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The role of Mesozoic rifting in the opening of the NE Atlantic: evidence from deep seismic profiling across the Faroe–Shetland Trough

R.W. England, J.H. McBride and R.W. Hobbs
Journal of the Geological Society, 162, 661-673, 1 July 2005, https://doi.org/10.1144/0016-764904-076
R.W. England
44Formerly at: British Institutions Reflection Profiling Syndicate, Bullard Laboratories, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0EZ, UK
11Department of Geology, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK (e-mail: rwe5@le.ac.uk)
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J.H. McBride
44Formerly at: British Institutions Reflection Profiling Syndicate, Bullard Laboratories, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0EZ, UK
22Department of Geology, Brigham Young University, PO Box 24606, Provo, UT 84602-4606, USA
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R.W. Hobbs
44Formerly at: British Institutions Reflection Profiling Syndicate, Bullard Laboratories, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0EZ, UK
33Department of Earth Sciences, Science Laboratories, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
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Abstract

The FAST deep seismic reflection profile traverses the whole width of the Faroe–Shetland Trough. The principal target of the profile was the structure of the crust beneath the Faroe basalts. In this region, bright reflections are seen from between 7 and 9 km depth beneath the basalts, dipping westwards in the opposite direction to the dip of the basalts and reflections within the basalts. These sub-basalt reflections are regarded as originating from near top basement. The Moho has not been imaged beneath the basalts, possibly because of the absence of any impedance contrast at the base of the crust. The profile shows that the basement of the Faroe–Shetland Trough thins to c. 10 km beneath the centre of the trough. Thinning of the crystalline basement is probably the result of more than one phase of extension, the most recent of which occurred in the mid- to late Cretaceous. Extension appears to have been concentrated on a series of east-dipping normal faults cutting through the basement. These faults may have originated during a Precambrian rifting event. It is suggested that opening of the NE Atlantic occurred to the west of the Faroe Islands, as Mesozoic rifting in the Faroe–Shetland Trough had strengthened the lithosphere in this region.

  • Faroe–Shetland Trough
  • deep seismic profiling
  • rifting
  • continental margins
  • gravity anomalies
  • modelling
  • © 2005 The Geological Society of London
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Journal of the Geological Society: 162 (4)
Journal of the Geological Society
Volume 162, Issue 4
July 2005
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The role of Mesozoic rifting in the opening of the NE Atlantic: evidence from deep seismic profiling across the Faroe–Shetland Trough

R.W. England, J.H. McBride and R.W. Hobbs
Journal of the Geological Society, 162, 661-673, 1 July 2005, https://doi.org/10.1144/0016-764904-076
R.W. England
44Formerly at: British Institutions Reflection Profiling Syndicate, Bullard Laboratories, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0EZ, UK
11Department of Geology, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK (e-mail: rwe5@le.ac.uk)
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
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  • Search for this author on this site
J.H. McBride
44Formerly at: British Institutions Reflection Profiling Syndicate, Bullard Laboratories, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0EZ, UK
22Department of Geology, Brigham Young University, PO Box 24606, Provo, UT 84602-4606, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
R.W. Hobbs
44Formerly at: British Institutions Reflection Profiling Syndicate, Bullard Laboratories, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0EZ, UK
33Department of Earth Sciences, Science Laboratories, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
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The role of Mesozoic rifting in the opening of the NE Atlantic: evidence from deep seismic profiling across the Faroe–Shetland Trough

R.W. England, J.H. McBride and R.W. Hobbs
Journal of the Geological Society, 162, 661-673, 1 July 2005, https://doi.org/10.1144/0016-764904-076
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  • Article
    • Abstract
    • The seismic data
    • FAST data acquisition and processing
    • UNST and FIRE acquisition and processing
    • Description and interpretation
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