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Overprinting orogenic events, ductile extrusion and strain partitioning during Caledonian transpression, NW Mainland Shetland (2024)
Journal Article
Armitage, T. B., Holdsworth, R. E., Strachan, R. A., Dempsey, E. D., Walker, R. J., Alvarez-Ruiz, D. T., & Lloyd, G. E. (2024). Overprinting orogenic events, ductile extrusion and strain partitioning during Caledonian transpression, NW Mainland Shetland. Journal of Structural Geology, 180, Article 105088. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsg.2024.105088

A 3.6 km thick stack of mid-crustal deformed Precambrian rocks is associated with the North Roe Nappe (NRN) and Walls Boundary Fault in the northernmost Scottish Caledonides on NW Mainland Shetland. The greenschist- to amphibolite-facies rocks displa... Read More about Overprinting orogenic events, ductile extrusion and strain partitioning during Caledonian transpression, NW Mainland Shetland.

Ikaite formation in streams affected by steel waste leachate: First report and potential impact on contaminant dynamics (2023)
Journal Article
Bastianini, L., Rogerson, M., Brasier, A., Prior, T. J., Hardman, K., Dempsey, E., …Mayes, W. M. (2024). Ikaite formation in streams affected by steel waste leachate: First report and potential impact on contaminant dynamics. Chemical Geology, 644, Article 121842. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2023.121842

Highly alkaline (pH 9–12) waters can arise from a range of globally significant and environmentally impactful industrial processes such as lime, steel and cement production, alumina refining and energy generation (e.g. combustion ashes). Such residue... Read More about Ikaite formation in streams affected by steel waste leachate: First report and potential impact on contaminant dynamics.

An onshore-offshore interpretation of structures in the Devonian rocks of the Pentland Firth, Scotland using high resolution bathymetry and drone-enabled field observations. (2023)
Journal Article
Utley, T. A., Holdsworth, R. E., Walker, R. J., Dempsey, E. D., McCaffrey, K. J., Dichiarante, A., & Jones, T. L. (2023). An onshore-offshore interpretation of structures in the Devonian rocks of the Pentland Firth, Scotland using high resolution bathymetry and drone-enabled field observations. Journal of Structural Geology, 174, Article 104922. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsg.2023.104922

Strong tidal currents in the Pentland Firth separating NE Scotland and Orkney have stripped recent seafloor sediments revealing geological structures in parts of the Devonian Orcadian Basin that are otherwise limited to narrow coastal outcrops. Here... Read More about An onshore-offshore interpretation of structures in the Devonian rocks of the Pentland Firth, Scotland using high resolution bathymetry and drone-enabled field observations..

Eclogites and basement terrane tectonics in the northern arm of the Grenville orogen, NW Scotland (2023)
Journal Article
Bird, A., Thirlwall, M., Strachan, R. A., Millar, I. L., Dempsey, E. D., & Hardman, K. (2023). Eclogites and basement terrane tectonics in the northern arm of the Grenville orogen, NW Scotland. Geoscience Frontiers, 14(6), Article 101668. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gsf.2023.101668

The presence of eclogites within continental crust is a key indicator of collisional orogenesis. Eclogites within the Eastern Glenelg basement inlier of the Northern Highland Terrane (NHT) have been re-dated in order to provide more accurate constrai... Read More about Eclogites and basement terrane tectonics in the northern arm of the Grenville orogen, NW Scotland.

Older than you think: Using U-Pb calcite geochronology to better constrain basin-bounding fault reactivation, Inner Moray Firth Basin, W North Sea (2023)
Journal Article
Tamas, A., Holdsworth, R. E., Tamas, D. M., Dempsey, E. D., Hardman, K., Bird, A., …Selby, D. (in press). Older than you think: Using U-Pb calcite geochronology to better constrain basin-bounding fault reactivation, Inner Moray Firth Basin, W North Sea. Journal of the Geological Society, 180(5), Article jgs2022-166. https://doi.org/10.1144/jgs2022-166

Like many rift basins worldwide, the Inner Moray Firth Basin (IMFB) is bounded by major reactivated fault zones, including the Helmsdale Fault and the Great Glen Fault (GGF). The Jurassic successions exposed onshore close to these faults at Helmsdale... Read More about Older than you think: Using U-Pb calcite geochronology to better constrain basin-bounding fault reactivation, Inner Moray Firth Basin, W North Sea.

The strike-slip influenced stratigraphic and structural development of the Foula Sandstone Group, Shetland: implications for offshore Devonian basin development in the northern UKCS (2023)
Journal Article
Utley, T., Holdsworth, R., Blackbourn, G., Dempsey, E., Strachan, R., McCaffrey, K., …Walker, R. (2023). The strike-slip influenced stratigraphic and structural development of the Foula Sandstone Group, Shetland: implications for offshore Devonian basin development in the northern UKCS. Journal of the Geological Society, 180(3), Article jgs2022-148. https://doi.org/10.1144/jgs2022-148

The island of Foula located 25 km SW of Shetland preserves a gently folded, 1.6 km thick sequence of Middle Devonian sandstones spectacularly exposed in kilometre-long cliff sections over 350 m high. These rocks unconformably overlie likely Precambri... Read More about The strike-slip influenced stratigraphic and structural development of the Foula Sandstone Group, Shetland: implications for offshore Devonian basin development in the northern UKCS.

Using UAV-Based Photogrammetry Coupled with In Situ Fieldwork and U-Pb Geochronology to Decipher Multi-Phase Deformation Processes: A Case Study from Sarclet, Inner Moray Firth Basin, UK (2023)
Journal Article
Tamas, A., Holdsworth, R. E., Tamas, D. M., Dempsey, E. D., Hardman, K., Bird, A., …Selby, D. (2023). Using UAV-Based Photogrammetry Coupled with In Situ Fieldwork and U-Pb Geochronology to Decipher Multi-Phase Deformation Processes: A Case Study from Sarclet, Inner Moray Firth Basin, UK. Remote Sensing, 15(3), Article 695. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15030695

Constraining the age of formation and repeated movements along fault arrays in superimposed rift basins helps us to better unravel the kinematic history as well as the role of inherited structures in basin evolution. The Inner Moray Firth Basin (IMFB... Read More about Using UAV-Based Photogrammetry Coupled with In Situ Fieldwork and U-Pb Geochronology to Decipher Multi-Phase Deformation Processes: A Case Study from Sarclet, Inner Moray Firth Basin, UK.

Mid-crustal reactivation processes linked to frictional melting and deep void development during seismogenic slip: examples from the Lewisian Complex, NW Scotland (2022)
Journal Article
Hardman, K., Holdsworth, R. E., Scott, L., Dempsey, E., & McCaffrey, K. J. W. (in press). Mid-crustal reactivation processes linked to frictional melting and deep void development during seismogenic slip: examples from the Lewisian Complex, NW Scotland. Journal of the Geological Society, https://doi.org/10.1144/jgs2022-037

Exhumed examples of ancient fault voids formed during seismic slip at depths > 10 km are well preserved in the Assynt Terrane of the Lewisian Complex, NW Scotland. They are interpreted to have formed during regional Mesoproterozoic (ca 1.55 Ga; ‘Assy... Read More about Mid-crustal reactivation processes linked to frictional melting and deep void development during seismogenic slip: examples from the Lewisian Complex, NW Scotland.

Caledonian hot zone magmatism in the ‘Newer Granites’: insight from the Cluanie and Clunes plutons, Northern Scottish Highlands (2022)
Journal Article
Milne, E. J., Neill, I., Bird, A. F., Millar, I. L., McDonald, I., Dempsey, E. D., …Waters, E. C. (2023). Caledonian hot zone magmatism in the ‘Newer Granites’: insight from the Cluanie and Clunes plutons, Northern Scottish Highlands. Journal of the Geological Society, 180(2), Article jgs2022-076. https://doi.org/10.1144/jgs2022-076

Scottish ‘Newer Granites’ record the evolution of the Caledonides resulting from Iapetus subduction and slab breakoff during the Silurian–Devonian Scandian Orogeny, but relationships between geodynamics, petrogenesis and emplacement are incomplete. L... Read More about Caledonian hot zone magmatism in the ‘Newer Granites’: insight from the Cluanie and Clunes plutons, Northern Scottish Highlands.

Correlating deformation events onshore and offshore in superimposed rift basins: The Lossiemouth Fault Zone, Inner Moray Firth Basin, Scotland (2022)
Journal Article
Tamas, A., Holdsworth, R. E., Underhill, J. R., Tamas, D. M., Dempsey, E. D., McCarthy, D. J., …Selby, D. (in press). Correlating deformation events onshore and offshore in superimposed rift basins: The Lossiemouth Fault Zone, Inner Moray Firth Basin, Scotland. Basin Research, https://doi.org/10.1111/bre.12661

The separation and characterisation of different deformation events in superim-posed basins can be challenging due to the effects of overprinting and/or fault reactivation, combined with a lack of detailed geological or geophysical data. This paper s... Read More about Correlating deformation events onshore and offshore in superimposed rift basins: The Lossiemouth Fault Zone, Inner Moray Firth Basin, Scotland.

New onshore insights into the role of structural inheritance during Mesozoic opening of the Inner Moray Firth Basin, Scotland (2021)
Journal Article
Tamas, A., Holdsworth, R. E., Underhill, J. R., Tamas, D. M., Dempsey, E. D., Hardman, K., …Selby, D. (2022). New onshore insights into the role of structural inheritance during Mesozoic opening of the Inner Moray Firth Basin, Scotland. Journal of the Geological Society, 179(2), Article 066. https://doi.org/10.1144/jgs2021-066

The Inner Moray Firth Basin (IMFB) forms the western arm of the North Sea trilete rift system that initiated mainly during the Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous with the widespread development of major NE–SW-trending dip-slip growth faults. The IMFB is... Read More about New onshore insights into the role of structural inheritance during Mesozoic opening of the Inner Moray Firth Basin, Scotland.

A revised age, structural model and origin for the North Pennine Orefield in the Alston Block, northern England: intrusion (Whin Sill)-related base metal (Cu–Pb–Zn–F) mineralization (2021)
Journal Article
Dempsey, E. D., Holdsworth, R. E., Selby, D., Bird, A., Young, B., & Cornu, C. L. (2021). A revised age, structural model and origin for the North Pennine Orefield in the Alston Block, northern England: intrusion (Whin Sill)-related base metal (Cu–Pb–Zn–F) mineralization. Journal of the Geological Society, 178(4), Article jgs2020-226. https://doi.org/10.1144/jgs2020-226

Mineralization and associated fluid migration events in the c. 1500 km2 North Pennine Orefield (NPO) are known to be associated with tectonic activity, but the age of these tectonic events and origins of the base metal sulfide mineralization remain u... Read More about A revised age, structural model and origin for the North Pennine Orefield in the Alston Block, northern England: intrusion (Whin Sill)-related base metal (Cu–Pb–Zn–F) mineralization.

Fracture attribute scaling and connectivity in the Devonian Orcadian Basin with implications for geologically equivalent sub-surface fractured reservoirs (2020)
Journal Article
Dichiarante, A. M., McCaffrey, K. J. W., Holdsworth, R. E., Bjørnarå, T. I., & Dempsey, E. D. (2020). Fracture attribute scaling and connectivity in the Devonian Orcadian Basin with implications for geologically equivalent sub-surface fractured reservoirs. Solid Earth, 11(6), 2221-2244. https://doi.org/10.5194/se-11-2221-2020

Fracture attribute scaling and connectivity datasets from analogue systems are widely used to inform sub-surface fractured reservoir models in a range of geological settings. However, significant uncertainties are associated with the determination of... Read More about Fracture attribute scaling and connectivity in the Devonian Orcadian Basin with implications for geologically equivalent sub-surface fractured reservoirs.

A bigger splat: The catastrophic geology of a 1.2-b.y.-old terrestrial megaclast (2020)
Journal Article
Killingback, Z., Holdsworth, R. E., Walker, R. J., Nielsen, S., Dempsey, E., & Hardman, K. (2020). A bigger splat: The catastrophic geology of a 1.2-b.y.-old terrestrial megaclast. Geology, https://doi.org/10.1130/G48079.1

Rockfalls are relatively little described from the ancient geological record, likely due to their poor preservation potential. At Clachtoll, northwest Scotland, a megaclast (100 m × 60 m × 15 m) of Neoarchean Lewisian gneiss with an estimated mass of... Read More about A bigger splat: The catastrophic geology of a 1.2-b.y.-old terrestrial megaclast.

The nature and significance of rift-related, near-surface fissure fill networks in fractured carbonates below regional unconformities (2020)
Journal Article
Hardman, K., Holdsworth, R. E., Dempsey, E., & McCaffrey, K. (2020). The nature and significance of rift-related, near-surface fissure fill networks in fractured carbonates below regional unconformities. Journal of the Geological Society, https://doi.org/10.1144/jgs2020-074

Hosted in carbonate and crystalline basement rocks below regional unconformities, fissure-fill networks are a widely recognized, but relatively little described near-surface phenomenon (< 1-2km). Faults and fractures in otherwise tight Devonian carbo... Read More about The nature and significance of rift-related, near-surface fissure fill networks in fractured carbonates below regional unconformities.

The nature and age of Mesoproterozoic strike-slip faulting based on Re-Os geochronology of syn-tectonic copper mineralization, Assynt Terrane, NW Scotland (2020)
Journal Article
Holdsworth, R. E., Selby, D., Dempsey, E., Scott, L., Hardman, K., Fallick, A., & Bullock, R. (in press). The nature and age of Mesoproterozoic strike-slip faulting based on Re-Os geochronology of syn-tectonic copper mineralization, Assynt Terrane, NW Scotland. Journal of the Geological Society, jgs2020-011. https://doi.org/10.1144/jgs2020-011

The nature and age of basement host rocks and fissure fills in the Lancaster field fractured reservoir, West of Shetland (2019)
Journal Article
Holdsworth, R., Trice, R., Hardman, K., McCaffrey, K., Morton, A., Frei, D., …Rogers, S. (in press). The nature and age of basement host rocks and fissure fills in the Lancaster field fractured reservoir, West of Shetland. Journal of the Geological Society, jgs2019-142. https://doi.org/10.1144/jgs2019-142

Hosting up to 3.3 billion barrels of oil in place, the upfaulted Precambrian 16 crystalline rocks of the Lancaster Field, offshore west of Shetland, give key insights into how 17 fractured hydrocarbon reservoirs can form in such old rocks. The Neoarc... Read More about The nature and age of basement host rocks and fissure fills in the Lancaster field fractured reservoir, West of Shetland.

Natural fracture propping and earthquake-induced oil migration in fractured basement reservoirs (2019)
Journal Article
Holdsworth, R. E., McCaffrey, K. J. W., Dempsey, E., Roberts, N. M. W., Hardman, K., Morton, A., …Robertson, A. (2019). Natural fracture propping and earthquake-induced oil migration in fractured basement reservoirs. Geology, 47(8), 700-704. https://doi.org/10.1130/G46280.1

The geological processes that create fluid storage capacity and connectivity in global fractured basement reservoirs are poorly understood compared to conventional hydrocarbon plays. Hosting potentially multi-billion barrels of oil, the upfaulted P... Read More about Natural fracture propping and earthquake-induced oil migration in fractured basement reservoirs.

The Neoarchaean Uyea Gneiss Complex, Shetland: an onshore fragment of the Rae Craton on the European Plate (2019)
Journal Article
Kinny, P., Strachan, R., Fowler, M., Clark, C., Davis, S., Jahn, I., …Dempsey, E. (2019). The Neoarchaean Uyea Gneiss Complex, Shetland: an onshore fragment of the Rae Craton on the European Plate. Journal of the Geological Society, Article 017. https://doi.org/10.1144/jgs2019-017

A tract of amphibolite facies granitic gneisses and metagabbros in northern Shetland, U.K., is here named the Uyea Gneiss Complex. Zircon U–Pb dating indicates emplacement of the igneous protoliths of the complex c. 2746–2726 Ma, at a later time than... Read More about The Neoarchaean Uyea Gneiss Complex, Shetland: an onshore fragment of the Rae Craton on the European Plate.

Coseismic ultramylonites: An investigation of nanoscale viscous flow and fault weakening during seismic slip (2019)
Journal Article
Pozzi, G., De Paola, N., Holdsworth, R. E., Bowen, L., Nielsen, S. B., & Dempsey, E. D. (2019). Coseismic ultramylonites: An investigation of nanoscale viscous flow and fault weakening during seismic slip. Earth and planetary science letters, 516, 164-175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2019.03.042

Faults weaken during the propagation of earthquakes due to the onset of thermally-activated mechanisms, which vary depending on the rock type. Recent experimental work suggests that carbonate-hosted faults are lubricated by viscous flow in nano-granu... Read More about Coseismic ultramylonites: An investigation of nanoscale viscous flow and fault weakening during seismic slip.

The nature and significance of the Faroe-Shetland Terrane: Linking Archaean basement blocks across the North Atlantic (2018)
Journal Article
Holdsworth, R., Morton, A., Frei, D., Gerdes, A., Strachan, R., Dempsey, E., …Whitham, A. (2019). The nature and significance of the Faroe-Shetland Terrane: Linking Archaean basement blocks across the North Atlantic. Precambrian research, 321, 154-171. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.precamres.2018.12.004

Core samples of the continental basement rocks that underlie the eastern Faroe-Shetland Basin (FSB) and its inshore margins west of Shetland reveal a suite of predominantly granodioritic to granitic orthogneisses (including TTG), together with lesser... Read More about The nature and significance of the Faroe-Shetland Terrane: Linking Archaean basement blocks across the North Atlantic.

Tectonic evolution of the Southern Negros Geothermal Field and implications for the development of fractured geothermal systems (2018)
Journal Article
Pastoriza, L. R., Holdsworth, R. E., Mccaffrey, K. J. W., & Dempsey, E. (2018). Tectonic evolution of the Southern Negros Geothermal Field and implications for the development of fractured geothermal systems. Geofluids, 2018, Article 6025038. https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/6025038

Fluid flow pathway characterisation is critical to geothermal exploration and exploitation. In fractured geothermal reservoirs, it requires a good understanding of the structural evolution together with the fracture distribution and fluid flow proper... Read More about Tectonic evolution of the Southern Negros Geothermal Field and implications for the development of fractured geothermal systems.

Evidence for basement reactivation during the opening of the Labrador Sea from the Makkovik Province, Labrador, Canada: Insights from field data and numerical models (2018)
Journal Article
Peace, A. L., Dempsey, E. D., Schiffer, C., Welford, J., Mccaffrey, K. J., Imber, J., & Phethean, J. J. (2018). Evidence for basement reactivation during the opening of the Labrador Sea from the Makkovik Province, Labrador, Canada: Insights from field data and numerical models. Geosciences, 8(8), 308. https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences8080308

The onshore exposures adjacent to modern, offshore passive continental margins may preserve evidence of deformation from the pre‐, syn‐, and post‐rift phases of continental breakup that allow us to investigate the processes associated with and contro... Read More about Evidence for basement reactivation during the opening of the Labrador Sea from the Makkovik Province, Labrador, Canada: Insights from field data and numerical models.

An evaluation of Mesozoic rift-related magmatism on the margins of the Labrador Sea: Implications for rifting and passive margin asymmetry (2016)
Journal Article
Peace, A., McCaffrey, K., Imber, J., Phethean, J., Nowell, G., Gerdes, K., & Dempsey, E. (2016). An evaluation of Mesozoic rift-related magmatism on the margins of the Labrador Sea: Implications for rifting and passive margin asymmetry. Geosphere, 12(6), 1701-1724. https://doi.org/10.1130/GES01341.1

The Labrador Sea is a small (∼900 km wide) ocean basin separating southwest Greenland from Labrador, Canada. It opened following a series of rifting events that began as early as the Late Triassic or Jurassic, culminating in a brief period of seafloo... Read More about An evaluation of Mesozoic rift-related magmatism on the margins of the Labrador Sea: Implications for rifting and passive margin asymmetry.

New structural and Re-Os geochronological evidence constraining the age of faulting and associated mineralization in the Devonian Orcadian Basin, Scotland (2016)
Journal Article
Dichiarante, A. M., Holdsworth, R. E., Dempsey, E. D., Selby, D., McCaffrey, K. J., Michie, U. M. L., …Bonniface, J. (2016). New structural and Re-Os geochronological evidence constraining the age of faulting and associated mineralization in the Devonian Orcadian Basin, Scotland. Journal of the Geological Society, 173(3), 457-473. https://doi.org/10.1144/jgs2015-118

The Devonian Orcadian Basin in northern Scotland belongs to a regionally linked system of post-Caledonian continental basins extending northwards to western Norway and eastern Greenland. Extensional fault systems that cut the Orcadian Basin sequences... Read More about New structural and Re-Os geochronological evidence constraining the age of faulting and associated mineralization in the Devonian Orcadian Basin, Scotland.

Silurian–Devonian magmatism, mineralization, regional exhumation and brittle strike-slip deformation along the Loch Shin Line, NW Scotland (2015)
Journal Article
Holdsworth, R. E., Dempsey, E., Selby, D., Darling, J. R., Feely, M., Costanzo, A., …Porter, S. J. (2015). Silurian–Devonian magmatism, mineralization, regional exhumation and brittle strike-slip deformation along the Loch Shin Line, NW Scotland. Journal of the Geological Society, 172(6), 748-762. https://doi.org/10.1144/jgs2015-058

The Loch Shin Line is a geological–geophysical lineament associated with a zone of mantle-derived appinites, granites and strike-slip faulting that runs NW–SE across the Moine Nappe, northern Scotland. U–Pb zircon and Re–Os molybdenite dating of the... Read More about Silurian–Devonian magmatism, mineralization, regional exhumation and brittle strike-slip deformation along the Loch Shin Line, NW Scotland.

A geological explanation for intraplate earthquake clustering complexity: The zeolite-bearing fault/fracture networks in the Adamello Massif (Southern Italian Alps) (2014)
Journal Article
Dempsey, E. D., Holdsworth, R. E., Imber, J., Bistacchi, A., & Di Toro, G. (2014). A geological explanation for intraplate earthquake clustering complexity: The zeolite-bearing fault/fracture networks in the Adamello Massif (Southern Italian Alps). Journal of Structural Geology, 66, 58-74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsg.2014.04.009

Interconnected networks of faults and veins filled with hydrothermal minerals such as zeolite are widespread in many orogenic terrains. These fractures commonly form at relatively low temperatures (e.g.

Structural characteristics and Re-Os dating of quartz-pyrite veins in the Lewisian Gneiss Complex, NW Scotland: Evidence of an Early Paleoproterozoic hydrothermal regime during terrane amalgamation (2014)
Journal Article
Vernon, R., Holdsworth, R., Selby, D., Dempsey, E., Finlay, A., & Fallick, A. (2014). Structural characteristics and Re-Os dating of quartz-pyrite veins in the Lewisian Gneiss Complex, NW Scotland: Evidence of an Early Paleoproterozoic hydrothermal regime during terrane amalgamation. Precambrian research, 246, 256-267. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.precamres.2014.03.007

In the Archaean basement rocks of the Assynt and Gruinard terranes of the mainland Lewisian Complex in NW Scotland, a regional suite of quartz-pyrite veins cross-cut regional Palaeoproterozoic (Badcallian, ca. 2700. Ma; Inverian, ca. 2480. Ma) fabric... Read More about Structural characteristics and Re-Os dating of quartz-pyrite veins in the Lewisian Gneiss Complex, NW Scotland: Evidence of an Early Paleoproterozoic hydrothermal regime during terrane amalgamation.

Mica-controlled anisotropy within mid-to-upper crustal mylonites: an EBSD study of mica fabrics in the Alpine Fault Zone, New Zealand (2011)
Journal Article
Dempsey, E. D., Prior, D. J., Mariani, E., Toy, V. G., & Tatham, D. J. (2011). Mica-controlled anisotropy within mid-to-upper crustal mylonites: an EBSD study of mica fabrics in the Alpine Fault Zone, New Zealand. Geological Society Special Publications, 360(1), 33-47. https://doi.org/10.1144/SP360.3

The lattice preferred orientation (LPO) of both muscovite and biotite were measured by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and these data, together with the LPOs of the other main constituent minerals, were used to produce models of the seismic v... Read More about Mica-controlled anisotropy within mid-to-upper crustal mylonites: an EBSD study of mica fabrics in the Alpine Fault Zone, New Zealand.