Master Project Example - Sediment routing & detrital zircon age dating in the Middle Jurassic Garn & Pelion Formations on the Mid-Norwegian shelf & East Greenland

The Middle Jurassic Garn Formation in the Norwegian Sea is composed predominantly of relatively homogeneous sandstones. However, their distribution, reservoir architecture, and reservoir quality remain poorly constrained. Time-equivalent and broadly facies-equivalent sandstones of the Pelion Formation are exposed on East Greenland, but the extent to which these outcrops can inform subsurface interpretations of the Garn Formation is not well established.

Project description

Improved insights into sediment routing systems, sediment provenance, and proximal–distal relationships for both the Garn and its East Greenland equivalents are essential for resolving these uncertainties.

This project will involve U-Pb geochronological analysis of detrital zircon grains from both the Garn and Pelion formations to reconstruct sediment pathways and source regions. In addition, selected cores from the Garn Formation will be described and logged in detail. The overarching objective is to develop a refined model for sediment distribution and routing in the Norwegian–Greenland Seaway during the Middle Jurassic.

Proposed course plan during the master's degree (60 ECTS)
GEOV342
GEOV352
GEOV360
GEOV302
GEOV261
GEOV361
GEOV272
GEOV300

Field-, lab- and analysis work
Core logging and sampling in Stavanger
Sample crushing
Mineral separation
Detrital zircon U-Pb dating
Statistical analysis of data
Comparison to models and published work

Supervisors

Christian H. Eide (main supervisor)

Tor Sømme, UiB-GEO/Equinor

Leif Erik R. Pedersen, UiB-GEO

Last updated: 12.12.2025