Climate changes preserved in sandstones are documented by comparing the sediment composition and early diagenetic changes in sandstones deposited during arid to semi‐arid conditions, the Skagerrak Formation, with sandstones of the Gassum Formation deposited in a humid well‐vegetated environment. The study area covers the easternmost part of the Norwegian–Danish Basin, for which the Fennoscandian Shield functioned as sediment source area. The depositional environments of the formations, their distribution and burial depths are well‐constrained, facilitating a comprehensive petrographical and geochemical study complemented by porosity and permeability measurements of cores widely distributed in the basin (1700 to 5900 m burial depth). The Skagerrak Formation had an immature composition with more abundant feldspar, rock fragments and a larger variability in the heavy mineral assemblage when compared to the Gassum Formation, which was characterized by quartz and more stable heavy minerals. The arid to semi‐arid climate led to early oxidizing conditions under which abundant iron‐oxide/hydroxide coatings formed, while the evaporative processes occasionally resulted in caliche and gypsum precipitation. Under the humid climate, kaolinite precipitated due to leaching of feldspar and mica, and the abundant organic matter caused reducing conditions, which led to other Fe‐rich phases, i.e. pyrite, Fe‐chlorite and siderite. The inherited early diagenetic pore fluids and mineral assemblage also affect the mineral changes occurring during deeper burial, so dolomite preferentially formed in the sandstones deposited in an arid environment, while ankerite characterizes sandstones deposited under humid conditions. In addition to climate‐induced burial diagenetic changes, there are also temperature‐dependent phases, such as illite and quartz cement. Despite the same sediment source area remaining active during the entire period, the sediments that reached the Norwegian–Danish Basin were immature during the arid interval, although mature during the humid period. This has implications for provenance investigations as well as diagenetic investigations of sandstone reservoir quality.

The Paleocene and Eocene strata in the western part of the Faroe-Shetland Basin contain abundant volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks. Recently, hydrocarbon discoveries have been made in reservoirs of siliciclastic origin in intra- and post-volcanic strata in the central Faroe-Shetland Basin that show an active petroleum system is present in the volcanic affected area. The siliciclastic reservoirs are present in the same stratigraphic levels as the volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks, and in places, the siliciclastics and the volcanics interfinger. The assumption from published studies so far, based on limited data, is that the volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks are nonreservoir facies. In this study, based on studies of 140 core samples representing more than 70 different volcaniclastic interbeds from onshore Faroe Islands, it is demonstrated that 18 samples are in the helium (He) porosity range of 20% to 43% and a gas permeability range of 1.0 to 110 md, and among these samples, 7 are of epiclastic and 11 of pyroclastic origins. These 18 samples have been investigated further. Among the seven samples of epiclastic origin, five stem from Glyvursnes-1 well Argir Beds that is a fluvial deposit located close to a fault. These samples are correlated and compared with the wireline logs from Glyvursnes-1. Based on this comparison, it is found that the porosity of the Argir Beds is best estimated from wireline logs using Vp (P-wave seismic velocity), Vs (S-wave seismic velocity), or resistivity logs. Onshore samples are used as Faroese offshore volcaniclastic intervals are represented by a few confidential samples where the stratigraphic level is uncertain. The onshore samples have been taken from 29 geotechnical (made related to tunnel building, etc.) and 2 scientific (made related to research of the geology) boreholes and represent almost the entire stratigraphic volcaniclastic interval onshore Faroe Islands. In addition, they also cover most of the Faroe Island area geographically. The intervals where the samples are taken represent both in situ and transported material. Three units are ascribed to fluvial, mass flow, and swamp deposit environments, whereas the remaining beds are most likely pyroclastic deposits. The He porosity, gas permeability, and grain density were measured, and in addition, thin sections of all the samples have been produced.

Acoustic response from lithics knapped by humans has been demonstrated to facilitate effective detection of submerged Stone Age sites exposed on the seafloor or embedded within its sediments. This phenomenon has recently enabled the non-invasive detection of several hitherto unknown submerged Stone Age sites, as well as the registration of acoustic responses from already known localities. Investigation of the acoustic-response characteristics of knapped lithics, which appear not to be replicated in naturally cracked lithic pieces (geofacts), is presently on-going through laboratory experiments and finite element (FE) modelling of high-resolution 3D-scanned pieces. Experimental work is also being undertaken, employing chirp sub-bottom systems (reflection seismic) on known sites in marine areas and inland water bodies. Fieldwork has already yielded positive results in this initial stage of development of an optimised Human-Altered Lithic Detection (HALD) method for mapping submerged Stone Age sites. This paper reviews the maritime archaeological perspectives of this promising approach, which potentially facilitates new and improved practice, summarizes existing data, and reports on the present state of development. Its focus is not reflection seismics as such, but a useful resonance phenomenon induced by the use of high-resolution reflection seismic systems.