Our main focus has been the Central Graben Salt diapirs, where we have examined the detailed geometry of the reservoirs and salt diapirs at all scales from seismic to cores over some 12 oil fields. Debris flows in the Chalk, which have slumped off diapir crests, have become a recent new play in the central Graben with good examples described on the Kyle Field (Davison et al. 2000a and 2000b ).

The Central Graben diapirs created topography of at least several tens of metres during the Palaeocene and this created enough relief to divert turbidite flows around the domes. Prediction of sedimentation patterns around salt domes is important to understanding reservoir distribution.

Banff Diapir: note the faulted top salt surface

3-D Visualisation of Oligo-Miocene Faults

Weston, P.J., Davison, I., & Insley, M.W., 1993. Physical modelling of North Sea Salt Diapirism. In: Parker, J.R., (Ed.), Petroleum Geology of Northwest Europe: Proceedings of the 4th Conference, Barbican, 559-567.

Hughes, M., & Davison, I., 1993. Geometry and Growth Kinematics of Salt Pillows in the Southern North Sea. Tectonophysics, 228, 239-254.

Davison, I., Alsop, I., Birch, P., Elders, C, Evans, N., Nicholson, H., Rorison, P., Wade, D., Woodward, J., & Young, M., 2000. Geometry and late stage structural evolution of Central Graben salt diapirs, North Sea. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 17, 499-522.

Davison, I., 2004. Bathymetric controls on Paleocene gravity flows around salt domes in the Central Graben, North Sea. GCSSEPM 24th Annual Meeting, Bob Perkins Research Conference, December 5th-8th 2004, Houston Texas, CD Rom, p. 1031-1044.

Davison, I., Stasiuk, S., & Nutall, P., 2009. Sub -basalt plays I the Rockall and Faroes-Shetlands basins. 2009 SPE Offshore Europe Oil and Gas Exhibition held in Aberdeen, UK 8-11 September  SPE 123927

Davison, I., Stasiuk, S., Nuttall, P., & Keane, P., 2010.  Sub-basalt hydrocarbon prospectivity in the Rockall, Faroes-Shetlands and Møre basins, NE Atlantic. In: Vining, B.A., and Pickring, S.C., (Eds.), Petroleum Geology: from mature basins to new frontiers. VII Proceedings Petroleum Geology Conference, Geological Society of London, 7, 1025-1032.