Post-rift geology of the Jeanne d'Arc Basin, with a focus on the architecture and evolution of early Paleogene submarine fans, and insights from modern deep-water systems.

• Main Author: Deptuck, Mark Edward.
• Other Authors: Ph.D.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Dalhousie University 2014
• Subjects: Geology; Banks Shelf; Canada; Newfoundland
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10222/55927

The Jeanne d'Arc Basin (JDB) is a relatively small passive-margin rift basin that underlies the northeastern part of the present day Grand Banks of Newfoundland. Up to 4 km of Upper Cretaceous and Tertiary strata were deposited in or above the basin and are generally believed to record the post-rift history of the region (i.e. after active sea floor spreading began in surrounding oceanic basins). The interval has, until now, remained poorly studied despite the plethora of well and seismic data in the region. This thesis aims to (1) improve the understanding of the post-rift succession in the JDB, (2) determine the architecture and growth patterns of early Tertiary submarine fans in the JDB, and draw comparisons with both modern and ancient analogues, and (3) investigate the architecture and evolution of sinuous submarine channels in the JDB and other locations around the world. The primary JDB data set consists of a regional grid of 2-D seismic lines (20 300 line kilometers, covering 40 720 km2), several 3-D seismic volumes (covering 1800 km2), and 84 industry wells. Key seismic markers correlated across the JDB and Flemish Pass, combined with well ties, were used to establish a regional framework for the post-rift history of the northeastern part of the Grand Banks. The succession has been divided into four stages, each defined according to its depositional setting and basin structure and relief. The study area evolved from a confined rift basin (i.e. the JDB---stages 1 and 2) to the unconfined Grand Banks shelf and slope located along the present margin (stages 3 and 4). A formal lithostratigraphic classification scheme is proposed for Upper Cretaceous and Tertiary strata in the JDB, and formal definitions are provided for four members of the Dawson Canyon Formation and five members of the Banquereau Formation. In the Late Cretaceous through Middle Eocene (early-Bartonian) the JDB formed a depression bounded by basement highs along its southern, eastern and western margins. The depression was filled by a combination of prograding clastics from the west, submarine fans in basinal areas, pelagic drape, and sediment transported by ocean currents. (Abstract shortened by UMI.) Thesis (Ph.D.)--Dalhousie University (Canada), 2004.