Huge parts of the seabed from the North Sea are upside down, reveals a new study

In the world of stratigraphy or layers of rock, superficial sediments are generally younger than the deepest on which they settle. The Northern Sea, however, revealed giant mound mounds that defy this geological principle on a scale that scientists have never seen before.

Researchers from Norway and the United Kingdom have identified hundreds of bodies of sand under the North Sea who seem to have deepened in the ocean crust, exchanging places with older layers, which floated up the sand structures. The team claims that these well -named “swinkitis” represent the greatest known stratigraphic inversion and could have a significant impact on carbon storage projects.

“This discovery reveals a geological process that we have not seen before on this scale. What we have found are structures where the dense sand has flowed into lighter sediments that floated up the top of the sand, effectively overthrowing the conventional layers that we expect to see and create huge mounds under the sea,” said Mads Huuse, a geologist of the University of Manchester.

Huge pieces of sand

With data from sources such as direct rock samples and high -resolution 3D imaging techniques, Huuse and its colleagues studied “mounds and sand crests integrated into fine grains sediments, up to several hundred meters high and (tens) of (kilometers in kilometers)”, the team, managed by Huuse, wrote in a study previously this summer in the summer study this summer in the summer study this summer in the summer study this summer in the summer study this summer in a study this summer in the summer study this summer in the summer study this summer in the summer study this summer in the summer study this summer in a study this summer in the summer study this summer in the summer study this summer in a study this summer in the summer study this summer in the summer study this summer this summer in the summer study this summer in a study this summer in the summer study this summer this summer in the summer study this summer in the summer study this summer in a study this summer in the summer study this summer this summer in the summer study this summer in the summer study this summer in a study previously this summer in the summer study this summer in the summer study this summer in the summer. Communications from the Terre et Environnement Journal.

The researchers suggest that the sinkites have formed due to earthquakes or underground pressure changes at the end of the Miocene (10.4 to 5 million years) in Pliocene (5 to 1.6 million years). These events could have liquefied the sand, causing it by fractures in the seabed. This flow would have replaced deeper oozing rafts – rigid but more porous sediment layers with a large amount of tiny sea fossils. These rafts of oozing, or “flotitis”, would then have floated upwards of the sandblans of sand, reversing the original order of the layers.

“This research shows how fluids and sediments can move in the earthly crust unexpectedly,” said House in the press release. “Understanding how these formed sinkites could considerably change the way we assess underground tanks, the sealing and migration of fluids, which is essential for the capture and storage of carbon.”

Implications for the attenuation of climate change

In order to slow down climate change focused on humans, many scientists argue that in addition to reducing our warming greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide (CO2), we must also find ways to capture and store them before entering the atmosphere. Such an approach could involve the storage of CO2 in the ocean. In fact, the first commercial carbon storage project in the world has just completed its first CO2 delivery in the sea foundations of the North Sea. Researchers from the recent study argue that their discovery of Sinkitis has implications for the safety of these projects, as well as to predict the locations of oil and trapped gas.

“As with many scientific discoveries, there are many skeptical voices, but also many that express their support for the new model,” concluded Huuse. “Time and yet more research will tell us how largely the model is.”