Abstract
I report here the first quantitative study of the entire post-Palaeozoic subsidence history in the ensemble of north-west European sedimentary basins. Data obtained from wells suggests that the late Permian through Mesozoic subsidence of the Danish Basin is a result of lithosphere-wide cooling following an igneous event of late Carboniferous to early Permian age. This cooling subsidence was superposed by major Triassic rifting and minor mid-Jurassic uplift, both events apparently not having significant thermal consequences. The Danish Basin did not experience the late Jurassic to early Cretaceous rifting and subsequent cooling which were so important in the development of the central North Sea rifts. This result suggests that a reappraisal of North Sea tectonics should look for pre-Jurassic subsidence.
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Sørensen, K. Danish Basin subsidence by Triassic rifting on a lithosphere cooling background. Nature 319, 660–663 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1038/319660a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/319660a0
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