Pulses of coarse clastic input with an East Greenland
provenance appeared in the Vøring Basin from early
Cenomanian to at least early Campanian times.
Break-up in the NE Atlantic was preceded by
prominent Late Cretaceous–Palaeocene rifting. At
the onset of this rifting, the area between NW Europe
and Greenland was an epicontinental sea covering a
region in which the crust had been extensively weakened by previous rift episodes. The main period of
brittle faulting occurred in Campanian time followed
by smaller-scale activity towards break-up. The
Campanian rifting resulted in low-angle detachment
structures that updome thick Cretaceous sequences
and sole out at medium-to-deep intracrustal levels on
the Vøring and Lofoten-Vestera ˚len margins.
Late Cretaceous–Palaeocene rifting at the Vøring
Margin covers a 150 km wide area bounded on the
east by the Fles Fault Complex and the Utgard High
(Fig. 25.10). Along the outer Møre and LofotenVestera ˚len margins, most of the Late Cretaceous–Palaeocene deformation is masked by the lavas, but the
structures appear to continue seawards underneath the
break-up lavas. On the Møre and Vøring margins, the
Palaeocene epoch was characterised by relatively deep
water conditions. Depocentres in the western Møre
and Vøring basins were sourced from the uplifted rift
zone in the west. The northwestern corner of southern
Norway was also uplifted and eroded, and the
sediments were mainly deposited in the NE North
Sea and SE Møre Basin.
Final lithospheric break-up at the Norwegian margin occurred near the Palaeocene–Eocene transition at
55 Ma. It culminated in a 3–6 m.y. period of massive
magmatic activity during break-up and the onset of
early seafloor spreading. At the outer margin (e.g.
Møre and Vøring margins), the lavas form characteristic seaward-dipping reflector sequences (Fig. 25.11)
that drilling has demonstrated to be subaerially and/or
neritically erupted basalts. These have become diagnostic features of volcanic margins. During the main
igneous episode at the Palaeocene–Eocene transition,
sills were intruded into the thick Cretaceous
successions throughout the NE Atlantic margin,
including the Vøring and Møre basins. Magma
Lofoten rifted margin
20
km
30
0
10
0
100
km
200
300
NW
SE
UR
RB LR
VB
LB
7+ km/s lower crustal
body (LCB)
Cenozoic
Cretaceous
Lower Mesozoic -
Upper Palaeozoic
Continental basement
Oceanic basement
Extrusives
NW
VMH
SE
VE
20
km
30
0
0
10
Vøring rifted margin
100
km
200
300
400
500
600
GR
VS
RsB
DT
Møre rifted margin
0
100
km
200
300
400
500
600
20
km
30
0
10
NW
SE
VH
MMH
NB
?
?
7
11
12
FB
Vøring Basin
Trøndelag Platform
Møre Basin
Fig. 25.12 Regional crustal transects across the Mid-Norwegian Margin (modified/updated from Faleide et al. 2008). See
Fig. 25.10 for location and abbreviations
25 Geology of the Norwegian Continental Shelf
623
provenance appeared in the Vøring Basin from early
Cenomanian to at least early Campanian times.
Break-up in the NE Atlantic was preceded by
prominent Late Cretaceous–Palaeocene rifting. At
the onset of this rifting, the area between NW Europe
and Greenland was an epicontinental sea covering a
region in which the crust had been extensively weakened by previous rift episodes. The main period of
brittle faulting occurred in Campanian time followed
by smaller-scale activity towards break-up. The
Campanian rifting resulted in low-angle detachment
structures that updome thick Cretaceous sequences
and sole out at medium-to-deep intracrustal levels on
the Vøring and Lofoten-Vestera ˚len margins.
Late Cretaceous–Palaeocene rifting at the Vøring
Margin covers a 150 km wide area bounded on the
east by the Fles Fault Complex and the Utgard High
(Fig. 25.10). Along the outer Møre and LofotenVestera ˚len margins, most of the Late Cretaceous–Palaeocene deformation is masked by the lavas, but the
structures appear to continue seawards underneath the
break-up lavas. On the Møre and Vøring margins, the
Palaeocene epoch was characterised by relatively deep
water conditions. Depocentres in the western Møre
and Vøring basins were sourced from the uplifted rift
zone in the west. The northwestern corner of southern
Norway was also uplifted and eroded, and the
sediments were mainly deposited in the NE North
Sea and SE Møre Basin.
Final lithospheric break-up at the Norwegian margin occurred near the Palaeocene–Eocene transition at
55 Ma. It culminated in a 3–6 m.y. period of massive
magmatic activity during break-up and the onset of
early seafloor spreading. At the outer margin (e.g.
Møre and Vøring margins), the lavas form characteristic seaward-dipping reflector sequences (Fig. 25.11)
that drilling has demonstrated to be subaerially and/or
neritically erupted basalts. These have become diagnostic features of volcanic margins. During the main
igneous episode at the Palaeocene–Eocene transition,
sills were intruded into the thick Cretaceous
successions throughout the NE Atlantic margin,
including the Vøring and Møre basins. Magma
Lofoten rifted margin
20
km
30
0
10
0
100
km
200
300
NW
SE
UR
RB LR
VB
LB
7+ km/s lower crustal
body (LCB)
Cenozoic
Cretaceous
Lower Mesozoic -
Upper Palaeozoic
Continental basement
Oceanic basement
Extrusives
NW
VMH
SE
VE
20
km
30
0
0
10
Vøring rifted margin
100
km
200
300
400
500
600
GR
VS
RsB
DT
Møre rifted margin
0
100
km
200
300
400
500
600
20
km
30
0
10
NW
SE
VH
MMH
NB
?
?
7
11
12
FB
Vøring Basin
Trøndelag Platform
Møre Basin
Fig. 25.12 Regional crustal transects across the Mid-Norwegian Margin (modified/updated from Faleide et al. 2008). See
Fig. 25.10 for location and abbreviations
25 Geology of the Norwegian Continental Shelf
623