RUSSIAN JOURNAL OF EARTH SCIENCES VOL. 1, NO. 2, PAGES 151–177, doi:10.2205/1998ES000007, 1998

Cenozoic sedimentary structure and neotectonics of the Barents--Kara shelf from reflection profiling data

Abstract

[1]  The Cenozoic sediments of the Barents-Kara shelf were investigated by running thousands of kilometers of continuous reflection profiles (CRP) and one-channel zero-offset ray reflection surveys. The seismic data were verified by drilling engineering-geological holes and stratigraphic wells on the shelf and islands; impact cores as long as 5-7 m were recovered for this purpose from the bottom sediments. Five structural units were identified in the Upper Cenozoic sediments: a Paleocene-Eocene marine, an Oligocene-Miocene limnoalluvial, Pliocene-Pleistocene marine, glaciomarine, and glacial units, and a late Pleistocene-Holocene marine unit. These units correlate with four periods in the paleogeographic history of the continental margin: transgression ( _1-2 ), regression ( ₃ -N₁ ), regression-transgression ( N₂- Q _III ), and transgression ( Q _III-IV ). Neotectonic criteria of the shelf oil and gas potential were established, which must have been favorable for the preservation and reconfiguration of hydrocarbon pools and for the growth of structures' reliefs.

Received 15 November 1998; published 15 February 1999.

Keywords: Cenozoic sediments, Barents--Kara shelf, reflection profiling data.

Version of this paper in Russian