, 2009, 2014; Eidvin et al in review). In some areas the oldest part of the Naust Formation consists of fine-grained contouritic deposits or glacimarine deposits interbedded with contouritic deposits

Results

Discussion

Conclusion