Geological deveopment of the Southern North Sea during the Quaternary
Geological deveopment of the Southern North Sea during the Quaternary
| Publication year: | 2022 |
| Writer(s): | Cees Laban & Jaap J.M. van der Meer |
Abstract | The North Sea is a semi-closed epicontinental shelf sea of about 750.000 km2 and a water depth varying from c. 30 to 100 and to 200 m between Norway and the UK. Several deeper depressions occur along the Norwegian coast, the Norwegian channel with water depth of up to 700 m and local depressions like the Outer Silver Pit with depth to 70 m and Devils Hole to 230 m (Fig. 1). The ongoing subsidence of the North Sea Basin since the Mid-Miocene created space for a subsequent in ll of the basin by prograding deltas of large river systems during the Middle and Upper Pleistocene. Multiple glaciations shaped the landscape and caused sea level low stands. During the Holocene sea level rise marshes and intertidal landscapes developed over the Pleistocene landscape. Presently the Southern North Sea is covered by systems of linear sand banks, mobile sand waves and areas with mud deposition