INFLUENCE OF STRUCTURAL INHERITANCE ON RIFT DEVELOPMENT IN THE SOUTHERN NORTH SEA

The North Sea is a failed branch of the Arctic-North Atlantic rift system that formed via multiple phases of rifting, producing a structurally complex region that has been subject to halokinesis, and repeated uplift and subsidence events. Previous work in the Northern North Sea has shown that the geometry and evolution of syn‐rift depocenters was influenced by rejuvenation of preexisting structural heterogeneities in the crystalline basement. However, the extent to which structural inheritance influences fault style and location as well as halokinesis elsewhere in the North Sea remains to be resolved. As such, the aim of this research was to understand the effect of structural inheritance on rift development in the Southern North Sea. This is achieved through interpretation of 2D seismic reflection and potential-field data provided by the UK Oil and Gas Authority on the Mid North Sea High (MNSH), followed by comparisons with regional onshore geology. This work shows that the geometry of rift-related faulting at the MNSH appears to be controlled by reactivation of older basement structures. In addition, the nature, location, and extent of deformation related to halokinesis may also be controlled by pre-existing structures.