The Importance of Eurekan Mountains on Cenozoic Sediment Routing on the Western Barents Shelf
The importance of topography generated by Eocene Eurekan deformation as a sediment source for sandstones deposited on the western Barents Shelf margin is evaluated through a sediment provenance study conducted on wellbore materials retrieved from Spitsbergen and from the Vestbakken Volcanic Province...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2023-03-01
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| Series: | Geosciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3263/13/3/91 |
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| author | Michael J. Flowerdew Edward J. Fleming David M. Chew Andrew C. Morton Dirk Frei Aukje Benedictus Jenny Omma Teal. R. Riley Eszter Badenszki Martin J. Whitehouse |
| author_facet | Michael J. Flowerdew Edward J. Fleming David M. Chew Andrew C. Morton Dirk Frei Aukje Benedictus Jenny Omma Teal. R. Riley Eszter Badenszki Martin J. Whitehouse |
| author_sort | Michael J. Flowerdew |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The importance of topography generated by Eocene Eurekan deformation as a sediment source for sandstones deposited on the western Barents Shelf margin is evaluated through a sediment provenance study conducted on wellbore materials retrieved from Spitsbergen and from the Vestbakken Volcanic Province and the Sørvestsnaget Basin in the southwest Barents Sea. A variety of complementary techniques record a provenance change across the Paleocene-Eocene boundary in wellbore BH 10-2008, which samples Paleogene strata of the Central Tertiary Basin in Spitsbergen. Sandstones containing K-feldspar with radiogenic Pb isotopic compositions, chrome spinel in the heavy mineral assemblage, and detrital zircons and rutiles with prominent Palaeoproterozoic and Late Palaeozoic—Early Mesozoic U-Pb age populations are up-section replaced by sandstone containing albitic plagioclase feldspar, metasedimentary schist rock fragments, a heavy mineral assemblage with abundant chloritoid, metamorphic apatite with low REE contents, metapelitic rutile with Silurian U-Pb ages and zircons with predominantly Archaean and Palaeoproterozoic U-Pb age populations. Our results clearly demonstrate the well-known regional change in source area from an exposed Barents Shelf terrain east of the Central Tertiary Basin during the Paleocene to the emerging Eurekan mountains west and north of the Central Tertiary Basin during the Eocene. Eocene sandstones deposited in the marginal basins of the southwestern Barents Shelf, which were sampled in wellbores 7316/5-1 and 7216/11-1S, contain elements of both the Eurekan and the eastern Barents Shelf provenance signatures. The mixing of the two sand types and delivery to the southwest margin of the Barents Shelf is consistent with a fill and spill model for the Central Teritary Basin, with transport of Eurekan-derived sediment east then south hundreds of kilometres across the Shelf. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T06:29:16Z |
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| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3263 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T06:29:16Z |
| publishDate | 2023-03-01 |
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| spelling | doaj.art-96f0cfd97319475ca25ce9d1866127082023-11-17T11:20:05ZengMDPI AGGeosciences2076-32632023-03-011339110.3390/geosciences13030091The Importance of Eurekan Mountains on Cenozoic Sediment Routing on the Western Barents ShelfMichael J. Flowerdew0Edward J. Fleming1David M. Chew2Andrew C. Morton3Dirk Frei4Aukje Benedictus5Jenny Omma6Teal. R. Riley7Eszter Badenszki8Martin J. Whitehouse9CASP, Madingley Rise, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0UD, UKCASP, Madingley Rise, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0UD, UKDepartment of Geology, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, IrelandCASP, Madingley Rise, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0UD, UKDepartment of Earth Sciences, University of the Western Cape, P/Bag X17, Bellville 7530, South AfricaRocktype, Magdalen Centre, Robert Robinson Avenue, Oxford OX4 4GA, UKRocktype, Magdalen Centre, Robert Robinson Avenue, Oxford OX4 4GA, UKBritish Antarctic Survey, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0ET, UKUCD School of Earth Sciences, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, IrelandSwedish Museum of Natural History, P.O. Box 50 007, SE-104 05 Stockholm, SwedenThe importance of topography generated by Eocene Eurekan deformation as a sediment source for sandstones deposited on the western Barents Shelf margin is evaluated through a sediment provenance study conducted on wellbore materials retrieved from Spitsbergen and from the Vestbakken Volcanic Province and the Sørvestsnaget Basin in the southwest Barents Sea. A variety of complementary techniques record a provenance change across the Paleocene-Eocene boundary in wellbore BH 10-2008, which samples Paleogene strata of the Central Tertiary Basin in Spitsbergen. Sandstones containing K-feldspar with radiogenic Pb isotopic compositions, chrome spinel in the heavy mineral assemblage, and detrital zircons and rutiles with prominent Palaeoproterozoic and Late Palaeozoic—Early Mesozoic U-Pb age populations are up-section replaced by sandstone containing albitic plagioclase feldspar, metasedimentary schist rock fragments, a heavy mineral assemblage with abundant chloritoid, metamorphic apatite with low REE contents, metapelitic rutile with Silurian U-Pb ages and zircons with predominantly Archaean and Palaeoproterozoic U-Pb age populations. Our results clearly demonstrate the well-known regional change in source area from an exposed Barents Shelf terrain east of the Central Tertiary Basin during the Paleocene to the emerging Eurekan mountains west and north of the Central Tertiary Basin during the Eocene. Eocene sandstones deposited in the marginal basins of the southwestern Barents Shelf, which were sampled in wellbores 7316/5-1 and 7216/11-1S, contain elements of both the Eurekan and the eastern Barents Shelf provenance signatures. The mixing of the two sand types and delivery to the southwest margin of the Barents Shelf is consistent with a fill and spill model for the Central Teritary Basin, with transport of Eurekan-derived sediment east then south hundreds of kilometres across the Shelf.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3263/13/3/91source-to-sinksediment provenanceEocenePaleogeneSpitsbergen fold-and-thrust beltCentral Tertiary Basin |
| spellingShingle | Michael J. Flowerdew Edward J. Fleming David M. Chew Andrew C. Morton Dirk Frei Aukje Benedictus Jenny Omma Teal. R. Riley Eszter Badenszki Martin J. Whitehouse The Importance of Eurekan Mountains on Cenozoic Sediment Routing on the Western Barents Shelf Geosciences source-to-sink sediment provenance Eocene Paleogene Spitsbergen fold-and-thrust belt Central Tertiary Basin |
| title | The Importance of Eurekan Mountains on Cenozoic Sediment Routing on the Western Barents Shelf |
| title_full | The Importance of Eurekan Mountains on Cenozoic Sediment Routing on the Western Barents Shelf |
| title_fullStr | The Importance of Eurekan Mountains on Cenozoic Sediment Routing on the Western Barents Shelf |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Importance of Eurekan Mountains on Cenozoic Sediment Routing on the Western Barents Shelf |
| title_short | The Importance of Eurekan Mountains on Cenozoic Sediment Routing on the Western Barents Shelf |
| title_sort | importance of eurekan mountains on cenozoic sediment routing on the western barents shelf |
| topic | source-to-sink sediment provenance Eocene Paleogene Spitsbergen fold-and-thrust belt Central Tertiary Basin |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3263/13/3/91 |
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