Assessing the rotation and segmentation of the Porcupine Bank, Irish Atlantic margin, during oblique rifting using deformable plate reconstruction

<p>With an increasing number of global and regional plate reconstruction models established in recent years, the motion of the Porcupine Bank, Irish Atlantic continental margin, underlain by orogeny-related pre-rift crustal basement terranes, have been investigated and restored as well.  However, these reconstructed models of the Porcupine Bank margin mainly depend on potential field data analysis and lack seismic constraints, failing to reveal the role of inherited crustal sutures during rifting and associated crustal deformation over geological time. In this study, five deformable models with distinct structural inheritance trends are established in GPlates by adjusting a previously published regional restoration model for the North Atlantic realm. For each model, driving factors (e.g., such as whether the Orphan Knoll is included, the altered rotational poles of the Flemish Cap, and the motion of the eastern border of the Porcupine Basin) are also taken into consideration. Crustal thicknesses from gravity inversion and seismic refraction data modelling are compared against those from these deformable plate reconstruction models to identify the most geologically reasonable one. The resulting preferred model has the Porcupine Bank subdivided into four blocks with each experiencing polyphase rotations and shearing prior to final continental breakup, implying strong inheritance and segmentation of the Porcupine Bank and the Porcupine Basin. The derived reconstructed paleo-positions over time of the Flemish Cap and the Porcupine Bank within the deforming topological network reveal new and evolving conjugate relationships during rifting, which are assessed using regional seismic transects from both margins. Finally, extensional obliquity between both margins is quantitatively restored, showing time-variant orientations due to the rotation and shearing of associated continental blocks, which contributes to unraveling the spatial and temporal evolution of southern North Atlantic rifting during the Mesozoic, prior to the initiation of seafloor spreading.</p>

Diffraction imaging of sedimentary basins: An example from the Porcupine Basin

<p>Diffraction imaging is the technique of separating diffraction energy from the source wavefield and processing it independently. As diffractions are formed from objects and discontinuities, or diffractors, which are small in comparison to the wavelength, if the diffraction energy is imaged, so too are the diffractors. These diffractors take many forms such as faults, fractures, and pinch-out points, and are therefore geologically significant. Diffraction imaging has been applied here to the Porcupine Basin; a hyperextended basin located 200km to the southwest of Ireland with a rich geological history. The basin has seen interest both academically and industrially as a study on hyperextension and a potential source of hydrocarbons. The data is characterised by two distinct, basin-wide, fractured carbonates nestled between faulted sandstones and mudstones. Additionally, there are both mass-transport deposits and fans present throughout the data, which pose a further challenge for diffraction imaging. Here, we propose the usage of diffraction imaging to better image structures both within the carbonate, such as fractures, and below.</p><p>To perform diffraction imaging, we have utilised a trained Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) which automatically locates and separates the diffraction energy on pre-migrated seismic data. The data has then been migrated to create a diffraction image. This image is used in conjunction with the conventional image as an attribute, akin to coherency or semblance, to identify diffractors which may be geologically significant. Using this technique, we highlight the fracture network of a large Cretaceous chalk body present in the Porcupine, the internal structure of mass-transport deposits, potential fan edges, and additional faults within the data which may affect fluid flow pathways.</p>

Multi-phase development of the Porcupine Basin during the rifting of the North-Atlantic

<p>The hyper-extended Porcupine Basin, offshore southwest Ireland, is a component of the Eastern North Atlantic rifted continental margin. The basin developed following multiple rifting phases with different extension directions between the Late-Palaeozoic and the Cenozoic. The present-day north-south trend of the Porcupine Basin developed during the main Middle-Jurassic to Lower-Cretaceous rifting phase, which is interpreted to have overprinted earlier extension directions. In this study, we outline the tectono-stratigraphic architecture and the kinematics of the Porcupine Basin derived from seismic interpretation and fault analysis of multiple 2D and 3D seismic datasets.</p><p>Our ongoing work identifies different fault networks with distinctive orientations and ages, confirming multiple rifting phases of the basin. The older faults identified strike NE/SW and offset the top of the Jurassic basement and the oldest syn-tectonic sequences. The younger faults strike N/S, offset the whole syn-tectonic stratigraphic sequence and bound the present-day tilted blocks of thinned continental crust. Interactions between these two main generations of faults created strong lateral variability in the geometry of the fault-bounded blocks. In addition, our interpretations highlight strong segmentation along the axis of the basin, evidenced by changes in the structural architecture of the faults along the flanks of the basin, and by rapid changes in the depth to the Jurassic basement from one segment to another. This segmentation occurs across several lineaments that are orthogonal to the main N-S direction of the tilted blocks observed along the flanks of the basin, and that are also observed in the central parts of the basin with gravity data and by the compartmentalisation of sedimentary depocenters. We interpret these lineaments as transfer zones that can be related to the kinematics of the basin. These zones may have accommodated either temporal or spatial changes in the directions of extension, or a stepped variation in E-W extension along the axis of the basin.</p><p>Our results help to better understand the controls on the geometry and kinematics of fault systems within the Porcupine Basin, and to better evaluate the structural evolution of the Porcupine Basin and its significance in the broader context of the North Atlantic rifting.</p>

Moho depth of the British Isles: a probabilistic perspective

SUMMARY We present a new Moho depth model of the British Isles and surrounding areas from the most up-to-date compilation of Moho depth estimates obtained from refraction, reflection and receiver function data. We use a probabilistic, trans-dimensional and hierarchical approach for the surface reconstruction of Moho topography. This fully data-driven approach allows for adaptive parametrization, assessment of relative importance between different data-types and uncertainties quantification on the reconstructed surface. Our results confirm the first order features of the Moho topography obtained in previous work such as deeper Moho (29–36 km) in continental areas (e.g. Ireland and Great Britain) and shallower Moho (12–22 km) offshore (e.g. in the Atlantic Ocean, west of Ireland). Resolution is improved by including recent available data, especially around the Porcupine Basin, onshore Ireland and Great Britain. NE trending features in Moho topography are highlighted above the Rockall High (about 28 km) and the Rockall Trough (with a NE directed deepening from 12 to about 20 km). A perpendicular SE oriented feature (Moho depth 26–28 km) is located between the Orkney and the Shetland, extending further SW in the North Sea. Onshore, our results highlight the crustal thinning towards the N in Ireland and an E–W oriented transition between deep (34 km) and shallow (about 28 km) Moho in Scotland. Our probabilistic results are compared with previous models showing overall differences around ±2 km, within the posterior uncertainties calculated with our approach. Bigger differences are located where different data are used between models or in less constrained areas where posterior uncertainties are high.

Predicting fluid pressure in sedimentary basins from seismic tomography

SUMMARY Gravitational compaction of thick (2–10 km) sediment accumulations in sedimentary basins is controlled by the interplay of mechanical and chemical processes that operate over many orders of magnitude in spatial scale. The compaction of sediments into rock typically involves a density increase of ≈500 to 1000 kg m−3, occurring over a depth-scale of several kilometres. The volume decrease in the compacting sediments releases vast volumes of water, which plays an important part in the global hydrological cycle and also in tectonic and geochemical processes; including the formation of hydrocarbon and mineral deposits. This study utilizes recently developed tomographic seismic images from the Porcupine Basin, which lies in the deep-water North Atlantic Ocean. A generic method for predicting fluid pressure variations that are driven by gravitational compaction is developed over the scale of the entire sedimentary basin. The methodology is grounded upon both observational evidence and empirically based theories, relying on geophysical measurements and relationships between sediment porosities and densities. The method is based upon physical concepts that are widely used in the petroleum industry and applied extensively in models of overpressure development in sedimentary basins. Geological and geophysical data from exploration wells are used to test the predictions of the method at two locations within the basin and are found to be in good agreement with the theory.