Seismic and Stratigraphic Characterisation of Triassic Mini Basins on the Jaeren High, Forties Montrose High and Western Platform - Testing Analogue Suitability for the Deep Central Graben

The podology of the Triassic mini-basins on the major structural highs of the Central North Sea (UK and Norway) is assessed in this paper. It encompasses a morphometric analysis of the pods on the Jaeren High (Norway), the Forties Montrose High (UK) and the Western Platform (UK), which highlights mini basin geometry and orientation. Seismic character analysis and available well data has been used to determine the fill and how it varies across the Central North Sea.

This study also synthesises the major controls on mini-basin formation and to what extent this is tectonically or halokinetically (syn-sedimentary) controlled. Current understanding of the pod formation is based on the alternate of two models; rift-raft tectonics occurring in the late Triassic, creating conduits for salt movement, post deposition of the Smith Bank and Skagerrak Formations of the Triassic. The alternative model is based on the concept of syn-sedimentary salt movement that began during the onset of the deposition of the Triassic Smith Bank formation, subsequently influencing the depositional styles of the Skagerrak Formation.

Due to the structural complexity and poor seismic resolution in the deeper parts of the Central Graben, these major structural highs are used as analogues and we demonstrate how a greater understanding of the evolutionary history of the these shallow buried mini-basins assists with interpretation of the pods in the deeper Central Graben.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90142 © 2012 AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition, April 22-25, 2012, Long Beach, California