The relationship between the distribution of Tertiary sediments, tectonic processes and deep-water circulation around the Faeroe Islands

• Published in: Geological Society, London, Special Publications
• Main Authors: Boldreel, Lars Ole, Andersen, Morten Sparre
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 1995
• Subjects: Arctic; Norwegian Sea
• Online Access: https://curis.ku.dk/portal/da/publications/the-relationship-between-the-distribution-of-tertiary-sediments-tectonic-processes-and-deepwater-circulation-around-the-faeroe-islands(0fe430ae-0dc4-4161-b8fe-136859457743).html; https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.1995.090.01.09; http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0345155562&partnerID=8YFLogxK

Compressional structures, which were initiated in the Eocene, and thermal subsidence played an important role in the distribution of the post-Palaeocene sediments around the Faeroe Islands. Additionally, the deep-water currents passing through the Faeroe-Shetland Channel and the Faeroe Bank Channel contributed to the distribution of the sediments from Oligocene-Miocene to Recent. The relationship is illustrated by the outcrop of four pre-Upper Pliocene sedimentary sequences below a thin cover of Pleistocene sediments and the surface of the upper Palaeocene basalts in the study area, which consists of three basins - the Norwegian Sea, the Faeroe-Shetland Channel and the Faeroe Bank Channel, separated by compressional ridges. The axial part of the Faeroe-Shetland Channel is characterized by a fairly flat bottom topography caused by differential sedimentation and erosion by deep-water currents flowing against the topography. The flat channel floor narrows southwards to the tip of the Munkagrunnur Ridge. Due to tectonic structure, differential deposition and erosion, progressively older sediment units are exposed to the south. The channel floor stays narrow in the Faeroe Bank Channel. To the west of the Faeroe Channel Knoll, which is located within the central part of the deep Arctic bottom current, up to 2000 m of sediments are present. At the northern end of the Faeroe Bank Channel the basalt crops out as a result of non-deposition and erosion by the deep Arctic bottom current.