Mid-Pleistocene thin-skinned glaciotectonic thrusting of the Aberdeen Ground Formation, Central Graben region, central North Sea

• Published in: Journal of Quaternary Science
• Main Authors: Vaughan-Hirsch, David P., Phillips, Emrys R.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2017
• Subjects: Ice Sheet
• Online Access: http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/513516/; https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/513516/1/DVH%20and%20phillips%20JQS%20North%20Sea%20paper.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1002/jqs.2836

This paper presents the results of a high-resolution 2D seismic survey of mid-Pleistocene glaciogenic sediments in the Central Graben region of the central North Sea. Sediments have undergone major glaciotectonic thrusting and folding associated with the repeated southerly advance of a mid-Pleistocene ice sheet. The total observed length of the thrust-stacked section is approximately 5–6 km, comprising a series of discrete thrust slices, which range in length from < 300 m to > 700 m. The basal detachment of the thrust complex occurs at a depth of ca. 220 m below the sea bed within the upper Aberdeen Ground Formation. A thin-skinned glaciotectonic model involving proglacial to ice-marginal glaciotectonic thrusting followed by post-tectonic deposition is proposed. Initial ice advance led to the over-pressurizing of groundwater within a laterally extensive sand sheet in the upper Aberdeen Ground Formation, promoting the formation of a major décollement surface at the base of the developing thrust-stack. Over-pressurization of the groundwater system is thought to have occurred in response to rapid ice advance, suggesting that the development of large-scale thrust complexes may be associated with surge-type behaviour. The proposed model evidences complex dynamics of mid-Pleistocene ice sheets within the central North Sea.