| Porcupine Seabight Basin | |
|---|---|
| Stratigraphic range: Paleozoic to Mesozoic [1] | |
 Northeast Atlantic bathymetry, with Porcupine Bank and Porcupine Seabight | |
| Type | Oceanic Basin |
| Unit of | Atlantic Borderland Basins |
| Area | 60,000 km2 [2] |
| Location | |
| Region | Southwest of Ireland |
| Type section | |
| Region | Territorial Waters |
| Country | Ireland |
The Porcupine Seabight or Porcupine Basin is a deep-water oceanic basin located on the continental margin in the northeastern portion of the Atlantic Ocean.[3] It can be found in the southwestern offshore portion of Ireland and is part of a series of interconnected basins linked to a failed rift structure associated with the opening of the Northern Atlantic Ocean.[4] The basin extends in a North-South direction and was formed during numerous subsidence and rifting periods between the Late Carboniferous and Late Cretaceous.[1] It is bordered by the
- Goban Spur to the south
- Slyne Ridge to the north
- Porcupine Bank to the west
- Porcupine Abyssal Plain to the southwest
Due to subsidence, water depths range from 3000 m in the south near its mouth to 400 m in the north.[5] The Porcupine Basin lies on the Caledonian metamorphic basement and preserves up to 12 km of sedimentary strata from Late Palaeozoic to Quaternary which includes significant hydrocarbon reservoirs.[4] Sediment was likely sourced from the uplifted Caledonian metamorphic rocks of the Porcupine Median Ridge.[4]
The basin lent its name to Operation Seabight, an Irish drug-bust of November 2008.[6]
- ^ a b Calvès, Gerome; Torvela, Taija; Huuse, Mads; Dinkelman, Menno (2012). "New Evidence for the Origin of the Porcupine Median Atlantic Ridge". Academia.edu. 13 (6): n/a. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
- ^ Roland, Thomas. "Why all the interest in Porcupine Basin, Offshore Ireland" (PDF). www.europaoil.ocom. Europaoil. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
- ^ Praeg, Daniel; Huvenne, Veerle. "Porcupine Seabright". www.awi.de. Alfred-Wegener-Institut. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
- ^ a b c Ryan, M.C.; Helland-Hansen, W.; Johannessen, E.P.; Steel, R.J. (2009). "Erosional vs. accretionary shelf margins: the influence of margin type on deepwater sedimentation: an example from the Porcupine Basin, offshore western Ireland". The Authors Journal Compilation. 21 (5): 676–703. Bibcode:2009BasR...21..676R. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2117.2009.00424.x. S2CID 129364281.
- ^ Dorschel, B.; Wheeler, A.J.; Monteys, X.; Verbruggen, K. (2010). "Porcupine Seabight". Atlas of the Deep-Water Seabed. Ireland: Springer Netherlands. pp. 129–131. doi:10.1007/978-90-481-9376-1_13. ISBN 978-90-481-9375-2.
- ^ "€750m cocaine seizure". Irish Examiner. 2008-11-07. Archived from the original on 2008-11-10. Retrieved 2008-11-08.