Seismic stratigraphy of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic in northern Belgium: main results of a high-resolution reflection seismic survey along rivers and canals

This paper presents the results of high-resolution reflection seismic surveys carried out between 1989 and 1996 along rivers and canals in northern Belgium. The seismic data penetrate down to 900 m in the sedimentary cover or to the Paleozoic basement. The reflection response of the acoustic basement provides clear indications with regard to the top of the Paleozoic: crystalline basement and Lower Paleozoic metasediments and volcanics of the London-Brabant Massif and NE-dipping Devonian and Carboniferous strata. The subhorizontal Mesozoic and Cenozoic sedimentary cover comprises 20 unconformity-bound seismic units: 5 in the Cretaceous and 15 in the Cenozoic. Based on borehole information, these units are correlated with lithostratigraphically defined formations or groups. Some of the unit-bounding unconformities are of regional importance. They are attributed i) to eustatic sea-level changes causing regional flooding during the Late Cretaceous or incision of deep valleys during the Late Oligocene and Late Miocene, ii) to regional tectonic tilting between Late Eocene and Early Oligocene, or iii) to a combination of eustasy and tectonics causing valley incisions during the Lutetian. Faults of the Roer Valley Graben have offset different stratigraphic levels by sometimes considerable amounts (up to 230 m in the Oligocene to Quaternary succession). Although the main tectonic phase took place during the Miocene, the activity has varied considerably through time, and also from fault to fault. Most faults seem to have a 10 to 30-m displacement since the Late Pliocene