Paleocene deep-water depositional systems in the North Sea Basin

Interpretation of 3D seismic reflection data supported by well data provides insights into the geometry of early Paleogene depositional systems along the eastern margin of the North Viking Graben. These deposits, which consist mainly of sandstones interbedded with claystones and siltstones, are interpreted to document deposition at the edge of a large base-of-slope to proximal basin floor fan system which was sourced from the eastern basin margin. Individual sandstone bodies are up to 80 m thick and occur within four sandstone-prone packages (DU1–4), and well-to-seismic ties indicate that the thicker sandstones (>10 m) are represented by channelized or sheet-like, high-amplitude anomalies. Both well and seismic data suggest that the sandstones are of limited lateral extent (<1–5 km), implying they were deposited in a series of channels. Channelization and compensational stacking of sandstones may have been at least partly controlled by differential compaction across previously deposited sandbodies. The study reveals that deep-water depositional patterns are more complex than is apparent from previous, lithostratigraphically-driven correlations and from regional isochron mapping. In particular, this study has implications for the controls on the distribution and reservoir architecture of deep-water sandstones.