Post-Caledonian tectonic evolution of the Precambrian and Paleozoic platform boundary zone offshore Poland based on the new and vintage multi-channel reflection seismic data

Abstract

The structure of the post-Caledonian sedimentary cover in the transition from the Precambrian to the Paleozoic platforms in the Polish sector of the Baltic Sea is a matter of ongoing debate due to the sparsity of quality seismic data and insufficient well data. The new high-resolution BalTec seismic data acquired in 2016 contributed greatly to deciphering the regional geology of the area. Here we show an optimal seismic data-processing workflow for the selected new BalTec seismic profiles offshore Poland, as well as legacy PGI97 regional seismic data. Due to the acquisition in a shallow-water environment, the processing strategy focused on suppressing multiple reflections and guided waves through a cascaded application of modern multiple elimination approaches. We illustrate the potential of the new and re-processed data for focusing seismic interpretation on the area of the Koszalin Fault. In light of the available data, the Koszalin Fault was the main structure controlling Mesozoic subsidence and Late Cretaceous–Paleocene inversion of the eastern portion of the Mid-Polish Trough offshore Poland. The inversion changed its character from thin- to thick-skinned towards the north, away from the Polish coast. The Koszalin Fault reactivated older structural grain inherited from the time of Devonian continental rifting at the margin of Laurussia. The fault runs obliquely to the Caledonian Deformation Front, the feature that remained inactive since its formation at the Silurian–Devonian transition.