A stratigraphic link between the NE Greenland and Mid-Norwegian continental margins based on reflection seismic and borehole data
During the last decades, the Norwegian-Greenland Sea has been a focus of research. Beside commercial interest in hydrocarbon exploration, the region is important for the understanding of the Cenozoic climate evolution from the opening of the North Atlantic at approximately 55 Ma to the late-Cenozoic glaciations. In 2003, the research vessel “Polarstern” conducted a seismic survey along the NE Greenland shelf and slope during expedition “ARKTIS XIX leg 4a”. We reprocessed seven seismic profiles from this data set applying multiple suppression, radon transformation and time migration. Furthermore, a seismic net consisting of 13 processed profiles along the Mid-Norwegian margin with a special focus on the Vøring Plateau area reaching into deep sea were provided by the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD). The NPD profiles served as a link between the deep-sea parts of the NE Greenland and Norwegian margins for a seismo-stratigraphic correlation, based on its reflection characteristics and P-wave velocity distribution from Eocene to Pleistocene times. Borehole data of the Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) and its successor, the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) supported reflection seismic correlation between the two continental margins via sonic velocities from log measurements (if available) and stratigraphic correlations among borehole data based on previous literature researches, shipboard scientific reports and initial reports. Based on these data sets, an updated Cenozoic stratigraphic model of the NE Greenland continental margin could be derived. The results should ease and encourage selections of drilling spots and offshore seismic data acquisition in future, since both will contribute to a more detailed picture of the Cenozoic strata and the geological evolution of the Norwegian-Greenland Sea.