Karen Dybkjær

No causal link between terrestrial ecosystem change and methane release during the end-Triassic mass extinction

Profound changes in both marine and terrestrial biota during the end-Triassic mass extinction event and associated successive carbon cycle perturbations across the Triassic-Jurassic boundary (T-J, 201.3 Ma) have primarily been attributed to volcanic emissions from the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province and/or injection of methane. Here we present a new extended organic carbon isotope record from a cored T-J boundary succession in the Danish Basin, dated by high-resolution palynostratigraphy and supplemented by a marine faunal record. Correlated with reference C-isotope and biotic records from the UK, it provides new evidence that the major biotic changes, both on land and in the oceans, commenced prior to the most prominent negative C-isotope excursion. If massive methane release was involved, it did not trigger the end-Triassic mass extinction. Instead, this negative C-isotope excursion is contemporaneous with the onset of floral recovery on land, whereas marine ecosystems remained perturbed. The decoupling between ecosystem recovery on land and in the sea is more likely explained by long-term flood basalt volcanism releasing both SO2 and CO2 with short- and long-term effects, respectively.

Late Cenozoic depositional history of the Danish North Sea Basin: implications for the petroleum systems in the Kraka, Halfdan, Siri and Nini fields

The Central Graben area was filled with a thick pile of sediments during the Middle Miocene – Quaternary, corresponding to a period of 15Ma. As hydrocarbon expulsion from the most prolific source rock, the Upper Jurassic Bo Member, was initiated only 20 Ma BP and still occurs today, the Middle Miocene – Quaternary evolution is important. In the Middle Miocene, the Central Graben area was covered by a sea with water depth of 500–700 m. During the Late Miocene (Tortonian), the basin was successively filled by prograding slope and deltaic sediments from the northeast. The progradational infill resulted in local tilting of the substratum due to the loading effect of the deposits. In the latest Late Miocene (Messinian), the main input of sediments occurred from the south, as illustrated by a thick onlapping succession of upper Messinian sediments. Pliocene sedimentation was characterized by regular infill from the east within a shelf to shallow marine depositional environment. Following the Miocene and Pliocene, the North Sea Basin tilted due to strong uplift of the Fennoscandian shield and increased subsidence and sedimentation rates within the Central Graben area. This further complicated the maturation of the source rock, migration pathways and accumulation of hydrocarbons. The consequence of this complex burial history is exemplified by the Kraka and Halfdan fields. The Kraka Field has a large down-flank oil accumulation, which is the result of a porosity anomaly resulting from an early invasion of oil in this position before the late tilting of the North Sea Basin. The history of the non-structural accumulation of the Halfdan Field can be readily modelled; it constituted a simple four-way dip closure during the Late Miocene when peak oil migration occurred. The Quaternary tilting of the North Sea Basin due to uplift of the Fennoscandian Shield and strong subsidence of the Central Graben area resulted in a distinct gradient favouring long-distance migration of hydrocarbons. The occurrence of viable migration routes, especially within Paleocene sand layers, has resulted in long-distance migration of oil into the Siri submarine valley system. The most northern indication of hydrocarbons has been recognized as far as 75km from the source area. Long-distance migration of hydrocarbons is also indicated by direct hydrocarbon indications (DHIs) throughout the Cenozoic succession in the Danish North Sea. DHIs are particularly prominent above known hydrocarbon accumulations in the Central Graben. This indicates pronounced vertical migration, for instance along active faults, above these structures.

Intense and widespread seismicity during the end-Triassic mass extinction due to emplacement of a large igneous province

Multiple levels of earthquake-induced soft-sediment deformations (seismites) are concentrated in the end-Triassic mass extinction interval across Europe. The repetitive nature of the seismites rules out an origin by an extraterrestrial impact. Instead, this intense seismic activity is linked to the formation of the Central Atlantic magmatic province (CAMP). By the earliest Jurassic the seismic activity had ceased, while extrusive volcanism still continued and biotic recovery was on its way. This suggests that magmatic intrusions into sedimentary strata during early stages of CAMP formation caused emission of gases (SO 2 , halocarbons, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) that may have played a major part in the biotic crisis.

Organic-walled dinoflagellate cyst stratigraphy in an expanded Oligocene–Miocene boundary section in the eastern North Sea Basin (Frida-1 Well, Denmark) and correlation from basinal to marginal areas

The organic-walled dinoflagellate cyst (dinocyst) assemblages in an unusually thick (>800m) Oligocene–Miocene boundary succession from the eastern North Sea Basin (the Frida-1 Well) were studied. Six successive dinocyst assemblages are described: the Wetzeliella gochtii Assemblage (early Chattian), the Distatodinium biffii Assemblage (Chattian), the Deflandrea phosphoritica Assemblage (latest Chattian), the Homotryblium spp. Assemblage (early Aquitanian), the Caligodinium amiculum Assemblage (Aquitanian) and the Cordosphaeridium cantharellus Assemblage (latest Aquitanian to early Burdigalian). The dinocyst assemblages are compared with informal dinocyst zonations proposed for the southern North Sea Basin (Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands). A correlation of the expanded basinal succession in Frida-1 with the marginal marine succession found onshore Jylland, based on the dinocyst stratigraphy combined with well logs and seismic data, is proposed. This correlation confirms earlier proposed datings of the onshore deposits and the presence of several hiati. Furthermore, the correlation made it possible to subdivide the succession in Frida-1 into the sequences A–C, as defined onshore. The Mi-1 glaciation event and thus the Oligocene–Miocene boundary are proposed to correlate to the boundary between sequences A and B.

Upper Jurassic reservoir sandstones in the Danish Central Graben: new insights on distribution and depositional environments

Abstract Recently available well data from the northern part of the Danish Central Graben have been analysed to further understand the basin development, biostratigraphy, depositional models and palaeogeography of Upper Jurassic reservoir sandstones, which are the primary exploration targets in this basin. Notably, the discovery of the Hejre accumulation in 2001, where oil has been encountered in Upper Jurassic good reservoir quality sandstones at a depth of more than 5000 m, triggered renewed interest in the Upper Jurassic High Temperature–High Pressure sandstone play in the area. Overall the Danish Central Graben was transgressed from east to west during the Late Jurassic. During the Late Kimmeridgian, marginal and shallow marine sandstones assigned to the Heno Formation were deposited at the margin of the Feda Graben, and on the Gertrud and Heno Plateaus and constitute the reservoirs in the Freja and Hejre discoveries. The sandstones are analogues to the UK Fulmar and Norwegian Ula Formations encountered in several hydrocarbon fields. During the Early Volgian, the transgression continued westwards across the Outer Rough Basin along the margin of the Mid North Sea High, where shoreface sandstones with excellent porosities and permeabilities were deposited close to similar sandstones of the Fulmar Formation in the British Fergus, Fife and Angus fields. During this overall westward transgression, the eastern and central parts of the Danish Central Graben continued to subside and offshore mudstones accumulated, locally intercalated with gravity-flow sandstones. In the easternmost Danish Central Graben, in the Tail End Graben, Upper Kimmeridgian gravity-flow sandstones of the Svane-1 well have proved the presence of gas at c . 6 km depth. Hydrocarbon-bearing Upper Jurassic sandstone reservoirs at significant depths (deeper than 5 km) may form the future exploration targets in the northern part of the Danish Central Graben.

Lower Eocene to Lower Miocene Stratigraphy and Palaeoenvironment of ODP Site 643A, Norwegian Sea

The focus of this study is the lower Eocene to lower Miocene succession in ODP Site 643A. The site is located in the Norwegian Sea, at the base of the Outer Voring Plateau (OVP). We analysed dinocyst assemblages and calculated the relative input of soil organic matter using an organic proxy, the branched/isoprenoid tetraether (BIT) index. Our results suggest outer neritic or oceanic conditions during the deposition of the studied succession, and a progressive submerging of the OVP. A transition from a stratified oxygen-depleted water column into a mixed and well-oxygenated column is observed at ~41.2 Ma and might be connected with subsidence of the OVP. The variations in dinocyst abundance indicate that there was a connected surface water circulation within the Norwegian–Greenlandic Sea in the latest Lutetian. Our record also suggests that there was a good surface water exchange between the Norwegian Sea and the North Sea Basin during the earliest Oligocene and at the Oligocene–Miocene transition.