Continental margin off Norway 62–75°N: Palaeogene tectono-magmatic segmentation and sedimentation

The development of rifted and sheared segments on the Norwegian continental margin between 62 and 75°N is spatially related to a distinct along-margin segmentation which is governed by transfer zones formed during the Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous rift episode. In fact, these structures may represent a repeated structural inheritance going back to the Proterozoic. Complete lithospheric breakup near the Paleocene-Eocene transition was preceded by a rift episode which was probably initiated in the early to middle Campanian. It culminated with a massive, regional magmatic event during breakup characterized by eruption of thick lava sequences covering large areas along the continent-ocean transition. The Norwegian volcanic margin belongs to the North Atlantic Large Igneous Province formed by impingement of the Iceland plume on a lithosphere under extension. Offsets in the initial plate boundary, combined with late rift uplift and subsequent construction of emerged marginal highs during breakup, provide key constraints on the Palaeogene water mass circulation, basin evolution and sedimentation during a period of progressive environmental deterioration following early Eocene greenhouse conditions.