Abstract
We present here the results of a detailed study of subsidence and crystal thinning across the Central Graben of the North Sea basin. Two independent lines of evidence have been used to test how well the uniform extensional model1,2 can account for the evolution of the North Sea basin. A long range seismic profile was shot perpendicular to the Central Graben from Edinburgh to southern Norway and data were analysed from 11 exploration wells situated close to the seismic line (Fig. 1). The estimates of β, the increase in surface area due to extension, from the crustal structure determined using the seismic data and from the well subsidence patterns are both compatible with a simple uniform extensional mechanism for the post-Palaeozoic evolution of the North Sea.
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Wood, R., Barton, P. Crustal thinning and subsidence in the North Sea. Nature 302, 134–136 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1038/302134a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/302134a0
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