Tectonostratigraphy of a rift basin affected by salt tectonics: synrift Middle Jurassic–Lower Cretaceous Dutch Central Graben, Terschelling Basin and neighbouring platforms, Dutch offshore

Abstract

The Middle Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous in the eastern Dutch offshore provides excellent examples of sand-rich sediments that locally accumulated in the vicinity of rift basin margins affected by salt tectonics. These types of deposits are often geographically restricted and difficult to identify, but can be valuable targets for hydrocarbon exploration. The distribution, thickness and preservation potential of fluvio-lacustrine, shallow-and deep-marine sediments is discussed to provide new insights into the regional and local tectonostratigraphy of the Dutch Central Graben, the Terschelling Basin and their neighbouring platforms. New sedimentological, geochemical, biostratigraphic, stratigraphic and structural information have been analysed and integrated into a new tectonostratigraphic model for the Callovian Lower Graben Formation, Oxfordian Middle and Upper Graben formations, Early-Middle Volgian Terschelling Sandstone and Noordvaarder members, and the Late VolgianEarly Ryazanian Scruff Greensand Formation. It is demonstrated that salt withdrawal at the basin axis was the primary control on the generation of high accommodation during the Callovian-Early Kimmeridgian. Incised valleys developed on the platforms providing lateral sediment input. During the Late Kimmeridgian-Ryazanian salt migration shifted laterally towards the basin margins, providing accommodation adjacent to active salt bodies and deposition of overthickened sandy strata.

Stepwise basin evolution of the Middle Jurassic–Early Cretaceous rift phase in the Central Graben area of Denmark, Germany and The Netherlands

“…2 and Table 1). Seismic interpretations, utilizing both 2D and 3D seismic data (Møller & Rasmussen 2003;De Jager 2007;Bouroullec et al 2018), were also used as supporting information.…”

“…In later publications (Duxbury et al 1999;Fraser et al 2003), a nomenclature based on maximum abundances of dinoflagellate cysts was preferred. Regionally important MFS are the J46 in the latest Callovian, the J63 and J64 in the Late Kimmeridgian and the J76 in the Late Ryazanian (Partington et al 1993a, b;Bouroullec et al 2018, fig. 1).…”

“…Thicknesses of the Middle Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous sediment succession range from a couple of metres in the Step Graben (Bouroullec et al 2018) to more than 2000 m in the Danish Tail End Graben (Andsbjerg & Dybkjaer 2003). The graben axis can be characterized as an en echelon series of sub-basins (Japsen et al 2003) with asymmetric wedge-shaped sediment fills (Møller & Rasmussen 2003 (8,15,25,26,27).…”

“…The depositional environments are known to exhibit strong variation over relatively short distances, due to the active tectonic setting and the relatively complex basin configuration (Johannessen et al 2010a;Munsterman et al 2012). The Dutch part of the study area is characterized by marine to non-marine deposits (Abbink et al 2006;Bouroullec et al 2018), while the Danish part, in particular the graben axis, is dominated by deep-marine deposits (Andsbjerg & Dybkjaer 2003). In such a setting, palynology is a useful tool for age assessment and palaeoenvironmental interpretation; it provides information from both the marine realm, via the occurrences of dinoflagellate cysts, and the terrestrial realm, via the occurrences of pollen and spores (Abbink 1998).…”

“…It is apparent that the Middle Jurassic-Early Cretaceous basin evolution of the Central Graben area is mainly controlled by broad-scale changes in its tectonic history, in particular by a change in the extensional regime occurring during the Late Kimmeridgian (Møller & Rasmussen 2003;Zanella & Coward 2003). Absolute sea-level changes also played an important role, especially with respect to sediment and facies distribution (Andsbjerg & Dybkjaer 2003;Abbink et al 2006;Bouroullec et al 2018).…”