similar position to the dry areas to the north of the
present Himalayas.
The latest Carboniferous-Permian extension in the
North Sea region (Fig. 25.2) was linked to the
Variscan fold belt by strike-slip movements on a series
of NW-SE trending zones of weakness (among others
the Sorgenfrei-Tornquist Zone). The rifting was
associated with widespread and massive igneous
activity. This is well known from the onshore part of
the Oslo Rift (Oslo Graben) but similar rocks, both
extrusives and intrusives, are present in the subsurface
offshore (e.g. Skagerrak Graben, Sorgenfrei-Tornquist
Zone, Central Graben; Fig. 25.9).
Sedimentation in the North Sea region was
dominated by two E-W aligned basins separated by
the Mid-North Sea and Ringkøbing–Fyn highs. The
basins were infilled with Rotliegend continental
sediments, most rapidly in the southern basin which
was nearest the mountains and subsided fastest.
Alluvial fans and aeolian dune sand accumulated
most of the sediment supply from the south. These
types of sediment are well-exposed in southwest
England near Exmouth but also in northeast England,
near Durham and Newcastle. In the North Sea basin
the Upper Rotliegend contains an extensive, mostly
aeolian, sandstone called the Auk Formation.
The climate behind the mountain range was dry,
and a marine evaporite basin eventually developed,
possibly with a narrow passage through the Viking
Graben to the open ocean in the north to a seaway
between Norway and Greenland. There was, however,
an important connection eastwards through Poland.
The deposition of the Zechstein salt commenced in
the southern Permian basin and spread across most of
the North Sea basin during Late Permian time but is
absent in the northern North Sea. Sabkha deposits
accumulated in areas marginal to the evaporite basins.
25.2.2.4 Triassic
Rifting continued into earliest Triassic time and the
Triassic to Middle Jurassic succession reflects a pattern of repeated outbuilding of clastic wedges from the
2
4
6
2
4
6
10 km
s twt
s twt
Central Graben
Ringkøbing-Fyn High
Ringkøbing-Fyn High
Norwegian-Danish Basin
Sorgenfrei-Tornquist Zone
Skagerrak-Kattegat Platform
SW
SW
NE
NE
?
?
0
2
4
6
0
100
200
300
400
500
570 km
Central Graben
Horn Graben Norwegian-Danish Basin
Sorgenfrei-Tornquist
Zone
W
E
s twt
?
?
?
0
0
10 km
2
4
6
NW
10 km
Skagerrak Graben
SE
s twt
Basement
Triassic
Salt (Zechstein)
Cretaceous
Jurassic
Cenozoic
Palaeozoic
0
4
5
6
Fig. 25.9 Regional profiles across the SE North Sea, Skagerrak and Kattegat (modified from Heeremans and Faleide 2004). See
Fig. 25.5 for location
612
J.I. Faleide et al.
present Himalayas.
The latest Carboniferous-Permian extension in the
North Sea region (Fig. 25.2) was linked to the
Variscan fold belt by strike-slip movements on a series
of NW-SE trending zones of weakness (among others
the Sorgenfrei-Tornquist Zone). The rifting was
associated with widespread and massive igneous
activity. This is well known from the onshore part of
the Oslo Rift (Oslo Graben) but similar rocks, both
extrusives and intrusives, are present in the subsurface
offshore (e.g. Skagerrak Graben, Sorgenfrei-Tornquist
Zone, Central Graben; Fig. 25.9).
Sedimentation in the North Sea region was
dominated by two E-W aligned basins separated by
the Mid-North Sea and Ringkøbing–Fyn highs. The
basins were infilled with Rotliegend continental
sediments, most rapidly in the southern basin which
was nearest the mountains and subsided fastest.
Alluvial fans and aeolian dune sand accumulated
most of the sediment supply from the south. These
types of sediment are well-exposed in southwest
England near Exmouth but also in northeast England,
near Durham and Newcastle. In the North Sea basin
the Upper Rotliegend contains an extensive, mostly
aeolian, sandstone called the Auk Formation.
The climate behind the mountain range was dry,
and a marine evaporite basin eventually developed,
possibly with a narrow passage through the Viking
Graben to the open ocean in the north to a seaway
between Norway and Greenland. There was, however,
an important connection eastwards through Poland.
The deposition of the Zechstein salt commenced in
the southern Permian basin and spread across most of
the North Sea basin during Late Permian time but is
absent in the northern North Sea. Sabkha deposits
accumulated in areas marginal to the evaporite basins.
25.2.2.4 Triassic
Rifting continued into earliest Triassic time and the
Triassic to Middle Jurassic succession reflects a pattern of repeated outbuilding of clastic wedges from the
2
4
6
2
4
6
10 km
s twt
s twt
Central Graben
Ringkøbing-Fyn High
Ringkøbing-Fyn High
Norwegian-Danish Basin
Sorgenfrei-Tornquist Zone
Skagerrak-Kattegat Platform
SW
SW
NE
NE
?
?
0
2
4
6
0
100
200
300
400
500
570 km
Central Graben
Horn Graben Norwegian-Danish Basin
Sorgenfrei-Tornquist
Zone
W
E
s twt
?
?
?
0
0
10 km
2
4
6
NW
10 km
Skagerrak Graben
SE
s twt
Basement
Triassic
Salt (Zechstein)
Cretaceous
Jurassic
Cenozoic
Palaeozoic
0
4
5
6
Fig. 25.9 Regional profiles across the SE North Sea, Skagerrak and Kattegat (modified from Heeremans and Faleide 2004). See
Fig. 25.5 for location
612
J.I. Faleide et al.