Eastern North Sea Basin, Denmark)
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Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 411 (2014) 267–280 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/palaeo Discrepancy between Sr isotope and biostratigraphic datings of the upper middle and upper Miocene successions (Eastern North Sea Basin, Denmark) Tor Eidvin a,⁎, Clemens Vinzenz Ullmann b, Karen Dybkjær c, Erik Skovbjerg Rasmussen c, Stefan Piasecki d a Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD), Professor Olav Hanssens vei 10, P. O. Box 600, N-4003, Norway b University of Copenhagen, Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, Section of Geology, IGN, Øster Voldgade 10, DK-1350, Copenhagen K, Denmark c Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS), Øster Voldgade 10, DK-1350, Copenhagen K, Denmark d Geological Museum, Natural History Museum of Denmark, Øster Voldgade 5-7, DK-1350, Copenhagen K, Denmark article info abstract Article history: One hundred and fifty-six 87Sr/86Sr analyses have been performed on 129 samples from 18 outcrops and bore- Received 6 February 2014 holes in Oligocene–Miocene deposits from Jylland, Denmark. These analyses were mainly conducted on mollusc Received in revised form 19 June 2014 shells but foraminiferal tests, Bolboforma and one shark tooth were also analysed. Accepted 6 July 2014 The main purpose of the study is to compare the ages of the Danish succession suggested by the biostratigraphic Available online 18 July 2014 zonation on dinoflagellate cysts (Dybkjær and Piasecki, 2010) with the ages based on analyses of the 87Sr/86Sr composition of marine calcareous fossils in the same succession. Keywords: Strontium isotope stratigraphy Analyses of samples from the Danish Brejning, Vejle Fjord, Klintinghoved, Arnum, Odderup, Hodde, Ørnhøj and Danish Upper Oligocene–Miocene succession Gram formations gave ages between 25.7 My (late Oligocene) and 10.3 My (late Miocene). The Sr isotope ages from the lower part of the succession, i.e. Brejning to Odderup formations, agree with the age estimates based on biostratigraphy. However, the 87Sr/86Sr ratios of fossil carbonates from the middle–upper Miocene, Hodde to Gram succession consistently indicate ages older than those recorded by biostratigraphy. Post-depositional process- es as an explanation for this offset are inconsistent with good preservation of shell material and little reworking. A palaeoenvironmental cause for the observed mismatch is therefore indicated. Search for geological events that could explain the older ages obtained by Sr isotope compositions have not led to any conclusions and we had recognised the same problem in earlier reports and communications. We conclude that this is a general and possibly global, middle–late Miocene problem that has to be reconsidered and explained geologically. © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/). 1. Introduction Fennoscandian Shield, led to increased sediment transport from the north (present-day Finland, Sweden and particularly Norway). This re- In Jylland (Denmark), uppermost Paleogene and Neogene sediments sulted in deposition of extensive, fluvio-deltaic sand systems intercalat- occur below the glacial deposits over large areas (Fig. 1). Outcrops ed with marine clay in the eastern North Sea Basin including the present representing uppermost Oligocene and Miocene occur along the east day Jylland (Rasmussen, 2004; Rasmussen et al., 2010). A new drilling coast of Jylland, in the Limfjorden area and in clay-, coal- and sandpits programme was initiated by the county authorities and the geology in the southern and middle part of Jylland. In 1999, a Danish national was re-interpreted by the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland programme was initiated, aiming to map all major subsurface reservoirs (GEUS; e.g. Rasmussen et al., 2004; Rasmussen et al., 2010). It includes for drinking water (aquifers). The most important aquifers in this part of detailed sedimentological and log-interpretations of new stratigraphic Jylland are sand layers deposited in the early to middle Miocene boreholes and interpretation of high-resolution seismic data. More (Dybkjær and Piasecki, 2010; Rasmussen et al., 2010) when global cli- than 50 boreholes (including some offshore boreholes) and about matic variations and major sea-level changes (Zachos et al., 2001; twenty-five outcrops have been studied palynologically (Fig. 1). Fossil Miller et al., 2005), combined with uplift of the southern part of the dinoflagellate cysts (dinocysts) occur in nearly all of the deposits. The palynological studies have resulted in a dinocyst zonation scheme of – ⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: +47 51876473. nineteen dinocyst zones spanning from the Oligocene Miocene transi- E-mail address: [email protected] (T. Eidvin). tion to the Pliocene (Dybkjær and Piasecki, 2010). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2014.07.005 0031-0182/© 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/). 268 T. Eidvin et al. / Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 411 (2014) 267–280 Boreholes/wells 100 km German Basin (also southern Jylland), Laursen and Kristoffersen (1999) Exposures have established a detailed foraminiferal biostratigraphy of the Miocene Frida-1 Ribe and Måde groups based on examination of the foraminiferal and Studied localities Jylland Lone-1 North Sea Bolboforma contents in marine clay from 18 onshore boreholes. 50 km S-1 Tove-1 2. Material and methods 57°N Limfjorden Sweden 2.1. Material Salling 87Sr/86Sr ratios of 143 samples from 18 localities were obtained Lyby Strand (Fig. 1; Table 1); 54 of these samples were from the Rødding well, Harre-1 Denmark DGUnr. 141.1141. The analyses were carried out mainly on fragments Præstbjerg of mollusc shells, tests of foraminifera and one sample was a shark tooth (Table 1). Bolboforma are a group of calcareous microscopic fossils Fasterholt Jylland of uncertain affinity, probably algae. They have stratigraphic value in the 55°N Eocene to Pliocene, but especially in the middle and upper Miocene. The Sdr. Vium Jensgård recently collected shell material was supplemented with mollusc shells Fakkegrav Dykær picked from the collection of Leif Banke Rasmussen, stored at the Geo- Vejle Fjord logical Museum in Copenhagen (Rasmussen, 1966, 1968). Føvling Brejning Bøgeskov Sjælland 2.2. Methods Gram-2 Rødding Fyn Gram The analytical work was executed by the Mass Spectrometry Labora- 53°NLille Tønde tory at the University of Bergen, Norway. All Sr isotope ratios were nor- Hørup Hav malised to 86Sr/88Sr = 0.1194 and to the National Institute for Standard Klintinghoved and Technology (NIST) SRM 987 = 0.710248 (McArthur et al., 2001). Germany Reproducibility of the methodology is estimated to be 0.000023 (2 sd, 8°E 10°E 12°E n = 239) by multiple measurements of NIST SRM 987 between 2008 and 2012. Sr isotope values were converted to age estimates using the Fig. 1. Map of onshore and offshore Denmark showing wells, boreholes and outcrops Strontium isotope stratigraphy Look-Up Table Version 4: 08/04 analysed for dinoflagellate cysts (Dybkjær and Piasecki, 2010), Bolboforma and foraminifera (Eidvin et al., 2013d) and showing the sites where shell material has been Sr dated. Small cir- (Howarth and McArthur, 2004). See also Eidvin and Rundberg (2001, cles: outcrops and boreholes which formed the basis for the dinocyst study (Dybkjær and 2007) and Eidvin et al. (2013d) for more details about the method. Piasecki, 2010). Large circles: outcrops and boreholes which formed the basis for the dinocyst The correlative dinoflagellate stratigraphy in this study is based on study (Dybkjær and Piasecki, 2010) as well as the present Sr isotope study. the 2004 time-scale (Gradstein et al., 2004) and consequently the ages from Sr isotope values have been correlated with the Look-Up The succession is well dated by dinocyst biostratigraphy. Strati- Table Version 4: 08/04. graphic events in the Danish succession are correlated with correspond- ing events e.g. in DSDP/ODP/IODP cores from the North Atlantic region 3. Geological setting and integrated with biostratigraphy, palaeomagnetic stratigraphy, ra- diometric dating and Sr isotope stratigraphy. However, long distance The Norwegian–Danish Basin is confined by the Fennoscandian Shield correlation from the North Sea region to events in the North Atlantic re- in the north and the Fennoscandian Border Zone also known as the gion may introduce uncertainties in the precision. With the purpose of Sorgenfrei–Tornquist Zone in the northeast. In the south, the elucidating this uncertainty, Sr isotope dating on selected shell material Ringkøbing-Fyn High separates the Norwegian–Danish Basin from from the Danish Miocene succession has been performed on the same the North German Basin. The deepest part of the basin is located in the well and outcrop samples as the dinocyst investigations. The results of west, bordering the Central Graben (Ziegler, 1990; Rasmussen et al., these analyses form the basis of this contribution. 2005). The basin was formed during a period of Permian rift tectonism Strontium isotope stratigraphy (SIS) is a very useful tool for chrono- (Ziegler, 1982, 1990; Berthelsen, 1992). Thick, coarse-grained, delta fan stratigraphic control. The 87Sr/86Sr ratio of seawater is very uniform on a deposits were laid down during the rift event.