Unraveling the Neogene Glaciation History of West Greenland’s Shelf

On the back of recent exploration activity on the West Greenland shelf the seismic and well data density is becoming such that it is becoming possible for the first time to interpret the extent and impact of glaciation of the West Greenland continental shelf in the Neogene. Seismic and well data are suggesting that partial shelf glaciation has occurred several times before the start of the Pleistocene. Along the West Greenland coast a number of large fjord - cross-shelf trough systems are found. Sedimentation there has been dominated by trough-mouth fans building out from the basin margin into deepwater environments, forming characteristic glacially overprinted prograding marine megasequences. The more quiescent platform areas separating the trough systems are characterised by relatively steep shelf slopes and an dominance of debris flow facies. The objective is to identify diagnostic phenomena and criteria to recognize pre-Pleistocene glaciated passive margin shelf sediments. Longer-term target is to develop a reliable depositional sequence model for glacially-influenced passive margins, able to predict reservoir quality sweetspots. One of the challenges faced is the limited reliable age control in these environments.