Sedimentary Fill and Stratigraphic Traps of Porcupine Basin, Offshore Ireland

D. Bradford Macurda, Jr.

The Porcupine basin, off the southwest coast of Ireland, is a triangular north-south re-entrant into the present-day continental shelf. This aulacogen was formed in the Jurassic during the opening of the North Atlantic. A seismic stratigraphic investigation of the southern part of the basin has shown the complex evolution of the sedimentary fill from shallow to deep water facies, resulting in several stratigraphic traps.

The central axis of the basin is dominated by a volcanic ridge. Part of the early sedimentary fill was intermittently covered by volcanic flows. The final stage of this initial siliciclastic infill was the development of an extensive alluvial fan or fan-delta complex along the eastern basin margin. Aerially extensive carbonate sedimentation occurred during the Cretaceous, including a north-south reef tract more than 20 km wide in the eastern part of the basin.

Increased subsidence resulted in the deposition of deep water siliciclastics in the Tertiary. The most prominent of these is a series of lower Tertiary submarine fans that were sourced from the western, northern, and eastern margins of the aulacogen. The early portions of the fans correlate well basin-wide; their later history is much more complex, with younger lobes up to 25 km wide developing south of their precursors. Subsequent onlap fill deposits provide an excellent seal. Sedimentation in the late Tertiary has included both high-energy and low-energy deep water deposits.

The complex fill of the aulacogen has set up several stratigraphic plays, including carbonate reefs, alluvial fans or fan deltas, and submarine fans. Seismic amplitude anomalies in the latter suggest the heat flow has been sufficient to generate hydrocarbons to fill some of the traps.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91043©1986 AAPG Annual Convention, Atlanta, Georgia, June 15-18, 1986.