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Basin Analysis |
Department of Geology, School of Geosciences, The Queen’s University of Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, Northern Ireland
Shell Exploration and Production Namibia BV, Postbus 663, 2501 CR Den Haag, The Netherlands
The Larne Basin lies in the Midland Valley terrane between Northern Ireland and SW Scotland. A proportion of the basin lies onshore Northern Ireland, with an offshore continuation into the North Channel seaway. The basin is orientated NE-SW, and the sedimentary basin fill thickens to the west. Extensional faults in the south of the basin dip generally to the east, those in the north to the northwest. Preserved sediments range in age from Carboniferous to Tertiary, but are predominantly Permo-Triassic. Integration of seismic interpretations, well data and outcrop fault and fracture measurements has revealed a number of Mesozoic and Cenozoic tectonic events. Late Carboniferous N-S compression was followed by a major phase of regional early Permian ENE-WSW/NE-SW extension. ENE-WSW extension followed in the late Triassic and early Jurassic with post-early Jurassic to late Cretaceous minor subsidence and uplift resulting in a major erosional unconformity between the Lower Lias and Upper Cretaceous Greensand and Chalk. Early Tertiary (Palaeocene) uplift and NE-SW extension led to extensive basalt extrusion, and later NW-SE to NNE-SSW extension and faulting resulted in the deposition of the Upper Oligocene Lough Neagh Clays in the neighbouring Lough Neagh Basin. The late Tertiary (Miocene) saw a phase of compression, leading to uplift and erosion. AFTA® analyses of Permian and Triassic samples indicate c. 450 m of Tertiary uplift and erosion. Sonic velocity analysis of the Mercia Mudstone Group and Sherwood Sandstone Group suggests uplift of 0.5–1.1 km, possibly reflecting maximum burial at an earlier? Jurassic time.
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