PhD defence: Thomas Guldborg Petersen

Thomas Guldborg Petersen defends his thesis,

Palaeogene tectono-stratigraphic evolution of the Western Barents Sea, Svalbard and Northeast Greenland

Supervisor:
Professor Lars Stemmerik, SNM

Assessment Committee:
Principal Exploration Geologist Rikke Bruhn, DONG - Norway
Associate Professor Ole Rønø Clausen, Aarhus University
Associate Professor Lars Ole Boldreel (chair), IGN

Summary:
The plate tectonic mechanisms related to the break-up between Norway and Greenland around 55 million years ago are relatively well understood. However, little is known about the sediments and the paleoenvironment in Northeast Greenland during the break-up, mostly due to poorly exposed rocks of this age onshore Northeast Greenland. It is possible to recognize sediment stacking patterns offshore Northeast Greenland and the conjugate West Barents Sea by using seismic sounding data available from the hydrocarbon exploration industry. A central challenge that is addressed in this thesis is the correlation across the break-up, since no wells have been drilled on the continental shelf of Northeast Greenland in order to constrain the ages and the sediment types. It is possible to mitigate this lack of data by correlating the bedding geometries on the conjugate plate margins, by relating the deposition to the vertical motions of the plate margins during the break-up. An excellent record of sediments deposited around the time of the continental break-up is present onshore Svalbard. By analyzing the radiometric ages of zircon grains in the sandstones, it is possible to deduct which rocks provided the eroded material for the sandstones on Svalbard. By integrating the seismic sounding interpretations with the sandstone provenance data, it is possible to create a model for the spatial and temporal distribution of depositional environments and sediment fairways on the continental margins surrounding the Greenland Sea. This information is highly relevant for any future hydrocarbon exploration in Northeast Greenland as well as the understanding of the processes involved in continental break-up.

The thesis is available from the PhD administration office 04.1.417