Structural evolution of inverted basins in the Dutch offshore

Abstract

The structural evolution of the Dutch Central North Sea Graben and the fault-bounded Broad Fourteens Basin is discussed. Graben formation started during the Early Triassic and culminated in strong differential subsidence during the Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous. Narrow fault-bounded grabens and troughs and broad intervening highs were formed as a result of crustal distension and associated transtensional deformations. The thickness of the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous fill of these basins may have exceeded 3000 m. Concurrent with the filling of these basins the bordering highs became deeply truncated. During the Late Cretaceous and Early Tertiary, compressive stresses resulted in inversion of these basins, whereby movements along their bounding normal faults were reversed, giving rise locally to overthrusting as, for instance, in the Broad Fourteens and West Netherlands basins. The timing of these compressional deformations has been palaeontologically dated and coincides with major orogenic events in the Alps.