GEOLOGICAL HISTORY OF THE FLEMISH PASS BASIN, OFFSHORE NEWFOUNDLAND

In this paper we present a seismic-stratigraphic interpretation of the Mesozoic and Tertiary geologic history of the Flemish Pass Basin, off shore Newfoundland, based on seismic data and data from seven wells th at were integrated on the BP subsurface integrated interpretation syst em (SIIS). Four megasequences are identified. Megasequence 1 (MS1) is Triassic to lower Berriasian, and includes poorly known sediments asso ciated with Triassic -Early Jurassic rifting prior to spreading betwee n the North African and American continents. The uppermost mappable un conformity-bounded unit within MS1 contains major Kimmeridgian to Port landian marine source rocks deposited in two east-west-trending subbas ins in the Baccalieu and Gabriel areas. During the early Berriasian, p ronounced rifting linked to the subsequent spreading of lberia from th e Grand Banks (Barremian-Aptian) led to regional deepening and deposit ion of clastic sediments (MS2) in two northeast-southwest-trending, fa ult-bounded subbasins in the Baccalieu and Gabriel areas. In the Aptia n, Early Cretaceous subbasins were inverted due to strike-slip movemen t as extension assumed a northeast-southwest orientation prior to move ment of Greenland/Europe away from Labrador (Albian). MS3 sediments fi ll northwest-southeast-trending fault-bounded depocenters typically lo cated on areas that had formed highs during the Early Cretaceous. Post rift sedimentation continued from the Albian(?) to the present with Up per Cretaceous pelagic limestone and later clastic sediment deposition .