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Architecture of tunnel valleys in the southeastern North Sea: new insights from high‐resolution seismic imaging
Author(s) -
Lohrberg Arne,
Schwarzer Klaus,
Unverricht Daniel,
Omlin Andreas,
Krastel Sebastian
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of quaternary science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.142
H-Index - 94
eISSN - 1099-1417
pISSN - 0267-8179
DOI - 10.1002/jqs.3244
Subject(s) - geology , geomorphology , neogene , paleontology , cretaceous , passive margin , seismology , structural basin , rift
Tunnel valleys are assumed to form near the margin of ice sheets. Hence, they can be used to reconstruct the dynamics of former ice margins. The detailed formation and infill of tunnel valleys, however, are still not well understood. Here, we present a dense grid of high‐resolution 2D multi‐channel reflection seismic data from the German sector of the southeastern North Sea imaging tunnel valleys in very great detail. Three tunnel valley systems were traced over distances ranging between 11 and 21 km. All tunnel valleys are completely filled and buried. They differ in incision depth, incision width and number of incisions. The tunnel valleys cut 130–380 m deep into Neogene, Palaeogene and Cretaceous sediments; they show a lower V‐shaped and an upper U‐shaped morphology. For individual tunnel valleys, the overall incision direction ranges from east–west to northeast–southwest. Two tunnel valleys intersect at an oblique angle without reuse of the thalweg. These valleys incise into a pre‐existing glaciotectonic complex consisting of thrust sheets in the northwest of the study area. The analysis of the glaciotectonic complex and the tunnel valleys leads us to assume that we identified several marginal positions of (pre‐)Elsterian ice lobes in the southeastern North Sea.