The provenance of Middle Jurassic to Cretaceous sediments in the Irish and Celtic Sea Basins: Tectonic and environmental controls on sediment sourcing

Odhrán McCarthy*, Brenton Fairey, Patrick Meere, David Chew, Aidan Kerrison, David Wray, Mandy Hofmann, Andreas Gärtner, Benita Lisette Sonntag, Ulf Linnemann, Klaudia F. Kuiper

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

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Abstract

The Jurassic and Cretaceous sedimentary infill of the Irish and Celtic Sea Basins is intimately associated with the breakup of the supercontinent Pangea, and the opening of the Atlantic margin. Previous basin studies have constrained tectonism, basin uplift and sediment composition, but sediment provenance and routing have not received detailed consideration. Current hypotheses for basin infill suggest localized sediment sourcing throughout the Jurassic and Cretaceous, despite a dynamic tectonic and palaeoenvironmental history spanning more than 100 million years. We present detrital zircon, white mica and apatite geochronology alongside heavy mineral data from five basins. Findings reveal that basin infill derived predominantly from distal sources with lesser periods of local sourcing. We deduce that tectonically induced marine transgression and regression events had a first-order control on distal v. proximal sedimentary sourcing. Additionally, tectonism which uplifted the Fastnet Basin region during the Middle–Late Jurassic recycled basin sediments into the connected Celtic and Irish Sea Basins. Detrital geochronology and heavy mineral evidence support three distinct provenance switches throughout the Jurassic and Cretaceous in these basins. Overall an integrated multi-proxy provenance approach provides novel insights to tectonic and environmental controls on basin infill as demonstrated in the Irish and Celtic Sea Basins.

Original languageEnglish
Article numberjgs2020-247
Pages (from-to)1-19
Number of pages19
JournalJournal of the Geological Society
Volume178
Issue number5
Early online date25 Mar 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sept 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
O.McC, P.M, and D.C acknowledge the financial support of Science Foundation Ireland, Grant/Award Number: 13/RC/2092; European Regional Development Fund; PIPCO RSG. This publication uses data and survey results acquired during a project undertaken on behalf of the Irish Shelf Petroleum Studies Group (ISPSG) of the Irish Petroleum Infrastructure Programme (PIP) Group 4 ( project code IS 12/05 UCC). The ISPSG comprises Atlantic Petroleum (Ireland) Ltd, Cairn Energy Plc, Chrysaor E&P Ireland Ltd, Chevron North Sea Limited, ENI IrelandBV, Europa Oil&Gas, ExxonMobil E&P Ireland (Offshore) Ltd, Husky Energy, Kosmos Energy LLC, Maersk Oil North Sea UK Ltd, Petroleum Affairs Division of the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Providence Resources Plc, Repsol Exploraci?n SA, San Leon Energy Plc, Serica Energy Plc, Shell E&P Ireland Ltd, Sosina Exploration Ltd, Tullow Oil Plc and Woodside Energy (Ireland) Pty Ltd.

Funding Information:
Funding O.McC, P.M, and D.C acknowledge the financial support of Science Foundation Ireland, Grant/Award Number: 13/RC/2092; European Regional Development Fund; PIPCO RSG. This publication uses data and survey results acquired during a project undertaken on behalf of the Irish Shelf Petroleum Studies Group (ISPSG) of the Irish Petroleum Infrastructure Programme (PIP) Group 4 (project code IS 12/05 UCC). The ISPSG comprises Atlantic Petroleum (Ireland) Ltd, Cairn Energy Plc, Chrysaor E&P Ireland Ltd, Chevron North Sea Limited, ENI IrelandBV, Europa Oil&Gas, ExxonMobil E&P Ireland (Offshore) Ltd, Husky Energy, Kosmos Energy LLC, Maersk Oil North Sea UK Ltd, Petroleum Affairs Division of the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Providence Resources Plc, Repsol Exploración SA, San Leon Energy Plc, Serica Energy Plc, Shell E&P Ireland Ltd, Sosina Exploration Ltd, Tullow Oil Plc and Woodside Energy (Ireland) Pty Ltd.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Author(s). Published by The Geological Society of London. All rights reserved.

Funding

O.McC, P.M, and D.C acknowledge the financial support of Science Foundation Ireland, Grant/Award Number: 13/RC/2092; European Regional Development Fund; PIPCO RSG. This publication uses data and survey results acquired during a project undertaken on behalf of the Irish Shelf Petroleum Studies Group (ISPSG) of the Irish Petroleum Infrastructure Programme (PIP) Group 4 ( project code IS 12/05 UCC). The ISPSG comprises Atlantic Petroleum (Ireland) Ltd, Cairn Energy Plc, Chrysaor E&P Ireland Ltd, Chevron North Sea Limited, ENI IrelandBV, Europa Oil&Gas, ExxonMobil E&P Ireland (Offshore) Ltd, Husky Energy, Kosmos Energy LLC, Maersk Oil North Sea UK Ltd, Petroleum Affairs Division of the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Providence Resources Plc, Repsol Exploraci?n SA, San Leon Energy Plc, Serica Energy Plc, Shell E&P Ireland Ltd, Sosina Exploration Ltd, Tullow Oil Plc and Woodside Energy (Ireland) Pty Ltd. Funding O.McC, P.M, and D.C acknowledge the financial support of Science Foundation Ireland, Grant/Award Number: 13/RC/2092; European Regional Development Fund; PIPCO RSG. This publication uses data and survey results acquired during a project undertaken on behalf of the Irish Shelf Petroleum Studies Group (ISPSG) of the Irish Petroleum Infrastructure Programme (PIP) Group 4 (project code IS 12/05 UCC). The ISPSG comprises Atlantic Petroleum (Ireland) Ltd, Cairn Energy Plc, Chrysaor E&P Ireland Ltd, Chevron North Sea Limited, ENI IrelandBV, Europa Oil&Gas, ExxonMobil E&P Ireland (Offshore) Ltd, Husky Energy, Kosmos Energy LLC, Maersk Oil North Sea UK Ltd, Petroleum Affairs Division of the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Providence Resources Plc, Repsol Exploración SA, San Leon Energy Plc, Serica Energy Plc, Shell E&P Ireland Ltd, Sosina Exploration Ltd, Tullow Oil Plc and Woodside Energy (Ireland) Pty Ltd.

FundersFunder number
Atlantic Petroleum
Chevron North Sea Limited
Europa Oil&Gas
ExxonMobil E&P Ireland
Husky Energy
Kosmos Energy LLC
Maersk Oil North Sea UK Ltd
Repsol Exploración SA
Science Foundation Ireland13/RC/2092
European Regional Development FundIS 12/05 UCC

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