East Barents Megabasin: Tectonostratigraphy and main epochs of geological history

Abstract

The East Barents Megabasin (EBM) is a system of sedimentary basins in the Russian sector of the Barents Sea. A large amount of new seismic data has been acquired in this region within recent years. In this work the evolution of the EBM is reconstructed based on new seismic data interpretation integrated with well data and data on major tectonic events on adjacent lands. Development of the EBM started as a result of Frasnian rifting at ∼383 Ma. The subsequent postrift subsidence led to formation of a deep-water basin which was underfilled until Late Permian. In the Early Triassic, vast supply of clastic material from the North Kara Basin, Taimyr and Ural orogens resulted in final filling of the deep-water depression. The main stages of deformation during the evolution of the EBM were associated with orogenies in the Urals (Carboniferous-Permian), Novaya Zemlya (Middle Triassic–Early Jurassic), and, probably, the Verkhoyansk region (Berriasian-Barremian). In the Aptian, extensive basaltic magmatism and emplacement of intrusions took place in relation with High Arctic Large Igneous Province formation. In the Cenozoic, the final stage of deformation and erosion is identified. A new model of mechanism and onset of the EBM evolution is proposed.