Sequence stratigraphic correlation of Lower Jurassic shallow marine and paralic successions across the Greenland-Norway seaway

The Lower Jurassic Neill Klinter Formation of Jameson Land, East Greenland, was deposited in a wide, shallow and tidally influenced marine embayment. The formation is interpreted within a sequence stratigraphic framework and a sequence stratigraphie correlation with the time-equivalent Tilje, Ror and Not Formations on the mid-Norwegian shelf is presented. This comparison shows that the Lower Jurassic in both regions consists of six sequences. The Neill Klinter Formation is characterized by near absence of well-defined parasequences. This pattern is interpreted as reflecting a high rate of influx of sand in the land-locked embayment situated at the margin of the Greenland craton. Continuous filling of accommodation space and erosion thus led to amalgamation of parasequences, and poor development of facies cyclicity. The correlative successions on the Halten Terrace, mid-Norway shelf are less tidally influenced. Well-developed parasequences are characteristic, and the overall content of heteroliths and mudstones is higher, reflecting a more distal position in the seaway with respect to the Norwegian cratonic margin, and a slower infilling of new accommodation space. The present study is probably the first published attempt to undertake a long distance high-resolution sequence stratigraphie correlation across the North Atlantic. A direct correlation of systems tracts on a scale of few tens of metres between East Greenland and the mid-Norwegian shelf seems to be possible, but independent biostratigraphic testing of the correlation proposed here is still required.