scholarly journals Impact of Timanian thrust systems on the late Neoproterozoic–Phanerozoic tectonic evolution of the Barents Sea and Svalbard

Solid Earth ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-115
Author(s):  
Jean-Baptiste P. Koehl ◽  
Craig Magee ◽  
Ingrid M. Anell
Keyword(s):  
Plate Tectonics ◽  
Barents Sea ◽  
Magnetic Data ◽  
Svalbard Archipelago ◽  
Northern Norway ◽  
Novaya Zemlya ◽  
Tectonic History ◽  
The Barents Sea ◽  
Late Neoproterozoic ◽  
Northwestern Russia

Abstract. The Svalbard Archipelago consists of three basement terranes that record a complex Neoproterozoic–Phanerozoic tectonic history, including four contractional events (Grenvillian, Caledonian, Ellesmerian, and Eurekan) and two episodes of collapse- to rift-related extension (Devonian–Carboniferous and late Cenozoic). Previous studies suggest that these three terranes likely accreted during the early to mid-Paleozoic Caledonian and Ellesmerian orogenies. Yet recent geochronological analyses show that the northwestern and southwestern terranes of Svalbard both record an episode of amphibolite (–eclogite) facies metamorphism in the latest Neoproterozoic, which may relate to the 650–550 Ma Timanian Orogeny identified in northwestern Russia, northern Norway, and the Russian Barents Sea. However, discrete Timanian structures have yet to be identified in Svalbard and the Norwegian Barents Sea. Through analysis of seismic reflection, as well as regional gravimetric and magnetic data, this study demonstrates the presence of continuous thrust systems that are several kilometers thick, NNE-dipping, deeply buried, and extend thousands of kilometers from northwestern Russia to northeastern Norway, the northern Norwegian Barents Sea, and the Svalbard Archipelago. The consistency in orientation and geometry, as well as apparent linkage between these thrust systems and those recognized as part of the Timanian Orogeny in northwestern Russia and Novaya Zemlya, suggests that the mapped structures are likely Timanian. If correct, these findings would imply that Svalbard's three basement terranes and the Barents Sea were accreted onto northern Norway during the Timanian Orogeny and should hence be attached to Baltica and northwestern Russia in future Neoproterozoic–early Paleozoic plate tectonics reconstructions. In the Phanerozoic, the study suggests that the interpreted Timanian thrust systems represent major preexisting zones of weakness that were reactivated, folded, and overprinted by (i.e., controlled the formation of new) brittle faults during later tectonic events. These faults are still active at present and can be linked to folding and offset of the seafloor.

scholarly journals Impact of Timanian thrust systems on the late Neoproterozoic–Phanerozoic tectonic evolution of the Barents Sea and Svalbard

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Baptiste P. Koehl ◽  
Craig Magee ◽  
Ingrid M. Anell
Keyword(s):  
Plate Tectonics ◽  
Barents Sea ◽  
Magnetic Data ◽  
Svalbard Archipelago ◽  
Northern Norway ◽  
Novaya Zemlya ◽  
Tectonic History ◽  
The Barents Sea ◽  
Late Neoproterozoic ◽  
Northwestern Russia

Abstract. The Svalbard Archipelago is composed of three basement terranes that record a complex Neoproterozoic–Phanerozoic tectonic history, including four contractional events (Grenvillian, Caledonian, Ellesmerian, and Eurekan) and two episodes of collapse- to rift-related extension (Devonian–Carboniferous and late Cenozoic). These three terranes are thought to have accreted during the early–mid Paleozoic Caledonian and Ellesmerian orogenies. Yet recent geochronological analyses show that the northwestern and southwestern terranes of Svalbard both record an episode of amphibolite (–eclogite) facies metamorphism in the latest Neoproterozoic, which may relate to the 650–550 Ma Timanian Orogeny identified in northwestern Russia, northern Norway and the Russian Barents Sea. However, discrete Timanian structures have yet to be identified in Svalbard and the Norwegian Barents Sea. Through analysis of seismic reflection, and regional gravimetric and magnetic data, this study demonstrates the presence of continuous, several kilometers thick, NNE-dipping, deeply buried thrust systems that extend thousands of kilometers from northwestern Russia to northeastern Norway, the northern Norwegian Barents Sea, and the Svalbard Archipelago. The consistency in orientation and geometry, and apparent linkage between these thrust systems and those recognized as part of the Timanian Orogeny in northwestern Russia and Novaya Zemlya suggests that the mapped structures are likely Timanian. If correct, these findings would indicate that Svalbard’s three basement terranes and the Barents Sea were accreted onto northern Norway during the Timanian Orogeny and should, hence, be attached to Baltica and northwestern Russia in future Neoproterozoic–early Paleozoic plate tectonics reconstructions. In the Phanerozoic, the study suggests that the interpreted Timanian thrust systems represented major preexisting zones of weakness that were reactivated, folded, and overprinted by (i.e., controlled the formation of new) brittle faults during later tectonic events. These faults are still active at present and can be linked to folding and offset of the seafloor.

scholarly journals Features of the Hydrocarbon Distribution in the Bottom Sediments of the Norwegian and Barents Seas

Fluids ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (12) ◽  
pp. 456
Author(s):  
Inna A. Nemirovskaya ◽  
Anastasia V. Khramtsova
Keyword(s):  
Bottom Sediments ◽  
Barents Sea ◽  
Size Composition ◽  
Geochemical Background ◽  
Svalbard Archipelago ◽  
Novaya Zemlya ◽  
The Barents Sea ◽  
Polycyclic Aromatic ◽  
Point Discharge ◽  
Hydrocarbon Distribution

The results of the study of hydrocarbons (HCs): aliphatic (AHCs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in bottom sediments (2019 and 2020, cruises 75 and 80 of the R/V Akademik Mstislav Keldysh) in the Norwegian-Barents Sea basin: Mohns Ridge, shelf Svalbard archipelago, Sturfiord, Medvezhinsky trench, central part of the Barents Sea, Novaya Zemlya shelf, Franz Victoria trough are presented. It has been established that the organo-geochemical background of the Holocene sediments was formed due to the flow of sedimentary material in the coastal regions of the Barents Sea on shipping routes. The anthropogenic input of HCs into bottom sediments leads to an increase in their content in the composition of Corg (in the sandy sediments of the Kaninsky Bank at an AHC concentration up to 64 μg/g, when its proportion in the composition of Corg reaches 11.7%). The endogenous influence on the of the Svalbard archipelago shelf in Sturfiord and in the Medvezhinsky Trench determines the specificity of local anomalies in the content and composition of HCs. This is reflected in the absence of a correlation between HCs and the grain size composition of sediments and Corg content, as well as a change in hydrocarbon molecular markers. At the same time, the sedimentary section is enriched in light alkanes and naphthalene’s that may be due to emission during point discharge of gas fluid from sedimentary rocks of the lower stratigraphic horizons and/or sipping migration.

scholarly journals Phylogeography of the Brittle Star Ophiura sarsii Lütken, 1855 (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea) from the Barents Sea and East Atlantic

Diversity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 40
Author(s):  
Evgeny Genelt-Yanovskiy ◽  
Yixuan Li ◽  
Ekaterina Stratanenko ◽  
Natalia Zhuravleva ◽  
Natalia Strelkova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Diversity ◽  
Barents Sea ◽  
Haplotype Diversity ◽  
Brittle Star ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Coi Gene ◽  
High Genetic Diversity ◽  
Svalbard Archipelago ◽  
Mitochondrial Coi ◽  
The Barents Sea

Ophiura sarsii is a common brittle star species across the Arctic and Sub-Arctic regions of the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. Ophiurasarsii is among the dominant echinoderms in the Barents Sea. We studied the genetic diversity of O.sarsii by sequencing the 548 bp fragment of the mitochondrial COI gene. Ophiurasarsii demonstrated high genetic diversity in the Barents Sea. Both major Atlantic mtDNA lineages were present in the Barents Sea and were evenly distributed between the northern waters around Svalbard archipelago and the southern part near Murmansk coast of Kola Peninsula. Both regions, and other parts of the O.sarsii range, were characterized by high haplotype diversity with a significant number of private haplotypes being mostly satellites to the two dominant haplotypes, each belonging to a different mtDNA clade. Demographic analyses indicated that the demographic and spatial expansion of O.sarsii in the Barents Sea most plausibly has started in the Bølling–Allerød interstadial during the deglaciation of the western margin of the Barents Sea.

First humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) re-sighting between Azorean waters and the Barents Sea (Murman coast, northwestern Russia)

Polar Biology ◽  
2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rui Peres dos Santos ◽  
Rafael Martins ◽  
Anton Chaiko ◽  
Ted Cheeseman ◽  
Lindsey S. Jones ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Barents Sea ◽  
Humpback Whale ◽  
Megaptera Novaeangliae ◽  
The Barents Sea ◽  
Northwestern Russia

scholarly journals On the diversity of settlements of the bivalve mollusk Macoma calcarea (Bivalvia,Tellinidae) off the coast of Novaya Zemlya.

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (5-2020) ◽  
pp. 116-125
Author(s):  
A.E. Noskovich ◽  
Keyword(s):  
High Mortality ◽  
Barents Sea ◽  
Bivalve Mollusk ◽  
Water Masses ◽  
High Biomass ◽  
Size Classes ◽  
Novaya Zemlya ◽  
The Barents Sea ◽  
Group I ◽  
Silty Soils

In the eastern part of the Barents Sea, there are 3 types of settlements of the bivalve mollusk Macoma calcarea. At low positive temperatures (from 0.6 to 1.3 оC),juveniles predominate on sandy-silty soils in settlements with low biomass, uneven growth and high mortality. In colder water masses (–0.4...–1.5 оC), M. calcareasettlements consist of long-lived, evenly growing large individuals that form high biomass values. In the settlement of group I, there was an increased elimination of certain size classes. The distribution of settlements depends little on the depth and salinity.

scholarly journals Assessment of initial seismic impacts on the northern part of the Barents Sea shelf (Novaya Zemlya region) for the purpose of seismic microzoning in the areas of prospective hydrocarbon mining

2019 ◽  
pp. 38-47
Author(s):  
I. G. Mindel ◽  
B. A. Trifonov ◽  
M. D. Kaurkin ◽  
V. V. Nesynov
Keyword(s):  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Barents Sea ◽  
Arctic Shelf ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Russian Arctic ◽  
Seismic Microzoning ◽  
Novaya Zemlya ◽  
The Barents Sea ◽  
National Task ◽  
Seismic Impacts

In recent years, in connection with the national task of developing the Arctic territories of Russia and the perspective increase in the hydrocarbon mining on the Arctic shelf, more attention is being paid to the study of seismicity in the Barents Sea shelf. The development of the Russian Arctic shelf with the prospect of increasing hydrocarbon mining is a strategically important issue. Research by B.A. Assinovskaya (1990, 1994) and Ya.V. Konechnaya (2015) allowed the authors to estimate the seismic effects for the northern part of the Barents Sea shelf (Novaya Zemlya region). The paper presents the assessment results of the initial seismic impacts that can be used to solve seismic microzoning problems in the areas of oil and gas infrastructure during the economic development of the Arctic territory.

Sandwaves and sand transport on the Barents Sea continental slope offshore northern Norway

2015 ◽  
Vol 60 ◽  
pp. 34-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reidulv Bøe ◽  
Jofrid Skarðhamar ◽  
Leif Rise ◽  
Margaret F.J. Dolan ◽  
Valérie K. Bellec ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Continental Slope ◽  
Barents Sea ◽  
Sand Transport ◽  
Northern Norway ◽  
The Barents Sea

Climate in the Barents Region

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rasmus Benestad
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
Barents Sea ◽  
Open Water ◽  
Arctic Climate ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Storm Activity ◽  
Svalbard Archipelago ◽  
British Antarctic Survey ◽  
Barents Region ◽  
The Barents Sea

The Barents Sea is a region of the Arctic Ocean named after one of its first known explorers (1594–1597), Willem Barentsz from the Netherlands, although there are accounts of earlier explorations: the Norwegian seafarer Ottar rounded the northern tip of Europe and explored the Barents and White Seas between 870 and 890 ce, a journey followed by a number of Norsemen; Pomors hunted seals and walruses in the region; and Novgorodian merchants engaged in the fur trade. These seafarers were probably the first to accumulate knowledge about the nature of sea ice in the Barents region; however, scientific expeditions and the exploration of the climate of the region had to wait until the invention and employment of scientific instruments such as the thermometer and barometer. Most of the early exploration involved mapping the land and the sea ice and making geographical observations. There were also many unsuccessful attempts to use the Northeast Passage to reach the Bering Strait. The first scientific expeditions involved F. P. Litke (1821±1824), P. K. Pakhtusov (1834±1835), A. K. Tsivol’ka (1837±1839), and Henrik Mohn (1876–1878), who recorded oceanographic, ice, and meteorological conditions.The scientific study of the Barents region and its climate has been spearheaded by a number of campaigns. There were four generations of the International Polar Year (IPY): 1882–1883, 1932–1933, 1957–1958, and 2007–2008. A British polar campaign was launched in July 1945 with Antarctic operations administered by the Colonial Office, renamed as the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey (FIDS); it included a scientific bureau by 1950. It was rebranded as the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) in 1962 (British Antarctic Survey History leaflet). While BAS had its initial emphasis on the Antarctic, it has also been involved in science projects in the Barents region. The most dedicated mission to the Arctic and the Barents region has been the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP), which has commissioned a series of reports on the Arctic climate: the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA) report, the Snow Water Ice and Permafrost in the Arctic (SWIPA) report, and the Adaptive Actions in a Changing Arctic (AACA) report.The climate of the Barents Sea is strongly influenced by the warm waters from the Norwegian current bringing heat from the subtropical North Atlantic. The region is 10°C–15°C warmer than the average temperature on the same latitude, and a large part of the Barents Sea is open water even in winter. It is roughly bounded by the Svalbard archipelago, northern Fennoscandia, the Kanin Peninsula, Kolguyev Island, Novaya Zemlya, and Franz Josef Land, and is a shallow ocean basin which constrains physical processes such as currents and convection. To the west, the Greenland Sea forms a buffer region with some of the strongest temperature gradients on earth between Iceland and Greenland. The combination of a strong temperature gradient and westerlies influences air pressure, wind patterns, and storm tracks. The strong temperature contrast between sea ice and open water in the northern part sets the stage for polar lows, as well as heat and moisture exchange between ocean and atmosphere. Glaciers on the Arctic islands generate icebergs, which may drift in the Barents Sea subject to wind and ocean currents.The land encircling the Barents Sea includes regions with permafrost and tundra. Precipitation comes mainly from synoptic storms and weather fronts; it falls as snow in the winter and rain in the summer. The land area is snow-covered in winter, and rivers in the region drain the rainwater and meltwater into the Barents Sea. Pronounced natural variations in the seasonal weather statistics can be linked to variations in the polar jet stream and Rossby waves, which result in a clustering of storm activity, blocking high-pressure systems. The Barents region is subject to rapid climate change due to a “polar amplification,” and observations from Svalbard suggest that the past warming trend ranks among the strongest recorded on earth. The regional change is reinforced by a number of feedback effects, such as receding sea-ice cover and influx of mild moist air from the south.

scholarly journals Study of the Cu-Ni Productive Suite of the Pechenga Structure on the Russian-Norway Border Zone with the Use of MHD Installation “Khibiny”

Minerals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdulkhai Zhamaletdinov
Keyword(s):  
Barents Sea ◽  
Northern Region ◽  
Border Zone ◽  
Experimental Measurements ◽  
Main Task ◽  
Northern Norway ◽  
Mhd Generator ◽  
Current Pulses ◽  
The Barents Sea ◽  
Technical Character

The tracing of current-conducting channels of the Pechenga structure from Russian to Norwegian territory was the main task of this research. The study was carried out in the framework of the Soviet-Norwegian cooperation “Northern Region” to estimate the prospects for discovery of Cu-Ni deposits in northern Norway. In addition to previous publications of technical character, the emphasis here is on geological description. Experimental measurements have been performed in the field of the “Khibiny” dipole and with the use of DC electrical profiling. The “Khibiny” dipole consists of 160-ton aluminum cable flooded in the Barents Sea bays on opposite sides of the Sredny and Rybachy peninsulas. Measurements were implemented as in the mode of single pulses generated by 80 MW magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) generator “Khibiny” (“hot” launches) and in the accumulation mode of rectangular current pulses of 0.125 Hz frequency generated by a 29 kW car generator (“cold” launches). From results of measurements, it was concluded that the most promising potential for Cu-Ni deposits Pil’gujarvi formation of the Northern wing of the Pechenga structure is rather quickly wedged out in Norway, while the conductive horizons of the Southern part of Pechenga, which have a weak prospect for Cu-Ni ores, follow into Norway nearly without a loss of power and integral electrical conductivity.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document