The Geomorphology of Footwalls and Fault Scarps in Marine Rift Basins: Greater Tampen Spur Area, Northern North Sea

This study investigates the footwall crest and fault scarp geomorphology of crustal‐scale fault blocks developed during Late Jurassic rifting on the Greater Tampen Spur, northern North Sea, using 3D seismic data and 84 exploration wells. The Snorre and Visund footwalls represent contrasting geomorphic end members. Snorre is characterised by a broad, plateau‐like erosion surface that truncates tilted Triassic strata and its fault scarp comprises degraded slopes, centrally developed U‐shaped gullies and canyons and hanging‐wall rider blocks developed in an area of overlapping fault segments. The Visund footwall, in contrast, is convex‐up and asymmetric, locally preserves Late Jurassic strata at its crest and is associated with a steep fault scarp containing structurally guided V‐shaped gullies and canyons, larger U‐shaped canyons and a large submarine landslide. These contrasting morphologies reflect different balances between fault‐related uplift, regional subsidence and the timing and duration of drowning. At Snorre, large displacement on the Snorre–Zeta Fault, combined with additional uplift from west‐dipping faults bounding the Marulk Basin, kept the footwall at shallow levels long enough for prolonged wave ravinement. At Visund, local footwall uplift was offset by hanging‐wall subsidence related to the Snorre–Zeta Fault system and by greater regional tectonic subsidence toward the North Viking Graben. This lower structural position led to earlier drowning, favouring submarine diffusive hillslope retreat, repeated mass wasting and preservation of fault‐scarp incisions. Together, these results show that displacement history, structural position within a fault network, drowning history, bedrock lithology, secondary faulting and geomorphic preservation collectively govern footwall and fault‐scarp morphology in marine rift basins. Recognising these controls improves reconstruction of sediment source areas and routing pathways and provides a more robust basis for predicting syn‐rift depositional architecture in adjacent hanging‐wall basins.