Sequence stratigraphy and architecture on a ramp-type continental shelf: the Belgian Palaeogene
Jacobs, P.; De Batist, M. (1996). Sequence stratigraphy and architecture on a ramp-type continental shelf: the Belgian Palaeogene, in: De Batist, M. et al. (Ed.) Geology of siliciclastic shelf seas. pp. 23-48 In: De Batist, M.; Jacobs, P. (Ed.) (1996). Geology of siliciclastic shelf seas. Geological Society Special Publication, 117. The Geological Society (London): London. ISBN 1-897799-67-5. 345 pp., more In: Hartley, A.J. et al. (Ed.) Geological Society Special Publication. Geological Society of London: Oxford; London; Edinburgh; Boston, Mass.; Carlton, Vic.. ISSN 0305-8719; e-ISSN 2041-4927, more |
| Keywords | Earth sciences > Geology > Stratigraphy
Geological time > Phanerozoic > Geological time > Cenozoic > Tertiary > Palaeogene
ANE, Belgium, Belgian Continental Shelf (BCS) [Marine Regions]
Marine/Coastal |
| Abstract | In Palaeogene times, the 'Southern Bight' of the North Sea functioned as an intracratonic, shallow-marine, siliciclastic basin and accumulated a few meters of gently dipping sediment packages. A fine-scale seismic-stratigraphical model for the Palaeogene was formulated on the basis of a dense, high-resolution reflection seismic grid. In total 13 major seismic-stratigraphical units were defined, based on geometry and seismic facies characteristics. The seismic stratigraphy has been complemented with the results of four cored wells near the Belgian coast, containing a nearly continuous, 200m thick sediment succession of Eocene age. Facies analysis of these cores suggest that part of these sediments were deposited on a muddy shelf and part in a delta environment. Evidence from relevant onshore outcrops has been used to complete the geological history of the Palaeogene, with special emphasis on the Eocene. A sedimentation model for the Eocene is presented, and relative sea-level changes, regional tectonic events and changes in sediment input are discussed. Genetic interpretation of the various lithological units and the large scale architecture of the ramp-type margin enable evaluation of sequence-stratigraphical concepts, initially defined for a typical shelf-slope-basin section along an Atlantic-type continental margin. |
|
