Elsevier

Tectonophysics

Volume 367, Issues 1–2, 29 May 2003, Pages 101-126
Tectonophysics

The Cenozoic evolution of the Roer Valley Rift System integrated at a European scale

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0040-1951(03)00132-XGet rights and content

Abstract

The Roer Valley Rift System (RVRS) is located between the West European rift and the North Sea rift system. During the Cenozoic, the RVRS was characterized by several periods of subsidence and inversion, which are linked to the evolution of the adjacent rift systems. Combination of subsidence analysis and results from the analysis of thickness distributions and fault systems allows the determination of the Cenozoic evolution and quantification of the subsidence. During the Early Paleocene, the RVRS was inverted (Laramide phase). The backstripping method shows that the RVRS was subsequently mainly affected by two periods of subsidence, during the Late Paleocene and the Oligocene–Quaternary time intervals, separated by an inversion phase during the Late Eocene. During the Oligocene and Miocene periods, the thickness of the sediments and the distribution of the active faults reveal a radical rotation of the direction of extension by about 70–80° (counter clockwise). Integration of these results at a European scale indicates that the Late Paleocene subsidence was related to the evolution of the North Sea basins, whereas the Oligocene–Quaternary subsidence is connected to the West European rift evolution. The distribution of the inverted provinces also shows that the Early Paleocene inversion (Laramide phase) has affected the whole European crust, whereas the Late Eocene inversion was restricted to the southern North Sea basins and the Channel area. Finally, comparison of these deformations in the European crust with the evolution of the Alpine chain suggests that the formation of the Alps has controlled the evolution of the European crust since the beginning of the Cenozoic.

Introduction

North of the Upper Rhine Graben (URG), the Roer Valley Rift System (RVRS) corresponds to the northern segment of the European Cenozoic rift system described by Ziegler (1988) (Fig. 1a). The Cenozoic RVRS developed upon pre-existing basins of Carboniferous (Campine foreland basin) and Mesozoic (rift) age. It is structurally closely related to the Mesozoic basin. During the Mesozoic, the area was characterized by several periods of subsidence and inversion, which have reactivated the Variscan structural trends Ziegler, 1990, Zijerveld et al., 1992, Winstanley, 1993, Geluk et al., 1994. During the Cenozoic, the RVRS was affected by two periods of inversion named the Laramide phase (Earliest Tertiary) and the Pyrenean phase (Late Eocene–Early Oligocene) and by continuous subsidence since the beginning of the Oligocene Geluk et al., 1994, Houtgast and Van Balen, 2000. Preserved Late Oligocene–Early Miocene marine sediments on the Rhenish Massif demonstrate that the Roer Valley Graben (RVG) was connected to the URG Murawski et al., 1983, Sissingh, 1998, indicating a common evolution during at least this period. A close relationship between these two grabens is also suggested by the distribution of the earthquake focal mechanisms in the northern part of the URG and the RVG which indicate a present-day NE–SW extension in both areas (Plenefisch and Bonjer, 1997).

Structurally, the RVRS is part of the Lower Rhine Embayment and consists from southwest to northeast of the Campine Block, the RVG and the Peel Block (Fig. 1b). The graben, which is 20 km wide and 130 km long, has been controlled by the multi-stage activity of several major fault zones (Peel Boundary fault zone, Veldhoven fault zone, Rijen fault zone and Feldbiss fault zone) of Mesozoic or (probably) older age. The different activity of these fault zones has induced the formation of a present-day asymmetric structure with the main offsets located along the Peel Boundary fault zone.

The aim of this paper is to determine precisely the Cenozoic evolution of the RVG and the paleo-stress fields that have caused the reactivation of this structure. This study is based (1) on subsidence analysis inferred from deep wells situated in the graben and on its shoulders and (2) on inspection of maps (depth of base Late Cretaceous, base Tertiary and base Miocene sedimentation) resulting from mainly 2D and 3D seismic interpretation. The combination of these two approaches allows the quantification of the tectonic subsidence and determination of fault activity during the different Cenozoic time periods. For each period of sedimentation (or erosion), the characteristics of subsidence and the paleo-stress field can be deduced. Nevertheless, the density of seismic lines is not high enough to allow observation of small-scale tectonic structures (e.g., en echelon folds), which could provide additional information on the paleo-stress field. Comparison with the Cenozoic evolution of the surrounding rift systems (i.e., European Cenozoic rift system and the southern North Sea rift) allows to integrate the RVG evolution at a European scale. Our results are partly in agreement with the paleo-stress field orientations inferred from microtectonic data (e.g., Villemin and Bergerat, 1987). We discuss in a later section the potential origin of the differences found for the Late Eocene and Oligocene periods.

Subsidence analysis determines the tectonic subsidence apart from the total subsidence by applying the backstripping method (e.g., Van Hinte, 1978, Zijerveld et al., 1992). The other components of evolution are, for example, isostasy and compaction. The subsidence analysis is based on the analysis of 16 deep wells distributed in the graben and on its shoulders (Fig. 1c and Appendix A). Six of these wells have already been studied by Zijerveld et al. (1992). However, the large time frame studied in their work (250 Ma) does not provide detailed information concerning the Cenozoic evolution of the RVRS. In this paper, the tectonic subsidence of the Cenozoic time interval is studied in more detail and it is supplemented by the results for 10 additional wells, in order to determine the subsidence distribution and to assess the development of depocentres through time.

Although subsidence analysis provides fundamental information concerning the quantification of tectonic subsidence, the spatial distribution is poorly constrained. To close this gap of information, we have studied 25 additional deep wells for which the stratigraphic data are not detailed enough for backstripping analyses, but can still help to define the dynamics of each block and the tectonic activity for each period (Late Cretaceous–Early Paleocene, Late Paleocene, Early Oligocene, Late Oligocene and Miocene–Quaternary). Thus, altogether 41 wells are used to constrain the spatio-temporal distribution of the subsidence during the Cenozoic.

The Netherlands Institute of Applied Geoscience TNO-National Geological Survey has recently published the map sheets XIII and XIV of the Geological Atlas of the Subsurface of the Netherlands (NITG-TNO, 2001). These maps, which represent the depth and the thickness of several horizons, have been inferred from 2D and 3D seismic interpretation. For the Cenozoic period, maps corresponding to the “base Tertiary” (base Late Paleocene) and base Miocene (Breda Formation) horizons were created, allowing the thicknesses of the Paleogene and Neogene sediments to be determined. An additional map corresponding to the thickness of the Chalk deposits (Late Cretaceous–Early Paleocene) has been used in the present study in order to determine the deformation caused by the Laramide phase in the beginning of the Cenozoic.

Section snippets

Geological setting and fault system

The RVRS is the southwestern part of the Lower Rhine Embayment. Located in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands, it consists of, from southwest to northeast, the Campine Block, the Roer Valley Graben and the Peel Block (the Campine and Peel Blocks corresponding to the RVG shoulders). The southeastern end of the RVRS is formed by the Erft Block, which is not in the prolongation of the RVG but shifted towards the northeast (Fig. 1b). In the northwest, the West Netherlands Basin is the

Subsidence analysis

Subsidence analysis requires specification of the thickness, the age, the lithology, the porosity/depth curve and the depositional water depth for each unit. In the RVRS, the stratigraphy has been derived from the Stratigraphic Nomenclature of the Netherlands (Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij BV and Rijks Geologische Dienst, 1980). We have used standard exponential curves for the porosity–depth relationship corrections taking into account the different lithologies for each wells (e.g., Sclater

Plan view tectonic evolution

In this section, we combine information provided by the thickness maps for the Late Cretaceous–Early Paleocene, Paleogene and Neogene periods, with the thickness of the sediments observed in 41 wells at different periods (Late Cretaceous–Early Paleocene, Late Paleocene, Eocene, Early Oligocene, Late Oligocene and Miocene–Quaternary). This approach allows us to determine for each period the fault activity and to characterize the distribution of the vertical displacements (i.e., uplift or

Discussion and conclusions

One aim of our study is to integrate the evolution of the RVRS at the European scale. Nevertheless, it is beyond the scope of this paper to describe in detail the evolution of the different provinces and grabens of the North Sea and West European rift (WER), which have been extensively studied during the past decades (e.g., Ziegler, 1988, Ziegler, 1992a, Ziegler, 1992b, Merle et al., 1998, Sissingh, 1998, Michon, 2001). The southern limit of the considered area corresponds to the southern part

Acknowledgments

This publication is a contribution of the Environmental Tectonic (ENTEC) European Project funded by EU (RTN-1999-00003) and the INSU IT Project “Déformations lithosphériques grande longueur d'onde cénozoı̈ques de l'Europe de l'Ouest”. P.A. Ziegler and Iwan de Lugt are thanked for interesting discussions. With the courtesy of Clyde Petroleum BV to publish several wells. Thanks are also given to Francois Roure, Jean-Pierre Burg and an anonymous reviewer who helped in the improvement of the

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