Mesozoic-Cenozoic evolution of sedimentary basins in the Western Barents Sea; a plate tectonic perspective

摘要

The Barents Sea covers the north-westernmost corner of Eurasia and is among the worlds widest shelf areas. The main objective of this thesis is to relate the depositional history recorded in the strata to tectonic driving mechanisms in a plate-tectonic context. Its main focus in on the westernmost Barents Sea adjacent to the Cenozoic, mainly sheared, margin of the Norwegian-Greenland Sea. The project started with mapping the middle Mesozoic to recent strata in the south western Barents Sea, west of 22 deg E and south of 64 deg 30' N. This mapping confirmed the fundamentally rift related origin of the Mesozoic and Tertiary Basins of the south western Barents Sea. The thesis includes a collection of papers with topics: Late Mesozoic-Cenozoic evolution of the south-western Barents Sea in a regional rift-shear tectonic setting; thermo-mechanic coupling at ocean-continent transforms, modeled at the Senja fracture zone, south-western Barents Sea; glacial erosion and tectonic uplift in the Barents Sea; Late Cenozoic uplift and volcanism on Spitsbergen caused by mantle convection; and Late Permian-Early Triassic subsidence in the Barents, reflecting a reorganization of mantle convection patterns. 205 refs., 42 figs., 5 tabs.