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Geological Society, London, Special Publications; 1995; v. 90; p. 125-139;
DOI: 10.1144/GSL.SP.1995.090.01.07
© 1995 Geological Society of London

Seismic stratigraphy of the Bill Bailey and Lousy Bank area: implications for subsidence history

K. Vanneste1, J.-P. Henriet1,2, J. Posewang3 & F. Theilen3

1 Renard Centre of Marine Geology, University of Gent, Krijgslaan 281, B-9000 Gent, Belgium
2 IFREMER, Département des Géosciences marines, 29280 Plouzané, France
3 Institut für Geophysik, University of Kiel, Olshausenstraße 40-60, D-2300 Kiel, Germany

The present study discusses some results of a reconnaissance seismic survey carried out in 1988 in the area around the prominent Bill Bailey and Lousy Banks, located SW of the Faeroe Islands. The area is thought to be part of the Rockall-Faeroe microcontinent, which was flooded by Palaeocene plateau basalts. The seafloor topography is largely due to the present-day organization of the basalt surface. Important structural features exhibited by this basement are sub-surface diverging reflectors and a major fault.

Sediment accumulation is confined to the basinal area where four unconformities were identified. The lower boundary corresponds to the well-known reflector R4 of the North Atlantic. The other unconformities are proposed to correlate with hiatuses at the beginning and end of the middle Miocene, and at the end of the Pliocene, respectively. The sediment units are briefly described by their upper and lower boundary, seismic facies and thickness variations. About the lithology, however, little is so far known. The sediments are deformed by intraformational faults and a diapir-like structure. Both deformational styles are probably related to temporary overpressurisation in fine-grained sediments, but resulting from different causes.

Stratal geometric patterns indicate that initially the subsidence of the basalt surface was rather uniform, but became non-uniform after the Eocene/Oligocene boundary, differentiating the two banks from the surrounding basin.





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