Russian Journal of Earth Sciences
Vol 1, No. 2, December 1998
Cenozoic sedimentary structure and neotectonics of the
Barents-Kara shelf from reflection profiling data
E. E. Musatov
Abstract
The Cenozoic sediments of the Barents-Kara shelf was 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 -N
1 ), regression-transgression ( N2- QIII ), and
transgression ( QIII-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.