Palaeogeography and 3D variability of a dynamically uplifted shelf: Observations from seismic stratigraphy of the Palaeocene East Shetland Platform

Abstract

In the Palaeocene North Sea, pulses in turbidite fan deposition and shelfal progradation have been correlated with episodes of regional uplift caused by a precursor of the Icelandic Plume. In the East Shetland Platform, the specific impacts of dynamic uplift on the regional palaeogeographic evolution are less understood. Using new, high-resolution 3D seismic data from an underexplored proximal area, we investigate the palaeogeography of the East Shetland Platform in terms of the extent and timing of erosion versus deposition, focusing on how these can be used to reconstruct changes in relative sea-level along strike. Using a combination of well data, clinoform-based seismic stratigraphy and seismic attribute analysis of >60,000 km² of 3D data, we have obtained palaeogeographic maps of multiple Palaeocene to Early Eocene units, with high temporal resolution for the Late Palaeocene–Early Eocene Moray Group. This includes six unconformity-bounded units marked by prograding clinoforms of the Dornoch Formation, which are covered by backstepping sequences of the Beauly Member (Balder Formation). Temporal and spatial changes in the distribution of downdip depocentres and updip unconformities indicate strong lateral variability in patterns of shelf accommodation/erosion and local sediment supply. This results from a complex interplay among laterally uneven relative sea-level fall, inherited topography, time-varied sediment entry point distribution and along-shore sediment transport regimes. Unconformities and palaeogeographic maps suggest a first-order control on erosion and sediment distribution promoted by the transiently and differentially uplifted topography of Shetland, which is characterized by an anomalous erosive history in the Bressay High, in the centre of our study area, where the Lower Dornoch Formation has been eroded and marked fluvial incision is observed. Ultimately, results indicate shorter-wavelength and shorter-period variations in uplift than what is typically assumed for dynamic topography, perhaps as a result of additional modulation by lithospheric structures or influence of previous rift-related faults.