Lithological controls on the architecture and geometry of magmatic intrusions in sedimentary basins

SUPERVISION: Associate Professor Christian Haug Eide (UIB), Professor Atle Rotevatn (UIB), Senior Lecturer Nick Schofield (University of Aberdeen), Professor John Howell (University of Aberdeen)

PROJECT PERIOD: 2019-2023

RESEARCH GOALS, AIMS AND OBJECTIVES:

Sills and dykes have been a studied topic for decades, and many studies have indirectly investigated sill propagation and architecture by using numerical models. Such studies are important to investigate how igneous intrusions behave at the time of the emplacement, but these often ignore the complexity observed in real magmatic intrusions. Our study investigates how sedimentary and lithologic heterogeneity may infer strong controls on sill propagation and -evolution, which will significantly change distances ranging from e.g. 1 km- to 100 m. Our aims include:

A. How, and if, sedimentary heterogeneity will influence the large-scale architecture and geometry of sills.

B. How overall emplacement changes when the igneous sill propagates through different lithologies.

C. Understanding how sedimentary heterogeneity influence sill development, and how this is related to forecasting of volcanic eruptions, subsurface resources and general basin understanding.