A Quaternary aminostratigraphy constraining chronology of depositional environments in the North Sea Basin

3D sedimentary architecture showing the inception of an Ice Age

“…The top of Unit B is slightly younger than the top of Sequence 13 of Kuhlmann and Wong 42 , which corresponds with the top of the Olduvai palaeomagnetic subchron dated to about 1.8 M yr. This age estimate is in broad agreement with the chronostratigraphic framework developed for the central North Sea by Reinardy et al 16 (Supplementary Fig. 2), who dated the sediments above the Utsira High using strontium isotopes.…”

“…1c; Supplementary Fig. 1) corresponds with horizon R3 of Reinardy et al 16 , which has been dated to~1.5 M yr (Supplementary Fig. 2).…”

“…The Utsira Formation sand (Fig. 1a) is generally considered to be of Miocene to Pliocene age 15,16,27,31 . It is difficult to assign precise age estimates to the Utsira Formation because of the abundance of resedimented fossils, which makes it difficult to interpret in-situ forms with confidence 39 .…”

“…In addition, parts of the Utsira Formation have historically been poorly imaged on seismic data because they have been obscured by massive sand injectites 41 . Recent improved age assignments to the Neogene strata of the northern North Sea give slightly younger Pliocene ages for the Utsira Formation 15,16 .…”

“…The East Shetland Platform was a major clastic source-area for the northern North Sea Basin. The sands making up the Utsira Formation on the western flank were produced during the Late Miocene to Pliocene [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] ("Methods"). At about the same time, sandy sediments from Norway formed the Utsira Formation on the basin's eastern side (Fig.…”