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Shannon, Patrick M.
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Shannon, Patrick M.
Official Name
Shannon, Patrick M.
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Now showing 1 - 10 of 13
- PublicationThe Stratigraphic Nomenclature of the Irish Offshore Basins(Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, 2021-07-14)
; ; Over 50 years of research and exploration in the Irish offshore have provided a vast archive of geological and geophysical information from which the geological evolution of the region has been pieced together. A total of 161 exploration and appraisal wells, a significant number of development wells and a small number of important shallower boreholes have been drilled, while a very large volume of 2D and 3D seismic data has been acquired across the Irish offshore. In addition, a number of important regional wide-angle seismic reflection and refraction profiles have helped constrain the deep crustal structure and controls on the main basins. The history of exploration has been summarised in various publications, including Naylor & Shannon (2011) and Shannon (2018).35 - PublicationDown-dip Termination of Sandy Fan Systems - New Insight from the Pennsylvanian Ross Sandstone Formation, Western Ireland(2015-12-22)
; ; ; ; New and legacy borehole constraints and outcrop work on the eastward extension of the Ross Formation help constrain the down-dip character of the fan stack.90 - PublicationHybrid Event Bed Character Across the Clare Shale - Basal Ross Formation Contact, Western Ireland - New Insight from Behind-Outcrop Cores(2014-12-22)
; ; ; ; A recent behind - outcrop drilling program targeting the Ross Formation has focussed on the Loop Head peninsula in west Clare. This has provided a fully-cored composite Ross section (490 m thick) that underpins a new understanding of bed-scale variability and the vertical evolution of the system . The work programme h as now been broadened to include the key Ballybunion section on the south side of the Shannon which sits obliquely down-dip (to the east) of Loop Head (c. 18 km away).114 - PublicationDown-Dip Termination of the Carboniferous Ross Fan System in the Inner Shannon Area, Western Ireland - New Insight from Core and Outcrop(2015-06)
; ; ; Scattered outcrops and limited borehole data in the inner Shannon estuary and mid-Clare are critical to constrain the down-dip extension of the Ross system. Previous outcrop studies have described a much thinner Ross section at Inishcorker and Foynes (over 50 km east of the Ross type section on the Loop Head) involving only the youngest Ross cycles in the west. A re-interpretation of the inner Shannon outcrops is now possible given a new GSI 09/04 borehole in the Inishcorker area, a re-analysis of Foynes Island sections and new biostratigraphic data126 - PublicationFacies and internal stratigraphic variability in the Ross Sandstone Formation (Pennsylvanian), western Ireland - new borehole data from south of the Shannon Estuary(International Association of Sedimentologists, 2013-09)
; ; ; The 500 m thick Ross Sandstone Formation is well exposed in sea cliffs facing the Atlantic and along the Shannon Estuary in western Ireland. It forms the sandy deep-water part of a major shallowing-upward Pennsylvanian succession. Over the last four years, a major behind-outcrop drilling program targeting the Ross Sandstone Formation has been undertaken, focussing primarily on the Loop Head peninsula in west Clare. This has provided a full composite Ross cored section that underpins a new understanding of bed-scale variability and the wider evolution of the system. The focus has recently shifted to the key Ballybunion section on the south side of the River Shannon, obliquely down-dip from the Loop Head area (c. 18 km from the tip of the Loop) and is important in that previous outcrop studies have inferred that (1) the distinctive character of the lower Ross here with its abundant hybrid event beds may reflect a marginal position; and (2) extra sandy section may be present in the uppermost Ross due to offset stacking of the youngest sandy lobes. Two new cores are now available ¿behind¿ the Ballybunion section - a 200 m PQ borehole straddling the lower Ross and the upper part of the underlying Clare Shale Formation (12-CE-UCD-09), and a 151.5 m long, cored slimhole with associated wireline log data acquired by the Geological Survey of Ireland (GSI 09/05). The latter is 1.1 km along strike from coastal exposures of the upper Ross and the study reported here focusses on the relationship of the section acquired in this borehole to the local cliffs and to upper Ross outcrops on the north side of the River Shannon at Kilcredaun, some 4.6 km away. Correlation is based on goniatite-rich ¿marine bands¿, legacy biostratigraphic data (new determinations are underway), and a number of laterally extensive slump bodies which form distinctive marker beds. The GSI 09/05 core contains three thin goniatite-rich levels, and a fourth candidate level, each interpreted as marine bands. These separate sand-prone packages, interpreted as stacked isolated to amalgamated lobe units, and at least two mass-transport units (MTDs), the lower and thickest of which is 25.5 m thick (true thickness). In the local cliffs to the west, all four marine bands can be identified, as well as the two MTDs. In addition, a third MTD is more obvious in the cliff. The lobe sandstones are dominated by deposits of high-density turbidity currents; amalgamated sandbodies become more abundant upwards. Hybrid event beds are rare (<10%) compared to lower in the formation. At least 50% of the sandbodies extend from the core to the adjacent outcrop without change; the remainder show a change from deposition from high- to low-concentration flows or vice versa. Overall, the Ballybunion Ross section is 480 m thick, broadly similar to the thickness established by drilling on the Loop. At longer length scales, all but the upper marine band are found at Kilcredaun. Correlatives of the two MTD units also occur in the core here, although the thickest slump has become thinner and muddier. Nonetheless this MTD unit can be traced widely across the Loop as a distinctive couplet. As correlated, the Ballybunion outcrop and core suggest there may not be an additional younger sandbody in this area, however the location appears axial and down-dip rather than marginal in character overall.175 - PublicationLarge-scale, linked drainage systems in the NW European Triassic: insights from the Pb isotopic composition of detrital K-feldspar(The Geological Society, 2012-05)
; ; ; ; Pb isotopic data from K-feldspars in Middle Triassic (Anisian) sandstones in the Wessex Basin, onshore southwest UK, and the East Irish Sea Basin, some to the north, show that the same grain populations are present. This indicates that the drainage system (the “Budleighensis” River) feeding these basins originated from the same source/s, most probably the remnant Variscan Uplands to the south. Fluvial and aeolian sandstones have the same provenance, suggesting that if water- and wind-driven sands were originally derived from different sources, this has been obscured through reworking prior to final deposition. Significant recycling of feldspar from arkosic sandstones in earlier sedimentary basins can be ruled out. The provenance data agree with previous depositional models, indicating transport distances in excess of , with a drainage pattern that linked separate basins. This supports the idea that the regional fluvial system was driven by topography and episodic flooding events of sufficient magnitude to overcome evaporation and infiltration over hundred’s of kilometres. Importantly, this drainage system appears to have been isolated and independent from those operating contemporaneously to the northwest of the Irish and Scottish massifs, where the remnant Variscan Uplands apparently exerted no influence on drainage or sand supply.1176Scopus© Citations 29 - PublicationSedimentology, sandstone provenance and palaeodrainage on the eastern Rockall Basin margin : evidence from the Pb isotopic composition of detrital K-feldspar(The Geological Society of London, 2010)
; ; ; ; The Rockall Basin, west of Ireland, is a frontier area for hydrocarbon exploration but currently the age and location of sand fairways through the basin are poorly known. A recently developed provenance approach based on in-situ Pb isotopic analysis of single K-feldspar grains by laser ablation multi-collector inductively-coupled mass spectrometry (LA-MC-ICPMS) offers advantages over other provenance techniques, particularly when applied to regional palaeodrainage issues. K-feldspar is a relatively common, usually first-cycle framework mineral in sandstones and its origin is typically linked to that of the quartz grains in arkosic and sub-arkosic rocks. Consequently, in contrast to other techniques, the Pb-in-K-feldspar tool characterises a significant proportion of the framework grains. New Pb isotopic data from K-feldspars in putative Permo-Triassic and Middle Jurassic sandstones in Well 12/2-1z (the Dooish gas condensate discovery) on the eastern margin of the Irish Rockall Basin are reported. These data suggest that three isotopically distinct basement sources supplied the bulk of the K-feldspar in the reservoir sandstones and that the relative contribution of these sources varied through time. Archaean and early Proterozoic rocks (including elements of the Lewisian Complex and its offshore equivalents), to the immediate east, north-east and north of the eastern Rockall Margin, are the likely sources. More distal sourcelands to the north-west cannot be ruled out but there was no significant input from southern sources, such as the Irish Massif. These data, together with previously published regional Pb isotopic data, highlight the important role played by old, near and far-field Archaean – Proterozoic basement highs in contributing sediment to NE Atlantic margin basins. The Irish Massif appears to have acted as a significant, but inert, drainage divide from the Permo-Triassic to the Late Jurassic and hence younger, Avalonian and Variscan, sand sources appear to have been less important on the Irish Atlantic Margin.2281Scopus© Citations 27 - PublicationStructural evolution and the partitioning of deformation during basin growth and inversion: A case study from the Mizen Basin Celtic Sea, offshore IrelandThe Celtic Sea basins lie on the continental shelf between Ireland and northwest France and consist of a series of ENE–WSW trending elongate basins that extend from St George’s Channel Basin in the east to the Fastnet Basin in the west. The basins, which contain Triassic to Neogene stratigraphic sequences, evolved through a complex geological history that includes multiple Mesozoic rift stages and later Cenozoic inversion. The Mizen Basin represents the NW termination of the Celtic Sea basins and consists of two NE–SW-trending half-grabens developed as a result of the reactivation of Palaeozoic (Caledonian, Lower Carboniferous and Variscan) faults. The faults bounding the Mizen Basin were active as normal faults from Early Triassic to Late Cretaceous times. Most of the fault displacement took place during Berriasian to Hauterivian (Early Cretaceous) times, with a NW–SE direction of extension. A later phase of Aptian to Cenomanian (Early to Late Cretaceous) N–S-oriented extension gave rise to E–W-striking minor normal faults and reactivation of the pre-existing basin bounding faults that propagated upwards as left-stepping arrays of segmented normal faults. In common with most of the Celtic Sea basins, the Mizen Basin experienced a period of major erosion, attributed to tectonic uplift, during the Paleocene. Approximately N–S Alpine regional compression-causing basin inversion is dated as Middle Eocene to Miocene by a well-preserved syn-inversion stratigraphy. Reverse reactivation of the basin bounding faults was broadly synchronous with the formation of a set of near-orthogonal NW–SE dextral strike-slip faults so that compression was partitioned onto two fault sets, the geometrical configuration of which is partly inherited from Palaeozoic basement structure. The segmented character of the fault forming the southern boundary of the Mizen Basin was preserved during Alpine inversion so that Cenozoic reverse displacement distribution on syn-inversion horizons mirrors the earlier extensional displacements. Segmentation of normal faults therefore controls the geometry and location of inversion structures, including inversion anticlines and the back rotation of earlier relay ramps.
1235Scopus© Citations 15 - PublicationSedimentology of the upper Ross Formation (Pennsylvanian) in borehole GSI 09/05 at Ballybunion, Co. Kerry(2013-03)
; ; The Pennsylvanian Ross Sandstone Formation is well exposed around the Shannon Estuary, in western Ireland. It forms the deep-water part of a major shallowing-upward succession filling the Clare Basin and it has been extensively used as a turbidite reservoir analogue and for subsurface training. Since 2009, a major program of behind-outcrop drilling targeting the Ross Sandstone Formation has been undertaken in west Co. Clare (Loop Head) and across the Shannon estuary in Co. Kerry. To date, most of the focus has been on boreholes acquired on Loop Head. These have provided a composite vertical section through the Ross Sandstone Formation and a framework for interpreting bed type variations and overall system evolution. Now, the emphasis is changing to examine lateral variability away from Loop Head using a new core at Ballybunion in the lowermost Ross Sandstone Formation, together with legacy data and two recent GSI slim-holes (at Inishcorker and Ballybunion). This poster focuses on first results from the GSI 09/05 borehole, located c.4.3 km north of Ballybunion town. This 150 m long slim-hole core intersects the upper Ross Formation as confirmed by correlation with a measured outcrop section on the adjacent cliff c.1.2 km away. Correlation is based on goniatite-rich "marine bands", distinctive thick sandstone units and slump bodies. Three marine bands are identified, the uppermost being unusually thick (c.4.5 m) and provisionally equated with the R. paucicrenulatum band marking the top of the Ross Sandstone Formation on Loop Head. The core records an upward transition from well-bedded sandstones (turbidites and subordinate hybrid event beds) interpreted as stacked lobe deposits to more amalgamated sandstones towards the top of the formation indicating increased channelisation. A major composite slump body (25 m thick) occurs below the central marine band. This remobilised both sand-prone and silty deposits and is significantly thicker than any of the slump units identified in the Loop Head cores and outcrop.142 - PublicationFacies Trends and Large-Scale Architecture of the Pennsylvanian Ross Formation, Western Ireland - New Insight from Cores South of the Shannon(2013-12)
; ; ; ; The Ross Formation is well exposed in sea cliffs facing the Atlantic and Shannon estuary in western Ireland. It forms the sandy deep-water part of a major shallowing-upward Pennsylvanian succession. Over the last four years, a major behind-outcrop drilling program targeting the Ross Formation has focussed primarily on the Loop Head peninsula in west Clare. This has provided a composite Ross cored section (490 m thick) that underpins a new understanding of bed-scale variability and the wider vertical evolution of the system. The focus has now shifted to the key Ballybunion section on the south side of the Shannon, which sits obliquely down-dip (to the east) of the Loop Head area (c. 18 km away). This area is important in that previous outcrop studies have suggested that (1) the character of the lower Ross with its abundant hybrid event beds may reflect a marginal fringe position; (2) an extra sandy section may be present in the uppermost Ross due to offset stacking of the youngest lobes and (3) some of the upper Ross mass transport units may extend across the estuary from Clare. Two new cores are now available ¿behind¿ the Ballybunion cliff section: a 200 m long PQ borehole straddling the lower Ross and the upper part of the underlying Clare Shale (12-KY-UCD-09), and a 151.5 m long slimhole core acquired by the Geological Survey of Ireland (GSI 09/05). In addition, a re-analysis of the biostratigraphy is underway. Together the matched pair of Kerry boreholes with the outcrop section provide a reference section (480 m thick) that can be compared with the Loop composite section. Both sections have a distinctive precursor cycle involving first stacked thin mudflows and then outsized and coarse grained hybrid event beds. The muddier make-up of the latter at Ballybunion is consistent with a down-dip position based on trends in other basins. The onset of the main Ross system that follows is sandier at Ballybunion than at Loop suggesting the former was more axial at this time. Thereafter hybrid event beds appear not to be as important at Ballybunion. Several of the mass transport units and condensed sections extend across the Shannon and tie the sections.116