The Rotliegend sedimentation history of the southern North Sea and adjacent countries

Abstract

Since the discovery of the giant Groningen gas field in l959, followed in the mid 1960s by smaller accumulations in the offshore and onshore areas, the Southern Permian Basin has had a lot of industry activity. The resulting large amount of data available has made possible a study of the basin's evolution at a regional scale in a more detailed manner than had been done and reported in the past. Data from the United Kingdom offshore and Netherlands and Germany onshore and offshore were gathered and investigated. The study addressed a total of 905 wells distributed over the three counties of which 129 had core descriptions. A stratigraphic subdivision, combining the cyclicity of both halite precipitation and clastic deposition represented by a large variety of facies, was established. Three periods of sedimentation are distinguished: Schneverdingen, Slochteren, and Hannover. They correspond to distinct phases of basin extension. The variety in pre-Rotliegende tectonic evolution of the various hinterlands surrounding the basin as well as climatic differences are important sedimentological controls of the basin fill. A series of facies and time maps illustrates the basin sedimentological composition and the distribution of lake, sabkha, eolian, and fluvial deposits during the three periods. Tectonic elements, climate, and westward prograding extension are the main controlling factors responsible for the sedimentological differences across the basin. These distinctive features are retained and enhanced during post-RotliegendeTop basin evolution.