An overview of the Upper Palaeozoic–Mesozoic stratigraphy of the NE Atlantic region

Abstract

This study describes the distribution and stratigraphic range of the Upper PalaeozoicMesozoic succession in the NE Atlantic region, and is correlated between conjugate margins and along the axis of the NE Atlantic rift system. The stratigraphic framework has yielded important new constraints on the timing and nature of sedimentary basin development in the NE Atlantic, with implications for rifting and the break-up of the Pangaean supercontinent. From a regional perspective, the Permian-Triassic succession records a northwards transition from an arid interior to a passively subsiding, mixed carbonate -siliciclastic shelf margin. A Late Permian-earliest Triassic rift pulse has regional expression in the stratigraphic record. A fragmentary paralic to shallowmarine Lower Jurassic succession reflects Early Jurassic thermal subsidence and mild extensional tectonism; this was interrupted by widespread Mid-Jurassic uplift and erosion, and followed by an intense phase of Late Jurassic rifting in some (but not all) parts of the NE Atlantic region. The Cretaceous succession is dominated by thick basinal-marine deposits, which accumulated within and along a broad zone of extension and subsidence between Rockall and NE Greenland. There is no evidence for a substantive and continuous rift system along the proto-NE Atlantic until the Late Cretaceous.Gold Open Access: This article is published under the terms of the CC-BY 3.0 license.

Break-up and seafloor spreading domains in the NE Atlantic

“…Devonian -Paleocene multiple rifting events led to the formation of a wide extended area of successive basins and highs confined within the Greenland and Western European Caledonian deformation zone (Fig. 5a) (see also Stoker et al 2016). Four main rifting periods can be identified from sedimentary basins along the NE Atlantic margin: (1) Devonian-Carboniferous; (2) PermianTriassic; (3) Jurassic -Early Cretaceous; and (4) Late Cretaceous -Paleocene (Fig.…”

“…Saunders et al 2007), continental break-up occurred between Greenland and Eurasia before C24 time (c. 55 Ma). To show the pre-break-up configuration of the western Eurasian margin and its conjugate margin, we reconstruct the structural elements (major tectonic boundaries, faults and structural highs: Stoker et al 2016) and simplified inferred sedimentary basin ages at Paleocene -Eocene transition time (Fig. 5a).…”

Linking an Early Triassic delta to antecedent topography: Source-to-sink study of the southwestern Barents Sea margin

“…However, maximum relief in a region is mainly a function of the large-scale tectonic setting. The study area was adjacent to the nonvolcanic rift between Norway and Greenland in the latest Permian and Early Triassic (e.g., Ziegler, 1992;Stoker et al, 2016). In the present, areas close to nonvolcanic rifts such as the Red Sea rift, or the nonvolcanic parts of the East African rift, show a maximum topography close to 3 km due to dynamic rift shoulder uplift (Wernicke, 1985;Daradich et al, 2003).…”

“…3C; Mørk et al, 1982;Wignall et al, 1998). This was coincident with rifting of the western Norwegian-eastern Greenland margins in the latest Permian and earliest Triassic (Ziegler, 1992;Müller et al, 2005;Faleide et al, 2008;Stoker et al, 2016), and it may possibly be explained by dynamic rift-shoulder uplift (cf. Wernicke, 1985;ten Brink and Stern, 1992;Daradich et al, 2003), which may have led to increased topography, and thus increased erosion rates and sediment supply, and therefore progradation of sedimentary systems.…”

The NE Atlantic region: a reappraisal of crustal structure, tectonostratigraphy and magmatic evolution – an introduction to the NAG-TEC project

“…A major overview of the Late Palaeozoic-Mesozoic stratigraphy of the NE Atlantic region is presented by Stoker et al (2016), who describe the distribution, structural setting, stratigraphy, depositional environment and correlation of these rocks across the conjugate margins and along the axis of the proto-NE Atlantic rift system. The establishment of a regional stratigraphic framework, based on a strong observational record, has provided important new constraints on the timing and nature of sedimentary basin development in the NE Atlantic by challenging the 'classic' view of palinspastic reconstruction in the central part of the proto-NE Atlantic rift system, with implications for the break-up of the Pangaean supercontinent.…”