The Slyne-Erris Trough is a

geological Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth s ...

basin off the west coast of Donegal,

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. In recent years it has been shown to be prospective for

hydrocarbon In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons are examples of group 14 hydrides. Hydrocarbons are generally colourless and Hydrophobe, hydrophobic; their odor is usually fain ...

s, hosting

Royal Dutch Shell Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company, headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New ...

Corrib gas field The Corrib gas project () is a developed natural gas deposit located in the Atlantic Ocean, approximately off the northwest coast of County Mayo, Ireland. The project includes a natural gas pipeline and an onshore gas processing plant, which com ...

(discovered by Enterprise Oil, bought by Shell), and several other prospects being evaluated by a number of other oil companies. Structurally, the

trough Trough may refer to: In science * Trough (geology), a long depression less steep than a trench * Trough (meteorology), an elongated region of low atmospheric pressure * Trough (physics), the lowest point on a wave * Trough level (medicine), the l ...

is a series of NNE-SSW trending

half-graben A half-graben is a geological structure bounded by a fault along one side of its boundaries, unlike a full graben where a depressed block of land is bordered by parallel faults. Rift and fault structure A rift is a region where the lithosphere ...

The Slyne Trough

The Slyne Trough or Slyne Basin consists of three sub-basins, the Northern, Central and Southern Slyne Basins. The Northern and Central Slyne Basins are half-grabens of opposite polarity with the switch occurring across the Central Slyne Transfer, interpreted to be a splay of the Great Glen Fault. The Corrib Field is situated in the Northern Slyne Basin. In the Central Slyne the 27/5-1 well proved the presence of Late

Permian The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years, from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.902 Mya. It is the s ...

evaporites including salt, possibly indicating fault activity at this time. The basin is interpreted to have been active particularly during the

Triassic The Triassic ( ; sometimes symbolized 🝈) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.5 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.4 Mya. The Triassic is t ...

and Middle

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 143.1 Mya. ...

periods. The Slyne Basin links the Erris and Porcupine Basins.

The Erris Trough

The Erris Trough or Erris Basin is a half-graben that runs parallel with the Rockall Basin and is separated from it by a horst structure, the Erris Ridge. It is interpreted to have been active particularly during the

and middle

periods.

References

* P.N.Dancer, S.T.Algar & I.R.Wilson. 1999. Structural evolution of the Slyne Trough. In: A.J.Fleet & S.A.R.Boldy(editors) Petroleum Geology of Northwest Europe: Proceedings of the 5th Conference, 445-453. Geological Society of London. * T.J.Chapman, T.M.Broks, D.V.Corcoran, L.A.Duncan & P.N.Dancer. 1999. The structural evolution of the Erris Trough, offshore northwest Ireland, and its implications for hydrocarbon generation. In: A.J.Fleet & S.A.R.Boldy(editors) Petroleum Geology of Northwest Europe: Proceedings of the 5th Conference, 455-469. Geological Society of London. {{coord missing, Ireland Economic geology Structural geology Sedimentary basins of Europe Geography of Ireland Mesozoic rifts and grabens