Using UAV-Based Photogrammetry Coupled with In Situ Fieldwork and U-Pb Geochronology to Decipher Multi-Phase Deformation Processes: A Case Study from Sarclet, Inner Moray Firth Basin, UK

Alexandra Tamas, Robert E. Holdsworth, Dan M. Tamas* (Corresponding Author), Edward D. Dempsey, Kit Hardman, Anna Bird, John R. Underhill, Dave McCarthy, Ken J.W. McCaffrey, David Selby

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)
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Abstract

Constraining the age of formation and repeated movements along fault arrays in superimposed rift basins helps us to better unravel the kinematic history as well as the role of inherited structures in basin evolution. The Inner Moray Firth Basin (IMFB, western North Sea) overlies rocks of the Caledonian basement, the pre-existing Devonian–Carboniferous Orcadian Basin, and a regionally developed Permo–Triassic North Sea basin system. IMFB rifting occurred mainly in the Upper Jurassic–Lower Cretaceous. The rift basin then experienced further regional tilting, uplift and fault reactivation during the Cenozoic. The Devonian successions exposed onshore along the northwestern coast of IMFB and the southeastern onshore exposures of the Orcadian Basin at Sarclet preserve a variety of fault orientations and structures. Their timing and relationship to the structural development of the wider Orcadian and IMFB are poorly understood. In this study, drone airborne optical images are used to create high-resolution 3D digital outcrops. Analyses of these images are then coupled with detailed field observations and U-Pb geochronology of syn-faulting mineralised veins in order to constrain the orientations and absolute timing of fault populations and decipher the kinematic history of the area. In addition, the findings help to better identify deformation structures associated with earlier basin-forming events. This holistic approach helped identify and characterise multiple deformation events, including the Late Carboniferous inversion of Devonian rifting structures, Permian minor fracturing, Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous rifting and Cenozoic reactivation and local inversion. We were also able to isolate characteristic structures, fault kinematics, fault rock developments and associated mineralisation types related to these events

Original languageEnglish
Article number695
Number of pages20
JournalRemote Sensing
Volume15
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Feb 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work is based on the Ph.D. work of AT undertaken as part of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Oil and Gas [grant number NEM00578X/1] and was funded by Durham University and British Geological Survey (BGS) via the British University Funding Initiative (BUFI), whose support is gratefully acknowledged.

Data Availability Statement

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article and its supplementary material.

Keywords

  • Inner Moray Firth Basin
  • North Sea
  • Orcadian Basin
  • structural inheritance
  • superimposed deformation
  • U-Pb calcite geochronology
  • UAV photogrammetry

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