Influence of structural highs on Triassic deposition on the western Barents Shelf

Abstract

Abstract While the Triassic is comparatively a tectonically quiescent period in the dynamic development of the Barents Shelf, the depositional infill was strongly influenced by structural elements and there is a marked difference between lower and middle Triassic sedimentation. Southwards-propagating uplift of north–south-orientated elements along the incipient North Atlantic margin, from the mid-Carboniferous to the Early Triassic, generated uplift, tilt and erosion of the Sørkapp–Hornsund and palaeo-Stappen highs, and the Ringsel and Selis ridges. Progressive onlap along the flanks with probably no deposition until the Ladinian, which is probably condensed/partly missing, characterized the ensuing sedimentation. Late Permian–Early Triassic uplift of the Selis Ridge was concurrent with uplift and erosion of the Capria Ridge. Both elements also experienced a phase of Anisian–Ladinian erosion. The Gardarbanken High underwent a later Early Triassic uplift and a complex, probably condensed, deposition associated with the infill of advancing deltaic systems. The Ladinian, and more dominantly the Carnian, saw even blanketing of large parts of the Barents Shelf, almost wholly unaffected by the structural elements. The most noticeable influence at the time is the thinning of the progradational system approaching the Svalbard Platform, which remained comparatively shallow, as witnessed by the lowered clinoform angle and rapid deposition.