from isolated buildups to buildup mosaics: 3d seismic sheds new light on upper...

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From isolated buildups to buildup mosaics: 3D seismic sheds

new light on upper Carboniferous–Permian fault controlled

carbonate buildups, Norwegian Barents Sea

Geir Elvebakk a, David W. Hunt b,1, Lars Stemmerik c,*

aNorsk Hydro Production AS, N-9480 Harstad, NorwaybDepartment of Earth Sciences, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK

cGeological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, Øster Voldgade 10, DK-1350 Copenhagen, NV, Denmark

Received 20 March 2002; accepted 29 April 2002

Abstract

Carbonate buildups are a common feature of many ancient carbonate platforms, and were especially abundant during the

Palaeozoic. Our present understanding of buildup distribution, and the ability to better predict their location, is however

hampered by the fact that maps of buildups rarely show evidence of widespread spatial organisation and indeed their

distribution often appears chaotic. A previously unrecognized pattern of buildup distribution has been revealed by three-

dimensional (3D) seismic data recently acquired from the Loppa High, Norwegian Barents Sea. Here, syn-rift Carboniferous–

Permian buildups are not isolated but are instead linked into a mosaic of laterally extensive ridges. The buildups’ location is

controlled by the intersection of three trends of syndepositional faults. Systematic organisation of buildup height, width, density

and external form across the study area appears to have been controlled by changes in accommodation space driven by

differential subsidence. The buildups were remarkably long-lived and developed over an interval of 35 Ma. Despite this

longevity, buildup location remained relatively static and true to the underlying pattern of basement faults, indicating that their

progradation was likely restricted by a combination of factors including limited highstand production, their depositional relief

<420 m, steep flanks and/or differential subsidence. Study of the buildups’ internal seismic geometries, and analogy to well-

exposed onshore buildups, indicates that they are composite features, developed through the repeated recolonization of

antecedent bathymetric seafloor highs following hiatuses related to both subaerial exposure and drowning. The picture of

interconnected buildup mosaics described for the first time here provides important new insights as to the spatial and internal

organisation of carbonate buildups and has potentially far-reaching implications for the interpretation of buildups in areas where

good 3D control is poor or unavailable.

D 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Carbonate; Buildup; Palaeozoic; Fault control

1. Introduction

One of the greatest challenges in sedimentology is

to explain the spatial distribution of isolated buildups

on ancient carbonate platforms. This is because in

0037-0738/02/$ - see front matter D 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

PII: S0037 -0738 (02 )00232 -4

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +45-3814-2728; fax: +45-3814-

2050.

E-mail address: [email protected] (L. Stemmerik).1 Present address: Norsk Hydro Research, Bergen, Norway.

www.elsevier.com/locate/sedgeo

Sedimentary Geology 152 (2002) 7–17

map-view, buildups, seldom show obvious wide-

spread organisation in terms of their location, spacing,

areal extent, elongation or preferred orientation. More

often, maps of buildup distribution reveal little

obvious order, and indeed frequently appear chaotic

(e.g. Hurst, 1980). By way of contrast, dip section

buildups are known to show systematic down slope

organisation in terms of their vertical relief, external

form, internal stacking patterns, facies and fauna (e.g.

Beauchamp, 1993). Such variation attests to the con-

trol of water depth and accommodation on buildup

location and development. Given the importance of

these controls, and that of tectonically generated or

depositional slope breaks on buildup location (e.g.

Nilsen et al., 1993; Kirkby and Hunt, 1996; Rankey et

al., 1999; James et al., 2000), the general absence of

widespread map-view trends and order in buildup

distribution is rather perplexing.

Carboniferous–Permian rift-related buildups of the

Loppa High, Norwegian Barents Sea, present a well-

constrained example of such a situation (Fig. 1A,B).

Seismic sections reveal both systematic down ramp

changes in the size, external form and internal geo-

metries of the buildups, and a clear relationship

between syndepositional faulting and carbonate

buildup location (e.g. Fig. 1C; Stemmerik et al.,

1999). However, mapping the buildups over 5000

km2 from a 1�1 km to 2�2 km spaced two-dimen-

sional (2D) seismic grid has revealed a picture of

several hundred isolated buildups that is mostly

devoid of obvious spatial organisation (Fig. 1B). Only

in the SE of the area are there obvious NNE–SSW

trends of buildups that can be related to the control of

syndepositional faults on their location.

On the Loppa High, it seems paradoxical that

although in seismic section, more than 40% of the

Fig. 1. (A) Position of the Loppa High in the Norwegian Barents

Sea. (B) Palaeogeography of the Loppa High during the Gzelian–

Asselian. The distribution of the buildups appears to be largely

devoid of obvious spatial organisation, except in the SE of the area

where there are NNE–SSW buildups trends. The map also shows

the location of the 3D seismic data that covers the Obelix Structure,

and the approximate location of (C) and Fig. 3. (C) Schematic dip

section through the Loppa High illustrating the inferred fault control

on buildup location, a pattern generally not reflected by the mapped

distribution of buildups from the 2D seismic data set (e.g. (B)).

G. Elvebakk et al. / Sedimentary Geology 152 (2002) 7–178

buildups show evidence of fault control on their

location, most of the area mapped from the 2D data

shows little in the way of buildup organisation or

preferred orientation (Fig. 1B). Prior to the arrival of

3D data, we considered that Late Carboniferous–

Early Permian high frequency, high amplitude sea

level changes (e.g. Crowell, 1978; Sohregan and

Giles, 1999) might offer an explanation for the pauc-

ity of buildup organisation apparent in Fig. 1B. High

frequency, high amplitude sea level changes would

have repeatedly shifted the optimum depth window

for carbonate production up and down ramp, and so

could have facilitated buildup initiation and growth in

locations aside from the areas of fault controlled relief.

It was thought that in sufficient numbers, the growth

of such buildups might have obscured the linear

trends expected from the widespread control of fault-

ing on buildup location across the high (e.g. Fig. 1C).

The arrival of a new 3D seismic survey acquired

from some 967 km2 of the Loppa High has, however,

radically altered previous understanding of the distri-

bution, external form and connectivity of the buildups.

To our complete surprise, the large isolated carbonate

buildups interpreted from the 2D data (e.g. Fig. 1B)

and so well known from many other late Palaeozoic

carbonate platforms (e.g. Wilson, 1975; Davies et al.,

1989) do not exist. Instead, the buildups are laterally

linked into a mosaic of ridges that bifurcate and

amalgamate along strike. The mosaic of buildups is

related to their initiation and growth over a network of

three intersecting trends of syndepositional faults. The

highly organised picture of laterally linked carbonate

buildup ridges revealed here could not be more differ-

ent to the seemingly chaotic distribution of isolated

buildups interpreted from the 2D data. The results of

this study have important implications for the inter-

pretation of buildup distribution and connectivity on

ancient carbonate platforms, especially those where

Fig. 2. Relief map of the Obelix Structure for the Gzelian seismic

reflector from the 3D seismic dataset as located in Fig. 1B. Note the

division of the easterly and southerly dipping ramp into several fault

blocks by NE–SW trending faults (F1–4). Across the area, there

are systematic changes in the density and the relief of the buildup

ridges and the polygonal intraplatform basins/lagoons that they

enclose from N to S and W to E. The location of the buildups

illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5 is also marked. I-M: Inner-middle ramp;

O: outer ramp; cross-hatched area: Evaporite basins.

G. Elvebakk et al. / Sedimentary Geology 152 (2002) 7–17 9

good 3D control is absent. It is also worth noting that

two other nearby 3D surveys covering the easternmost

part of the Loppa High/westernmost part of the

Bjarmeland Platform and a third 3D survey from the

Finnmark Platform (Fig. 1A) also show laterally

linked buildup ridges and associated polygonal lagoo-

nal patterns. Clearly, the laterally linked buildup

ridges are not a local phenomenon, but have a more

regional distribution.

2. Regional setting

The Loppa High, located in the westernmost

Barents Sea (Fig. 1A), is positioned at the intersection

between the Caledonian, Franklinian and Baikalian

structural trends that were formed during Precam-

brian–Early Palaeozoic orogenesis. These basement

fabrics are considered to have controlled the orientation

of the three main rift-related NE–SW, N–S and NW–

SE trends of the Carboniferous–Permian fault systems

(e.g. Ziegler, 1982; Gabrielsen et al., 1990; Alsgaard,

1993; Gudlaugsson et al., 1998). Of these, the NE–SW

Caledonian trend that parallels the Nordkapp, Ham-

merfest and Tromsø basins is most important (Fig.

1A,B). During Upper Carboniferous–Permian rifting,

NE–SW oriented hinge faults controlled the gradual

tilting of the fault block to form an overall eastward

dipping carbonate ramp. This ramp was distally steep-

ened and is divided into several ramp segments byN–S

and NW–SE trending faults (e.g. faults F1–4, Figs. 2

and 3). The N–S directed faults parallel the main fault

systems in Svalbard and North Greenland and are

related to the Arctic rift system located between Sval-

bard and North Greenland (Gudlaugsson et al., 1998).

The NW–SE oriented faults are most important in the

northern fault block covered by the 3D data (Figs. 2 and

3) and may represent reactivated Baikalian lineaments

(Alsgaard, 1993).

During the Late Carboniferous and Permian, the

Barents Sea was a part of a huge segmented shelf

system running along the northern margin of Pangea

from the Sverdrup Basin of Arctic Canada, through

North Greenland and Svalbard to the Timan–Pechora

basin in Arctic Russia (Watkins and Wilson, 1989;

Golonka et al., 1994; Stemmerik and Worsley, 1989;

Stemmerik, 2000). During the late Bashkirian–Sak-

marian (mid-Carboniferous–Early Permian), this area

was located in the northern semi-arid climatic belt.

Ramp sedimentation was dominated by warm water

carbonates with deep basinal areas filled by evaporites

(e.g. Fig. 1B; Stemmerik, 2000).

Fig. 3. Seismic line and SG9810-6501, as located on Fig. 2, and an interpretative line drawing. Note the obvious fault control on buildup

location and gradual southward thickening of the buildup ridges. The separation of the platform into several fault blocks with contrasting

subsidence histories is apparent. These different fault blocks are characterized by buildups with contrasting density, vertical relief, internal

stacking patterns and external form (e.g. see Figs. 2, 4 and 5).


During rifting, the Loppa High was positioned

close to the eastern margin of a Late Palaeozoic Arctic

rift system located between North Greenland and

Svalbard (Gudlaugsson et al., 1998). It experienced

three distinct late Palaeozoic rift phases; Early Car-

boniferous, Bashkirian–Moscovian (late Carbonifer-

ous) and mid–late Permian. Across the Loppa High,

these phases resulted in overall gradual eastward

tilting, faulting and differential subsidence (e.g. Stem-

merik et al., 1999). Well data show initially high rates

of siliciclastic sedimentation during the initial phase

of Bashkirian rifting but that siliciclastic supply had

ceased by the mid-Moscovian as the high was flooded

(Stemmerik et al., 1999; Elvebakk et al., in prepara-

tion).

3. Data

In 1998, 3D seismic data covering a large structural

high, known as the Obelix Structure in the central area

of the Loppa High, were acquired (Figs. 1B and 2).

The area was selected on the basis of seismic mapping

of 2D data of various vintages that established the

overall structural framework and palaeogeography

across approximately 5000 km2. Interpretation of the

2D data showed several hundred scattered isolated

buildups on an easterly dipping carbonate ramp that

gradually passed eastward into an evaporite basin

(Fig. 1B), and this picture is consistent with the

regional palaeogeographic framework established by

Stemmerik et al. (1999) and Stemmerik (2000).

4. Results

Detailed seismic facies mapping of the Upper

Carboniferous–Lower Permian interval from the 3D

data shows that the carbonate ramp on the Obelix

Structure is cut by four major NE–SW oriented hinge

faults (F1–4, Figs. 2 and 3). They define areas with

different subsidence histories and accordingly differ-

ent palaeogeography. Displacement on the NE–SW

faults typical increases to the east and south resulting

in low-angle ramp development on each fault block

with the greatest subsidence in the east. Based on

seismic facies mapping, the more rapidly subsiding

northern fault block 1 is believed to represent mainly

outer ramp environments, while fault blocks 2–4

show well-developed inner ramp and middle ramp

environments passing out into outer ramp and basinal

environments (Fig. 2). The platform on the southern-

most fault block shows the same general pattern but

with a much narrower middle shelf. Rough estimates

of subsidence rates based on thickness variations

indicate that on the outer ramp, subsidence was at

least double that experienced by the inner ramp areas

(ca. 40 m/Ma compared to ca. 17 m/Ma).

4.1. Linked mosaic buildup ridges: external form and

internal characteristics

Regional correlation with existing seismic, well

and biostratigraphic data indicate that the seismic

buildups were established in the early Moscovian

and that their growth lasted until the early Sakmarian

(ca. 35 Ma). The buildups range from 350 to 1200 m

thick and in seismic section the majority appear to be

almost stationary, especially in outer ramp environ-

ments (Figs. 3 and 4). However, mapping of the

buildups has shown that they are not isolated, as

was previously thought from extensive study of the

2D data (e.g. Fig. 2). Instead, they form well-defined

and continuous but somewhat sinuous ridges, many of

which can be traced over distances of 45 km (Fig. 3).

The main orientations of the buildup ridge are NE–

SW, N–S and NW–SE; the latter being typical of the

northernmost fault block. There is good agreement

between the location and orientation of the buildup

ridges and the mapped position of basement con-

trolled syndepositional faults (e.g. Figs. 4 and 5).

In cross-section, the width of the buildups that

comprise the ridges is typically 0.5–1.5 km, with a

maximum of approximately 3 km. Buildup density

varies from inner to outer ramp settings. In the inner

ramp, the buildups are most extensive and can cover

<65% of the area whereas in outer ramp settings, the

figure is nearer 35% (Fig. 2). At the resolution of

seismic data (ca. 30–40 m), the external form of the

buildups appears to be rather smooth but is frequently

somewhat asymmetric. The steeper flanks preferen-

tially face seaward, towards the east and south (Fig.

2). The buildups’ flanks dip from a few degrees up to

50j and the outer ramp buildups tend to have steeper

slopes than those in inner and middle settings, as the

former developed greater seafloor relief (Figs. 4 and


5). The steepest slopes occur in buildups affected by

syn-sedimentary faulting.

Internally, the buildups show some complex stack-

ing patterns within third-order seismic sequences that

are typically in the order of 50–100-m thick (Figs. 4

and 5). The buildups typically display low relief

undulations of up to 50 m along their length. The

creation of random orientation seismic lines from the

3D data, specifically positioned to view lateral varia-

bility along the length of the buildup mosaics, indi-

cates that the undulating relief is related to lateral

progradation of the buildups along the ridges outward

from individual growth centres.

4.2. Semi-enclosed basins/lagoons

The buildup ridges form mosaics that enclose

polygonal basins or lagoons <6 km across (Figs.

Fig. 4. (A) Seismic line across an outer ramp buildup mosaic in the southern part of the study area. (B) Detailed three-dimensional view from the

3D surface of the buildup mosaic and its polygonal lagoon. (C) Mapped pattern of basement faults that localised buildup location.


3–5). They are predominantly filled by parallel to

subparallel seismic reflectors that often thicken

towards the buildups’ flanks (Figs. 4 and 5). Mapping

reveals that as buildup density changes from the inner

to outer ramp so does the area and depositional relief

of these polygonal semi-enclosed basins or lagoons

(Figs. 2, 4 and 5). In outer ramp settings, the buildups

attained a maximum depositional relief of approxi-

mately 350 m (e.g. 120 ms two-way travel time

(TWT) given average seismic velocity of 6000 m/s).

These large outer ramp buildup ridges enclose polyg-

onal basins/lagoons typically 2–3 km across but up to

6.25 km wide (Fig. 4). After restoration for structural

dip, the measured depth of the outer ramp lagoons is

normally between 225 and 300 m (e.g. 75 and 100 ms

TWT at 6000 m/s) with a maximum of 420 m (e.g.

140 ms TWT, 6000 m/s). Internally, the floors of these

larger lagoons tend to be subdivided by lower relief

buildups into 1.5–3 km wide polygonal subbasins/

lagoons (Fig. 4).

In contrast, updip in inner ramp settings, the

buildups tend to range in width from 0.5 to 1 km

and enclosed polygonal lagoons with a typical width

of 1–2.5 km, one 4-km wide being an extreme (Figs.

Fig. 5. (A) Seismic line across an inner ramp buildup mosaic in the northern part of the study area. (B) Detailed three-dimensional view from the

3D surface of the buildup mosaic and its polygonal lagoon. (C) Mapped pattern of basement faults that localised buildup location.


3 and 5). In the inner ramp setting, spit-like mor-

phologic features are quite commonly resolved in the

lagoons, and are normally located adjacent to bends

in the buildup ridges. Locally, these spit-like features

are observed to have prograded to fill the lagoons,

ultimately to create mound-shaped polygonal build-

ups.

5. Discussion

5.1. Buildup growth and the controls of faulting and

differential subsidence

A mosaic of build-up ridges and semi-enclosed

polygonal basins/lagoons form the dominant morpho-

logical elements of the Bashkirian–Sakmarian carbo-

nate ramp systems developed on the Obelix Structure,

Loppa High (Figs. 2–5). The buildups and lagoons

show distinct inner ramp to outer ramp variation of

their spacing, vertical size, width, depositional relief

and external form (Figs. 2–5). However, no variation

in the overall shape of the lagoons and orientation of

the buildups is observed (Fig. 2). The 3D seismic data

reveal a direct correlation between the distribution and

orientation of sea floor bathymetry controlled by

underlying pre- and syn-sedimentary faults and

buildup location (Figs. 2, 4 and 5). The buildups are

typically located along the down dip margins of the

underlying footwall blocks (Figs. 4 and 5). Those

areas of the Obelix Structure with no or few faults, as

in a down dip part of the inner ramp environment of

fault block 2 (e.g. area Y in Fig. 2), demonstrate the

importance of fault controlled bathymetry on buildup

locations, as here, the sea floor appears as a rather

smooth, slightly undulating surface virtually devoid of

buildups and obvious pattern. Across the Obelix

structural high, the growth of the buildups is thought

to have initiated in inner ramp environments during

the mid-Carboniferous, with initial buildup location

and spacing controlled by the underlying fault pattern

(Figs. 3–5). Through time, the inner ramp environ-

ments were displaced updip (west) to the slowly

subsiding updip areas of the high. Thus, middle and

outer ramp environments dominated across most of

the study area. The down ramp variability observed in

buildup density, external form, thickness and internal

stacking, and also in the dimensions of the polygonal

lagoons, is considered to be related to both local

variations in fault density and most importantly, to

tectonically driven east–west variations in accommo-

dation development (Fig. 2).

In the updip more gently subsiding western parts of

the study area, inner ramp environments are consid-

ered to have continued to dominate during the Late

Carboniferous and Early Permian. However, even

here the fault controlled pattern of buildups is retained

despite the fact that a significant number of the

buildups show periodic episodes of progradation in

updip areas of the high of up to 450 m. The reason for

the longevity of the basement controlled pattern of

buildups in the updip areas must be because of

continued subsidence related to active faulting and/

or differential compaction. For this is the only mech-

anism that would act to reestablish the pattern of

buildup location in areas where they were able to

prograde laterally.

In contrast, the eastern down dip areas of the ramp

experienced greater rates of tilting and subsidence. As

a consequence, it is thought that inner ramp environ-

ments progressively retreated updip to be replaced by

deeper water outer ramp conditions after the initial

growth of the buildups during the Moscovian. Here,

the thickest and steepest buildups enclose the largest

polygonal lagoons (Figs. 3 and 4). These larger

lagoons are thought to have formed through the

selective drowning of some of the buildup ridges,

possibly at times when increased rates of subsidence

and high rates of glacio-eustatic sea level rise were

coincident. Subsequent reorganisation of the system

created lagoons of greater width divided into subla-

goons by the crests of the drowned antecedent build-

ups.

5.2. Buildup growth and sea level changes

The 350–1200 m thick seismic buildups shown

here were incredibly long-lived and grew in overall

warm and dry palaeoclimatic conditions over a time

interval of approximately 35 Ma. The internal seismic

geometries of the third-order buildup sequences sug-

gest that during sea level rises carbonate sedimenta-

tion retreated to small pinnacle-like growth centres as

large parts of the ridges periodically drowned (Elve-

bakk et al., in preparation). These pinnacles are

typically developed at the intersection of different


trending ridges and are interpreted to have devel-

oped on bathymetric highs. During the subsequent

highstand/fall in sea level active buildup develop-

ment shifted laterally along the ridges, extending

along and downlapping onto parts of the buildup

mosaics that were previously drowned. This pattern

of growth is evident from the arrangement of

oblique and toplapping clinoforms that dip away

from the superimposed pinnacle structures inter-

preted to have formed along the buildup ridges

during overall transgression and sea level highstand.

However, little progradation off of the buildup

ridges occurred.

Comparison to time-equivalent buildups exposed

on the island of Bjørnøya, Spitsbergen, North Green-

land and Arctic Canada (Beauchamp, 1993; Stem-

merik et al., 1994; Stemmerik, 1996; Pickard et al.,

1996; Samuelsberg and Pickard, 1999), and the sub-

surface of the Barents Sea (Bugge et al., 1995;

Stemmerik et al., 1995; Ehrenberg et al., 1998)

indicates that the third-order seismic buildup sequen-

ces are comprised of stacked subseismic buildup

sequences. The subseismic buildups are typically 5–

10 m thick and are normally bounded by composite

exposure/flooding surfaces (e.g. Beauchamp, 1993;

Stemmerik et al., 1994; Stemmerik, 1996; Pickard et

al., 1996; Samuelsberg and Pickard, 1999). They

represent transgressive-highstand deposits of fourth-

and fifth-order sequences thought to have formed as a

consequence of high amplitude/frequency glacio-

eustatically driven sea level fluctuations.

Thus, despite the fact that high amplitude sea level

changes during the late Carboniferous and earliest

Permian would have shifted the optimum depth

window for carbonate growth, considerable distances

up and down ramp buildup growth was repeatedly

limited to relatively narrow zones over long time

spans to form the seismic scale buildups (e.g. Figs.

3–5). Thus, it appears that either highstand produc-

tion and progradation of the carbonate systems was

very limited and/or that differential subsidence con-

tinued during buildup development to limit lateral

growth. The latter situation must have been important

in those parts of the inner ramp where buildups

periodically prograded to fill the interridge basins/

lagoons, yet the basement controlled pattern of

buildup distribution was maintained. It is therefore

most likely that the pattern of buildup distribution

inherited from the basement structure was controlled

by continued faulting and/or subsidence driven by

differential compaction acting in concert with limited

highstand production.

6. Summary and conclusions

Previous study of an extensive closely spaced 2D

grid of seismic data from the Loppa High revealed a

fault controlled distally steepened ramp covered by

several hundred isolated carbonate buildups (e.g. Figs.

1B and 3). Although the pattern of buildups mapped

from the 2D data did not largely appear to reflect the

known control of faulting on their location, it seemed

to present a realistic depiction of buildup distribution

that was consistent with existing knowledge of

buildup distribution on other Palaeozoic platforms.

The pattern of buildup development apparent from the

3D seismic data is without precedent, and has pro-

vided a picture of buildup distribution that could

hardly be more different to that produced from the

2D data.

There is a direct relationship between active faults

and the location of the interconnected mosaic of

buildups. Systematic down ramp changes in the

density, height, width and external form of the build-

ups appear to be related to regional accommodation

gradients resulting from fault block tilting. The

remarkable picture of buildups on the Loppa High

has far-reaching implications for the interpretation of

buildups in areas where good 3D control is poor or

unavailable. It may well be the case that comparable

morphologic patterns also exist on other ancient

carbonate platforms, but require exceptional 3D data

to be revealed. Clearly, any increase in the lateral

extent and connectivity of buildups also has potential

economic importance as many hydrocarbon reservoirs

are located in carbonate buildups.

Acknowledgements

The authors like to thank Statoil, Enterprise Oil

Norwegian, Fortum Petroleum, Norsk Agip and

Norsk Hydro Produksjon for the permission to publish

this paper. LS acknowledges additional support from

the Carlsberg Foundation and publishes with the


permission of the Geological Survey of Denmark and

Greenland.

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