| Abstract: | The Devonian basins of western Norway are notable for their small size (<2000 km) and for the great stratigraphie thickness (up to 25 km) and the cyclic nature of their coarse-grained, alluvial infilling. These general features alone strongly suggest that tectonism was the dominant control on sedimentation but it is argued in particular that a coarsening-upwards motif, which permeates the three main basins usually on a scale of less than 200 m, was the direct sedimentary response to basin-floor subsidence. The coarsening-upwards is interpreted in terms of progradation of alluvial plain and alluvial fan facies in response to rapid lowering of the basin floor, while the overall cyclicity of the basin fills reflects repetition of such tectonic events. Detailed study within Hornelen Basin shows that the repeated coarsening-upwards theme overprints different sedimentary facies, and, in particular, the clastic wedges on opposite sides of the basin have contrasting thicknesses, radii, grain-size gradients and conglomerate types. These features suggest differing rates or degree of continuity of fault movement on opposite margins of the basin. Hornelen and Solund Basins, the two largest, are strongly contrasted in their differing mode of filling and sediment grade. It is suggested that this may reflect their development under strike-slip and dip-slip dominated regimes, respectively. |
