Voring Plateau continental margin: seismic interpretation, stratigraphy, and vertical movements

Abstract

The Voring Basin was structured by Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous extension and subsequent subsidence in the Cretaceous. It is divided into two basin provinces by the Molde-Bodo high. The opening of the Norwegian-Greenland Sea during the early Tertiary was preceded by uplift of the outer Voring Basin accompanied by extensional listric faulting in the Cretaceous sediments and intrusive activity. The early Tertiary extension was restricted to the outer Voring Basin, subsequently forming the Tertiary marginal basin. Initial subaerial sea-floor spreading created the upper volcanic series at ODP Site 642, parts of the flow-sill complex landward of the escarpment and also caused deposition of ashes and tuffs in the Voring Basin. The post-opening margin history is characterized by the progressive submergence of the Voring Plateau marginal high which for long periods was elevated with respect to the Voring Basin. We propose that early Tertiary strike-slip motion, which triggered mass movements lasting into the early Miocene, is responsible for the spectacular north-south domes in the Voring Basin. Finally, a renewed major pulse of sedimentation and subsidence centered on the shelf edge commenced in latest Miocene time. -from Authors