Petrography and biostratigraphy of Palaeogene volcaniclastic sediments dredged from the Faeroes shelf

Regin Waagstein and Claus Heilmann-Clausen
Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 90, 179-197, 1 January 1995, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.1995.090.01.11

Abstract

A large number of dredge hauls made on the outer shelf and slope east of the Faeroe Islands have yielded Lower Tertiary sedimentary rocks (both in situ and glacially transported). The rocks have been examined petrographically and biostratigraphically (dinoflagellates), and they are all considered to be derived from the Faeroe shelf. They can be classified according to sediment type and chronostratigraphy in the following groups: (1) Lower Eocene basaltic tuffs (dominantly non-marine); (2) Lower and Middle Eocene tuffaceous limestones and phosphatic sediments; and (3) Lower and possibly Upper, Oligocene fine-grained feldspathic volcanic sandstones. Two dredge hauls of local till near the shelf edge west of the Faeroe Islands gave coarse to fine grained volcanic sandstones of Oligocene age.

The basaltic tuffs of the eastern shelf bear witness to a major phase of explosive volcanism succeeding the extrusion of the Faeroe lava plateau. Whole-rock chemical analyses suggest that the explosive magmas had a tholeiitic composition rich in iron and titanium. Some of these eruptions are likely to be represented among the tuffs of the Balder Formation in the North Sea. After the deposition of the tuffaceous sediments in a marine setting during the Early and Middle Eocene the central parts of the Faeroe basalt plateau were probably uplifted in the Bartonian or Priabonian. As a result of erosion of the basalt plateau and overlying sediments volcanic sandstones (often rich in reworked dinoflagellates) were deposited in a marine environment during the Early Oligocene.

References

    1. Aubry M.-P.,
    2. Berggren W. A.,
    3. Kent D. V.,
    4. Flynn J. J.,
    5. Klitgord K. D.,
    6. Obradovich J. D.,
    7. Prothero D. W.
    (1988) Paleogene geochronology; an integrated approach. Paleoceanography 3:707–742.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
    1. Bienvenu P.,
    2. Bougault H.,
    3. Joron J. L.,
    4. Treuil M.,
    5. Dmitriev L.
    (1990) MORB alteration: Rare-earth element/non-rare-earth hygromagmaphile element fractionation. Chemical Geology 82:1–14.
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
    1. Boldreel L. O.,
    2. Andersen M. S.
    (1993) Petroleum Geology of Northwest Europe: Proceedings of the 4th Conference Geological Society, London, Late Paleocene to Miocene compression in the Faeroe-Rockall area, ed Parker J. R. pp 1025–1034.
    1. Boldreel L. O.,
    2. Andersen M. S.
    (1995) The relationship between the distribution of Tertiary sediments and tectonic processes and deep water circulation around the Faeroe Islands. This volume.
    1. Bott M. H. P.,
    2. Sunderland J.,
    3. Smith P. J.,
    4. Casten U.,
    5. Saxov S.
    (1974) Evidence for continental crust beneath the Faeroe Islands. Nature 248:202–204.
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
    1. Boulter M. C.,
    2. Manum S. B.
    (1989) Proceedings Ocean Drilling Program, Scientific Results The Brito-Arctic igneous Province Flora around the Palaeocene-Eocene boundary, eds Eldholm O., Thiede J., Taylor E., et al. 104, pp 663–680.
    1. Brooks C. K.,
    2. Nielsen T. F. D.
    (1982) The E Greenland continental margin: a transition between oceanic and continental magmatism. Journal of the Geological Society, London 139:265–275.
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
    1. Brown S.,
    2. Downie C.
    (1984) in Initial Reports of the Deep Sea Drilling Project, Dinoflagellate cyst biostratigraphy of late Paleocene and Early Eocene sediments from Holes 552, 553A, and 555, Leg 81, Deep Sea Drilling Project (Rockall Plateau), eds Roberts D. G., Schnitker D., et al. 81, pp 565–579.
    OpenUrl
    1. Bøggild O. B.
    (1918) Den vulkanske Aske i Moleret samt en Oversigt over Danmarks ældre Tertiærbjærgarter. Danmarks Geologiske Undersøgelse, II Rœkke 33.
    1. Chateauneuf J.-J.
    (1980) Palynostratigraphie et paleoclimatologie de l’Eocene superieur et de l’Oligocene du Bassin de Paris, Memoire du B.R.G.M. 116.
    1. Costa L. I.,
    2. Downie C.
    (1979) in Initial Reports of the Deep Sea Drilling Project, Cenozoic dinocyst stratigraphy of Sites 403 to 406 (Rockall Plateau), Ipod, Leg 48, eds Montadert L., Roberts D. G., et al. 48, pp 513–529.
    OpenUrl
    1. Costa L. I.,
    2. Manum S. B.
    (1988) in The Northwest European Tertiary Basin, The description of the interregional zonation of the Paleogene (D 1 – D 15) and the Miocene (D 16 – D 20), Geologische Jahrbuch, Reihe A, ed Vinken R. 100, pp 321–330.
    OpenUrl
    1. Earle M. M.,
    2. Jankowski E. J.,
    3. Vann I. R.
    (1989) in Extensional Tectonics and Stratigraphy of the North Atlantic Margins, Structural and stratigraphic evolution of the Faeroe-Shetland Channel and northern Rockall Trough, American Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoir, eds Tankard A. J., Balkwill H. R. 46, pp 461–469.
    OpenUrl
    1. Fisher R. V.,
    2. Schmincke H.-U.
    (1984) Pyroclastic Rocks (Springer Verlag, Berlin).
    1. Fleischer U.,
    2. Holzkamm F.,
    3. Vollbrecht K.,
    4. Voppel D.
    (1974) Die Struktur des Island-Färöer-Rückens aus geophysikalischen Messungen. Deutsches Hydrographische Zeitschrift 27:97–113.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
    1. Hald N.,
    2. Waagstein R.
    (1984) in The Deep Drilling Project 1980–1981 in the Faeroe Islands, Lithology and chemistry of a 2-km sequence of Lower Tertiary tholeiitic lavas drilled on Suduroy, Faeroe Islands (Lopra-1), Føroya Frodskaparfelag, Tórshavn, eds Berthelsen O., Noe-Nygaard A., Rasmussen J. pp 15–38.
    1. Hald N.,
    2. Waagstein R.
    (1991) The dykes and sills of the Early Tertiary Faeroe Island basalt plateau. Transactions of the Royal Society, Edinburgh 82:373–388.
    OpenUrl
    1. Heiken G.,
    2. Wohletz K.
    (1985) Volcanic Ash (University of California Press, Berkeley).
    1. Heilmann-Clausen C.
    (1985) Dinoflagellate stratigraphy of the uppermost Danian to Ypresian in the Viborg 1 borehole, central Jylland, Denmark. Danmarks Geologiske Undersøgelse, Serie A 7.
    1. Heilmann-Clausen C.
    (1988) in The Northwest European Tertiary Basin, Denmark, Paleogene dinoflagellates, Geologische Jahrbuch, Reihe A, ed Vinken R. 100, pp 339–343.
    OpenUrl
    1. Hitchen K.
    (1992) The crustal characteristics, volcanic and sedimentary history of the Rockall continental margin. British Geological Survey Technical Report WB/92/7.
    1. Holtedahl O.
    (1970) On the morphology of the West Greenland shelf with general remarks on the ‘marginal channel’ problem. Marine Geology 8:155–172.
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
    1. Knox R. W. O’B.
    (1984) Nannoplankton zonation and the Paleocene/Eocene boundary beds of NW Europe: an indirect correlation by means of volcanic ash layers. Journal of the Geological Society, London 141:993–999.
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
    1. Knox R. W. O’B.,
    2. Morton A. C.
    (1983) Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society Stratigraphical distribution of Early Palaeogene pyroclastic deposits in the North Sea basin, 44, pp 355–363.
    1. Knox R. W. O’B.,
    2. Morton A. C.
    (1988) in Early Tertiary Volcanism and the Opening of the NE Atlantic, The record of early Tertiary N Atlantic volcanism in sediments of the North Sea Basin, Geological Society, London, Special Publication, eds Morton A. C., Parson L. M. 39, pp 407–419.
    OpenUrl
    1. Köthe A.
    (1990) Palaeogene dinoflagellates from Northwest Germany — biostratigraphy and paleoenvironment. Geologische Jahrbuch, Reihe A 118:1–111.
    OpenUrl
    1. Larsen H. C.
    (1988) in Early Tertiary Volcanism and the Opening of the NE Atlantic, A multiple and propagating rift model of the NE Atlantic, Geological Society, London, Special Publication, eds Morton A. C., Parson L. M. 39, pp 157–158.
    OpenUrl
    1. Lund J.
    (1983) in Structure and Development of the Greenland-Scotland Ridge, Biostratigraphy of interbasaltic coals from the Faeroe Islands, eds Bott M. H. P., Saxov S., Talwani M., Thiede J. (Plenum Press, New York), pp 417–423.
    1. Lund J.
    (1989) A late Paleocene non-marine microflora from the interbasaltic coals of the Faeroe Islands, North Atlantic. Bulletin of the Geological Society of Denmark 37:181–203.
    OpenUrl
    1. Malm O. A.,
    2. Christensen O. B.,
    3. Furnes H.,
    4. Løvlie R.,
    5. Ruselåtten H.,
    6. Østby K. L.
    (1984) in Petroleum Geology of the North European Margin, The Lower Tertiary Balder Formation: an organogenic and tuffaceous deposit in the North Sea region, ed Spencer A. M., et al. (Graham & Trotman, London), pp 149–170.
    1. Manum S. B.,
    2. Boulter M. C.,
    3. Gunnarsdottir H.,
    4. Rangnes K.,
    5. Scholze A.
    (1989) Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program, Scientific Results Eocene to Miocene palynology of the Norwegian Sea (ODP Leg 104), eds Eldholm O., Thiede J., Taylor E., et al. 104, pp 611–662.
    1. Morton A. C.,
    2. Evans J. A.
    (1988) Geochemistry of basaltic ash beds from the Fur Formation, Island of Fur, Denmark. Bulletin of the Geological Society of Denmark 37:1–9.
    OpenUrl
    1. Morton A. C.,
    2. Keene J. B.
    (1984) in Initial Reports of the Deep Sea Drilling Project, Paleogene pyroclastic volcanism in the southwest Rockall Plateau, eds Roberts D. G., Schnitker D., et al. 81, pp 633–643.
    OpenUrl
    1. Morton A. C.,
    2. Knox R. W. O’B.
    (1990) Geochemistry of late Palaeocene and early Eocene tephras from the North Sea Basin. Journal of the Geological Society, London 147:425–437.
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
    1. Morton A. C.,
    2. Evans D.,
    3. Harland R.,
    4. King C.,
    5. Ritchie D. K.
    (1988) in Early Tertiary Volcanism and the Opening of the NE Atlantic, Volcanic ash in a cored borehole W of the Shetland Islands. Evidence for Selandian (late Palaeocene) volcanism in the Faeroes region, Geological Society, London, Special Publication, eds Morton A. C., Parson L. M. 39, pp 263–269.
    OpenUrl
    1. Nielsen P. H.,
    2. Waagstein R.,
    3. Rasmussen J.,
    4. Larsen B.
    (1979) Marine seismic investigation of the shelf around the Faeroe Islands. Frodskaparrit, Tórshavn 27:102–113.
    OpenUrl
    1. Pedersen A. K.,
    2. Engell J.,
    3. Rønsbo J. G.
    (1975) Early Tertiary volcanism in the Skagerak: New chemical evidence from ash-layers in the mo-clay of northern Denmark. Lithos 8:255–268.
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
    1. Rasmussen J.,
    2. Noe-Nygaard A.
    (1969) Beskrivelse til geologisk kort over Færøerne. Danmarks Geologiske Undersøgelse, I Rœkke 24.
    1. Ridd M. F.
    (1981) in Petroleum Geology of the Continental Shelf of North-west Europe, Petroleum geology west of the Shetlands, eds Illing L. V., Hobson G. D. (Heyden, London), pp 414–425.
    1. Roberts D. G.,
    2. Bott M. H. P.,
    3. Uruski C.
    (1983) in Structure and Development of the Greenland-Scotland Ridge, Structure and origin of the Wyville-Thomson Ridge, eds Bott M. H. P., Saxov S., Talwani M., Thiede J. (Plenum Press, New York), pp 133–158.
    1. Schönharting G.,
    2. Abrahamsen N.
    (1989) Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program, Scientific Results Paleomagnetism of the volcanic sequence in Hole 642E, ODP Leg 104, Vøring Plateau, and correlation with Early Tertiary basalts in the North Atlantic, eds Eldholm O., Thiede J., Taylor E., et al. 104, pp 911–920.
    1. Smythe D. K.
    (1983) in Structure and Development of the Greenland-Scotland Ridge, Faeroe-Shetland escarpment and continental margin north of the Faeroes, eds Bott M. H. P., Saxov S., Talwani M., Thiede J. (Plenum Press, New York), pp 109–119.
    1. Soper N. J.,
    2. Costa L. I.
    (1976) Palynological evidence for the age of Tertiary basalts and post-basaltic sediments at Kap Dalton, central East Greenland. Rapport, Grønlands Geologiske Undersøgelse 80:123–127.
    OpenUrl
    1. Soper N. J.,
    2. Downie C.,
    3. Higgins A. C.,
    4. Costa L. I.
    (1976a) Biostratigraphic ages of Tertiary basalts on the East Greenland continental margin and their relationship to plate separation in the Northeast Atlantic. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 32:149–157.
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
    1. Soper N. J.,
    2. Higgins A. C.,
    3. Downie C.,
    4. Matthews D. W.,
    5. Brown P. E.
    (1976b) Late Cretaceous-early Tertiary stratigraphy of the Kangerdlugssuaq area, east Greenland, and the age of opening of the north-east Atlantic. Journal of the Geological Society, London 132:85–104.
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
    1. Stride A. H.,
    2. Belderson R. H.,
    3. Curray J. R.,
    4. Moore D. G.
    (1967) Geophysical evidence on the origin of the Faeroe Bank Channel — I. Continuous reflection profiles. Deep-Sea Research 14:1–6.
    OpenUrl
    1. Tarling D. H.,
    2. Hailwood E. A.,
    3. Løvlie R.
    (1988) in Early Tertiary Volcanism and the Opening of the NE Atlantic, A palaeomagnetic study of lower Tertiary lavas in E Greenland and comparison with other lower Tertiary observations in northern Atlantic, Geological Society, London, Special Publication, eds Morton A. C., Parson L. M. 39, pp 215–224.
    OpenUrl
    1. Viereck L. G.,
    2. Hertogen J.,
    3. Parson L. M.,
    4. Morton A. C.,
    5. Love D.,
    6. Gibson I. L.
    (1989) Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program, Scientific Results Chemical stratigraphy and petrology of the Vøring Plateau tholeiitic lavas and interlayered volcaniclastic sediments at ODP Hole 642E, eds Eldholm O., Thiede J., Taylor E., et al. 104, pp 367–396.
    1. Viereck L. G.,
    2. Taylor P. N.,
    3. Parson L. M.,
    4. Morton A. C.,
    5. Hertogen J.,
    6. Gibson I. L.
    (1988) in Early Tertiary Volcanism and the Opening of the NE Atlantic, Origin of the Palaeogene Vøring Plateau volcanic sequence, Geological Society, London, Special Publication, eds Morton A. C., Parson L. M. 39, pp 69–83. the ODP Leg 104 Scientific Party.
    OpenUrl
    1. Waagstein R.
    (1977) The geology of the Faeroe Plateau. PhD thesis (Københavns Universitet).
    1. Waagstein R.
    (1988) in Early Tertiary Volcanism and the Opening of the NE Atlantic, Structure, composition and age of the Faeroe basalt plateau, Geological Society, London, Special Publication, eds Morton A. C., Parson L. M. 39, pp 225–238.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
    1. Waagstein R.,
    2. Hald N.
    (1984) in The deep drilling project 1980–1981 in the Faeroe Islands, Structure and petrography of a 660 m lava sequence from the Vestmanna-1 drill hole, lower and middle basalt series, Faeroe Islands, eds Berthelsen O., Noe-Nygaard A., Rasmussen J. (Føroya Frodskaparfelag, Tórshavn), pp 39–65.
    1. Waagstein R.,
    2. Rasmussen J.
    (1975) Glacial erratics from the sea floor south-east of the Faeroe Islands and the limit of glaciation. Frodskaparrit, Tórshavn 23:101–119.
    OpenUrl
    1. White R. S.,
    2. Spence G. D.,
    3. Fowler S. R.,
    4. McKenzie D. P.,
    5. Westbrook G. K.,
    6. Bowen A. N.
    (1987) Magmatism at rifted continental margins. Nature 330:439–444.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
Back to top
Alerts
Citation tools
Permissions
View PDF
Email to

Related Articles

Similar Articles

Cited By...