Keynote

Hard breakup - the rifted margin of western Fennoscandia

Atle Rotevatn
Professor of Structural Geology and Basin Analysis
Department of Earth Science, University of Bergen

At the western extreme of Fennoscandia, a rifted passive margin marks the transition from the Fennoscandian Shield to the continental shelf and ocean basins of the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic. This passive margin developed in geologically relatively recent times (~55 Ma), when continental break-up finally occurred after a period of protracted rifting over c. 300 million years following the Ordovician to Devonian Caledonian Orogeny. But what role did the structure of the Fennoscandian Shielf play in the setup of Caledonian orogenic template, and the ensuing rifting that eventually lead to breakup at the current western extreme of Fennoscandia? In this keynote talk we address these issues, exploring how the ancient structure of the Fennoscandian Shield helped shape of the most spectacular rifted margins globally.