Cenozoic structures in the eastern North Sea Basin — A case for salt tectonics: Discussion

Clausen et al. (2012) rule out that regional tectonism was important in the development of the eastern North Sea Basin during the Miocene. However, detailed study of outcrops, boreholes and high-resolution seismic data across the eastern North Sea reveals that regional tectonism was important in the development of the basin. Regional tectonism both resulted in inversion of former basins and in the triggering of salt movements. Reactivation of older fault system may also have occurred. The morphology of the basin created by these processes strongly controlled major displacements of the shoreline, in routing the fluvial systems, in shaping valleys and in transporting very coarse-grained sediments far into the basin. The role of salt tectonism as indicated by Clausen et al. (2012) is in agreement with earlier studies, but the significant salt movements during the Quaternary onshore Denmark must be clearly separated from only minor movements in the Miocene.