Melke Formation (Melkeformasjonen)

(From NPD Bulletin no. 4)

Viking Group

Name

The Norwegian word for milt or soft roe. This unit corresponds to the informal Engelvaer formation (H2-1).

Well type section

Well 6506/12-4 (Statoil), coordinates 65°12'46.97"N, 06°43'30.37"E, from 3979.5 m to 3863 m (Fig. 21). One core, 8 m recovery, including formational base.

Well reference section

Well 6407/2-2 (Saga Petroleum), coordinates 64°59'39.64"N, 07°31'53.08"E, from 2461 to 2417 m, (Fig. 23). One core, 2 m recovery, including the base.

Thickness

116.5 m in the type well, 44 m in the reference well.

Lithology

Dominantly claystone, with siltstone and limestone interbeds and stringers of sandstone. The claystone is dark grey to dark brown and slightly calcareous.

Basal Stratotype

The base is defined by a sharply increasing gamma ray response at the contact between the underlying sandstones of the Garn Formation and the claystones of the Melke Formation.

Lateral extent and variation

The formation was deposited throughout the Haltenbanken-Trænabanken area and is locally absent on structural highs. The formation may attain thicknesses of several hundred metres in down-flank basinal situations. The formation also shows lateral variation in lithology, being more silty or having more frequent limestone beds in some areas. Deposition of the unit's mudstones commenced earlier on Trænabanken than elsewhere (Fig. 6).

The unit subcrops beneath the Quaternary on the eastern part of the Trøndelag Platform as evidenced by several shallow cores (Bugge et al. 1984).

Age

Bajocian to Oxfordian

Depositional environment

The Melke Formation was deposited in an open marine environment.

Correlation

The Melke Formation is comparable to the Heather Formation of the North Sea. The upper parts of the Melke Formation are time equivalent to the Fuglen Formation in the Hammerfest Basin.

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