Sverre Planke

Volcanic Basin Energy Research AND Department of Geosciences University of Oslo

Sedimentary rocks can provide information about the Earth paleoenvironment and are studied extensively to understand the causes and consequences of global climate changes in deep time. They facilitate long-time perspectives that constrain climate models and provide analogues for how Earth systems may respond to, and recover from, intervals of profo...

Sedimentary records of Early Pleistocene (~2.6–0.8 Ma) glaciations are sparse on shelves, yet trough mouth fans on adjacent continental slopes provide a continuous record of ice-sheet and climate development throughout the Quaternary. Here, we interpret high-quality 3D seismic reflection data combined with borehole and chronostratigraphic informati...

Trough mouth fans (TMFs) are major submarine depocentres that form in front of ice streams advancing onto the continental shelf, and they provide extensive records of past glaciations and ice-sheet dynamics. However, early research about TMFs was conducted using primarily 2D seismic data, which limits the insights on the deposit's geometries and in...

Offshore CO2 sequestration in basaltic formations of the North Atlantic Igneous Province (NAIP) may allow permanent storage of large volumes of CO2 through rapid carbonate mineralization. Characterizing the internal architecture of such reservoirs is key to assessing the storage potential. In this study, six photogrammetry models and three borehole...

While basaltic volcanism is dominant during rifting and continental breakup, felsic magmatism may be a significant component of some rift margins. During International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 396 on the continental margin of Norway, a graphite‐garnet‐cordierite bearing dacitic unit (the Mimir dacite) was recovered in two holes wit...

The North Atlantic Igneous Province (NAIP) forms one of the best studied Large Igneous Provinces (LIP) on the planet, however, significant uncertainties regarding the age and nature of the early onset of volcanism across the province remain. In order to better understand the onset and timing of volcanism within the NAIP, we present a new study of t...

In this article, we use a new workflow to substantiate the characterization of a prominent, deep sediment conductor in the hyper-extended Bjørnøya Basin (SW Barents Sea) previously identified in smooth resistivity models from 3D deterministic inversion of magnetotelluric data. In low dimensionality environments like layered sedimentary basin, 1D Ba...

The West Barents Shear Margin developed in response to breakup and initial opening of the NE Atlantic and links to the Arctic Eurasia Basin. It consists of three first-order segments: (1) a southern sheared margin segment bounding the deep SW Barents Sea basins; (2) a central rifted margin segment west of Bjørnøya; (3) a northern initially sheared...

We document for the first time the extensive occurrence of "feather-like channels" in the 19000-year-old glacigenic submarine strata in the North Sea Fan (NSF). We describe these features in the uppermost deposits of the NSF, predominantly on the surface that marks the end of the period of shelf-edge glaciation, using over 14000 km 2 of high-resolu...

The Woodfjorden area of northern Spitsbergen (NW Svalbard) offers access to the world’s northernmost onshore thermal springs, extinct Pleistocene alkali basaltic volcanoes and Miocene flood basalts including extensive hyaloclastites. In July 2023, we undertook a 14-day international multi-disciplinary geoscientific expedition to Woodfjorden-Bockfjo...

The opening of the South Atlantic Ocean in the Early Cretaceous was only the final stage of the complex rifting process of SW Gondwana. In this contribution we reassess the chronology of Mesozoic basin formation in southern South America and Africa and integrate it in the long-term rifting and breakup history of SW Gondwana. During the Triassic, af...

The Norwegian Sea oceanic basins and prograded margins developed since NE Atlantic breakup in the earliest Eocene. Significant amounts of sediments were fed to the regionally subsiding and widening Norwegian Sea during the Cenozoic as a result of several phases of uplift and erosion of the bounding shelves and their hinterland. Despite an overall p...

The Møre and Vøring basins at the mid-Norwegian margin was affected by a series of rift phases separated by periods of tectonic quiescence from Caledonian collapse in the Devonian to final continental breakup in the earliest Eocene. The tectonic phases were mostly extensional in nature, and the pre-drift extension across the Møre-Vøring basins sinc...

Three boreholes drilled during the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 396 have yielded unexpected findings of altered granitic rocks covered by basalt flows, interbedded sediments and glacial mud near the continent‐ocean transition of the mid‐Norwegian margin. U‐Pb and K‐Ar geochronological analyses were conducted on both proto...

Cooling subvolcanic igneous intrusions are known to have a tremendous impact on fluid flow in the shallow Earth’s crust. However, the long-term post-cooling legacy of subvolcanic intrusions on fluid flow received much less attention. Here we describe geological examples in the Andean foothills, Argentina, showing that igneous intrusions have long-t...

The North Sea is a pivotal area for offshore windfarm development. Within the Norwegian Channel, with depths varying from 200-700 m, six different fields (Vestavind A-F) have being delimeted as areas of interest. This region, however, was shaped by multiple avances of the Norwegian Ice Stream throughout the Quaternary, which affected sediment compo...

Cooling subvolcanic igneous intrusions are known to have a tremendous impact on fluid flow in the shallow Earth’s crust. However, the long-term post-cooling legacy of subvolcanic intrusions on fluid flow received much less attention. Here we describe geological examples in the Andean foothills, Argentina, showing that igneous intrusions have long-t...

The Gjallar Ridge is a major high along the NW margin of the Vøring Basin, offshore Mid-Norway. In this area are voluminous volcanics. While previous wells have targeted the Gjallar Ridge crest, or are more landward in the Vigrid Syncline, we consider the flanks of the Gjallar Ridge to be prospective. By using 3D seismic data and well data we show...

International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 396 Sites U1565 and U1566 penetrated the western flank of the Kolga High, a structural high in the northwestern part of the Møre Margin close to the continent-ocean boundary. Two boreholes at Site U1565 recovered deeply weathered granite whilst to the west, Site U1566 penetrated a ~120 m Seawa...

Lava flows form important fluid reservoirs and have been extensively exploited for water aquifers, geothermal energy, hydrocarbon production, and more recently for carbon storage. Effusive subaerial mafic to intermediate lava flows account for vast rock volumes globally, and form reservoirs with properties dictated by well-known lava flow facies ra...

Lava flows form important fluid reservoirs and have been extensively exploited for water aquifers, geothermal energy, hydrocarbon production, and more recently for carbon storage. Effusive subaerial mafic to intermediate lava flows account for vast rock volumes globally, and form reservoirs with properties dictated by well-known lava flow facies ra...

Soft sediment deformation structures may form when denser sediments or fluids are deposited on or flow over unlithified and less dense sediments. This study presents a seismic geomorphological study of the basal contact between an extrusive volcanic sequence and underlying sediments, defining the ‘Base Basalt’ surface, on the Mid-Norwegian Margin....

Plio-Pleistocene records of ice-rafted detritus suggest northwest European ice sheets regularly reached coastlines. However, these records provide limited insight on the frequency, extent, and dynamics of ice sheets delivering the detritus. Three-dimensional reflection seismic data of the northwest European glaciated margin have previously document...

Source‐to‐sink sedimentary systems associated with volcanic rifted margins serve as important archives for basin development by recording lithospheric changes affecting the depositional systems. Distinguishing between sediment transport processes and their sediment source(s) can guide the interpretation of a basin's history, and thereby inform regi...

Mots clefs : tectonique salifère, tectonique crustale, sismique réflexion, modélisation analogique Comme conséquence de sa localisation à la limite ouest de la mer de Barents, le développement du bassin de Sørvestsnaget a été fortement contrôlé par le mouvement tectonique à grande échelle, et la coexistence de phénomènes de tectonique salifère et c...

We held the MagellanPlus workshop SVALCLIME “Deep-time Arctic climate archives: high-resolution coring of Svalbard's sedimentary record”, from 18 to 21 October 2022 in Longyearbyen, to discuss scientific drilling of the unique high-resolution climate archives of Neoproterozoic to Paleogene age present in the sedimentary record of Svalbard. Svalbard...

The demand for surface and sub-surface detection of boulder fields is growing. While being most developed for planetary sciences (e.g. HOOD et. al., 2022), in Earth studies it is mainly useful for offshore spatial planning (e.g., wind farms, platforms, pipelines) and ecosystem research. However, most offshore areas lack high-resolution non-confiden...

There is a temporal correlation between the peak activity of the North Atlantic Igneous Province (NAIP) and the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), suggesting that the NAIP may have initiated and/or prolonged this extreme warming event. However, corroborating a causal relationship is hampered by a scarcity of expanded sedimentary records that...

The Palaeocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) was a global warming event of 5–6 °C around 56 million years ago caused by input of carbon into the ocean and atmosphere. Hydrothermal venting of greenhouse gases produced in contact aureoles surrounding magmatic intrusions in the North Atlantic Igneous Province have been proposed to play a key role in t...

Along continental margins with rapid sedimentation, overpressure may build up in porous and compressible sediments. Large-scale release of such overpressure has major implications on fluid migration and slope stability. Here, we study if the widespread crater-mound-shaped structures in the subsurface along the mid-Norwegian continental margin are c...

Trough mouth fans comprise the largest sediment deposits along glaciated margins, and record Pleistocene climate changes on a multi-decadal time scale. Here, we present sedimentation models for the two largest of these depocenters-the Bear Island Fan on the western Barents Sea margin and the North Sea Fan on the northern North Sea margin-which are...

Cooling subvolcanic igneous intrusions are known to have a substantial impact on fluid flow in the shallow Earth's crust, for example activation of geothermal systems, circulation of mineralized fluids in ore deposits, fast maturation of organic matter in sedimentary rocks and the potential release of large volumes of greenhouse gases, which have t...

This preprint describes a spectacular geological example that evidences how old magmatic intrusions can affect subsurface fluid flow in sedimentary basins. This case study is Cerro Alquitrán, in the Northern Neuquén Basin, Argentina, which is a Miocene exposed laccolith of andesitic composition. The peculiarity of Cerro Alquitrán is that large volu...

To understand the dynamics of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet, extensive studies have been done on the Norwegian Channel which was formed by intense ice streaming activity throughout the Quaternary. However, the understanding of trough mouth fans developed in front of such ice streams is still evolving, with recent research showing the importance of me...

International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 396 drilled 21 holes at 10 sites spanning the mid-Norwegian volcanic rifted margin in 2021. Six sites recovered volcanic sequences with one objective of the cruise being to appraise the potential for permanent carbon storage within the offshore volcanic sequences. This study presents a core-lo...

The Early Cretaceous rifting of the South Atlantic resulted from lithospheric extension and breakup of Pangaea and was accompanied by extensive intrusive magmatism and extrusive flood basalts identified as seaward dipping reflectors (SDRs). We have mapped out an extensive distribution of such volcanic complexes on the Argentine Continental Volcanic...

The Northeast Canada Rifted Margin (NCRM) Composite Tectono-Sedimentary Element (CTSE) developed during a long and complex history that produced two tectono-sedimentary elements (TSEs): (1) the pre-rift TSE of pre-Cretaceous age; and (2) the syn-rift TSE of Early Cretaceous-Paleocene age. The pre-rift TSE includes the oldest and most poorly known o...

Offshore injection of CO2 into volcanic sequences of the North Atlantic Igneous Province may present a large- scale, permanent storage option through carbonate mineralization. To investigate this potential, onshore studies of reservoir properties and reactivity of the subaerially erupted Faroe Islands Basalt Group have been conducted. Outcrop and b...

There is a temporal correlation between the peak activity of the North Atlantic Igneous Province (NAIP) and the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), suggesting that the NAIP may have initiated and/or prolonged this extreme warming event. However, corroborating a causal relationship is hampered by a scarcity of expanded sedimentary records that...

Magnetotelluric (MT) data can image the Earth's electrical resistivity down to the mantle but are rarely used for investigation of offshore rifted margins. In such settings, the lower crust and upper mantle are altered by distinct tectono-thermal processes but often display similar seismic velocities and densities. By integrating resistivity models...

The Silfari borehole 6307/1-1S is located in the Froan Basin, offshore mid-Norway, and penetrated c. 650 m into a prominent seismically imaged mound recovering a volcano-sedimentary sequence named here as the Silfari Volcano. Drilling of the Silfari Volcano revealed previously undocumented Triassic volcanism offshore Mid-Norway spanning the Ladinia...

Hill-hole pairs are subglacial landforms consisting of thrust-block hills and associated source depressions. Formed by evacuation of material where ice sheets have been locally frozen to the substrate, they give insights into paleo-ice-sheet dynamics. The aim of this study was to document the relationships between ancient hill-hole pairs identified...

Channel system development in the Northeast Atlantic during the late Paleocene to early Eocene gives insight into uplift and erosion at the time of widespread break-up magmatism. During this time period the rapid uplift of the Shetland Platform led to erosion and the development of drainage systems surrounding the platform. Previously interpreted d...

The overall goal of this expedition was the acquisition of geophysical data on the Vøring Plateau and the southernmost part of the Lofoten Basin to improve the understanding of the subsurface structures and geological processes at four sites (U1571-U1574) where scientific drilling was recently successfully completed as a part of the the Internation...

The Badejo and Linguado oil fields are hosted within non-conventional volcanic reservoirs which produced commercial hydrocarbons from the Lower Cretaceous Cabiúnas Formation, Campos Basin, offshore Brazil. Despite over 30 years of production, limited characterization of the nature and reservoir properties of the volcanic reservoirs have been presen...

Glaciogenic reservoirs host important hydrocarbon resources across the globe. Examples such as the Peon and Aviat discoveries in the North Sea show that Quaternary and Neogene reservoirs can be prospective in the region. In this study, we interpret 2D and 3D reflection seismic data combined with borehole information to document unconventional pl...

The most prolific reservoir intervals in the Barents Sea are found in the Upper Triassic to Middle Jurassic Realgrunnen Subgroup, deposited during a major change in the structural evolution of the basin which greatly influenced its development and distribution. The effects are evident in one of the petroleum provinces in the SW Barents Sea, the Hoo...

Trough mouth fans comprise the largest sediment deposits along glaciated margins, and record Pleistocene climate changes on a multi-decadal time scale. Sedimentation related to climate warming in polar regions and new challenges associated with the energy transition highlight the urge for better knowledge of these depocenters. Here, we present sedi...

An appraisal of ancient Earth’s climate dynamics is crucial for understanding the modern climate system and predicting how this might change in the future. Major climate-shift events in the Earth’s past demonstrate the scale, duration and response of the climate system to various global and local climate stressors. More than 650 million years of...

Incised drainage systems can provide a record of the timing, duration and magnitude of ancient vertical crustal motions. The NE Atlantic underwent rapid uplift ∼56 Ma, resulting in widespread incision and the formation of Paleogene unconformities across the Faroe-Shetland Basin. This study uses 3D seismic data to map a newly-identified incised drai...

Trough mouth fans are major submarine depocentres that form in front of ice streams that advance onto the continental shelf. They provide extensive records of past glaciations and ice sheet dynamics, and understanding their deposits and sedimentary processes is key when interpreting glaciated margins. In this study, we use high-quality 3D reflectio...