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Neogene Uplift and Erosion Offshore South Norway: Magnitude and Consequences for Hydrocarbon Exploration in the Farsund Basin

  • Conference paper
Generation, Accumulation and Production of Europe’s Hydrocarbons III

Abstract

The Base Quaternary reflector is a major erosional unconformity in the northeastern North Sea, and Palaeogene to Palaeozoic strata subcrop towards the Fennoscandian Shield. Using vitrinite reflectance trends, shale compaction and reconstructed regional seismic profiles, we have quantified and mapped the regional uplift of the strata underlying the Base Quaternary unconformity. There is no erosion in the Central Graben area of the North Sea, but from there the uplift increases towards the Norwegian coast. Uplift in the Farsund Basin area is 1000–1200 m, and probably more along the coast. The erosion is of Neogene age and related to the uplift of the Norwegian mountains. The uplift was caused by broad-scale regional warping without major faulting, and the consequences for hydrocarbon exploration in the affected areas are important. The Farsund Basin is an elongated Early Cretaceous trough on the northern margin of the Norwegian-Danish Basin. It is a frontier area expected to be opened for exploration within the next few years. The consequences of the uplift for the prospectivity of the Farsund Basin are illustrated, assuming the existence of a Jurassic source rock there. At its present depth, such a source would be immature and the basin without interest. But because a substantial uplift has taken place, a Jurassic source rock would have achieved oil maturity. The Farsund Basin could therefore be an undiscovered hydrocarbon province in the North Sea.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. STATOIL a/s, Postboks 300, N-4001, Stavanger, Norway

    L. N. Jensen

  2. Geologisk Institut, Aarhus Universitet, DK-8000, Aarhus C., Denmark

    B. J. Schmidt

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  1. L. N. Jensen
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  2. B. J. Schmidt
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Statoil, Postboks 300, 4001, Stavanger, Norway

    Anthony M. Spencer

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© 1993 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Jensen, L.N., Schmidt, B.J. (1993). Neogene Uplift and Erosion Offshore South Norway: Magnitude and Consequences for Hydrocarbon Exploration in the Farsund Basin. In: Spencer, A.M. (eds) Generation, Accumulation and Production of Europe’s Hydrocarbons III. Special Publication of the European Association of Petroleum Geoscientists, vol 3. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-77859-9_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-77859-9_7

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-77861-2

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