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The Provenance of Middle Jurassic to Cretaceous sediments in the Irish and Celtic Sea Basins: tectonic and environmental controls on sediment sourcing

The Provenance of Middle Jurassic to Cretaceous sediments in the Irish and Celtic Sea Basins: tectonic and environmental controls on sediment sourcing

McCarthy, Odhrán, Fairey, Brenton, Meere, Patrick, Chew, David, Kerrison, Aidan, Wray, David ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0799-2730, Hofmann, Mandy, Gärtner, Andreas, Sonntag, Benita-Lisette, Linnemann, Ulf and Kuiper, Klaudia F. (2021) The Provenance of Middle Jurassic to Cretaceous sediments in the Irish and Celtic Sea Basins: tectonic and environmental controls on sediment sourcing. Journal of the Geological Society, 178 (5). jgs2020-247. ISSN 0016-7649 (Print), 2041-479X (Online) (doi:10.1144/jgs2020-247)

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Abstract

The Jurassic and Cretaceous sedimentary infill of the Irish and Celtic Sea basins is intimately associated with the breakup of the supercontinent Pangea, and the opening of the Atlantic margin. Previous basin studies have constrained tectonism, basin uplift and sediment composition, but sediment provenance and routing have not received detailed consideration. Current hypotheses for basin infill suggest localised sediment sourcing throughout the Jurassic and Cretaceous, despite a dynamic tectonic and paleoenvironmental history spanning more than 100 million years. We present detrital zircon, white mica and apatite geochronology alongside heavy mineral data from five basins. Findings reveal that basin infill derived predominantly from distal sources with lesser periods of local sourcing. We deduce that tectonically induced marine transgression and regression events had a first-order control on distal versus proximal sedimentary sourcing. Additionally, tectonism which uplifted the Fastnet Basin region during the Middle–Late Jurassic recycled basin sediments into the connected Celtic and Irish Sea Basins. Detrital geochronology and heavy mineral evidence support three distinct provenance switches throughout the Jurassic and Cretaceous in these basins. Overall an integrated multi-proxy provenance approach provides novel insights to tectonic and environmental controls on basin infill as demonstrated in the Irish and Celtic Sea Basins.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Provenance, North Celtic Sea Basin, Saint George’s Channel Basin, Cimmerian Tectonism, U-Pb dating, Ar-Ar dating, heavy mineral analysis
Subjects: Q Science > QD Chemistry
Q Science > QE Geology
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group: Faculty of Engineering & Science
Faculty of Engineering & Science > School of Science (SCI)
Last Modified: 26 Mar 2022 01:38
URI: http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/31916

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