Evolution of the Triassic shelf in the northern Barents Sea region

Abstract

The interpretation of an unpublished data set of shallow stratigraphic cores and deep, seismic profiles from the northern Barents Shelf has provided new information about the Middle and Late Triassic development of the Barents Shelf and Svalbard. At that time, sediment sources along the eastern and south-eastern margins of the Barents Sea controlled the infilling of a previously deeper shelf area, gradually converting it into a paralic platform. Compared with the eastern source, sediment volumes from other areas were small. In our data, there are no indications of a provenance area north of Svalbard. Progradation from the ESE resulted in diachronous lithostratigraphic boundaries. The organic-rich shales of the Botneheia and Steinkobbe formations were deposited in the remaining deeper shelf areas in the western and north-western Barents Sea shelf, from the Olenekian to the latest Ladinian, by which time the progradation from the ESE had reached eastern Svalbard. In mid-Carnian times, the area of paralic deposits extended from the eastern Barents Sea into the Svalbard Archipelago.

Facies development of the Upper Triassic succession on Barentsøya, Wilhelmøya and NE Spitsbergen, Svalbard

“…Distal deltaic facies are evident throughout parts of Edgeøya, becoming more dominant in central Spitsbergen (Knarud, 1980;Mørk et al, 1982;Rød et al, 2014). The interpretation of well-defined clinoforms in the northern Barents Sea (Riis et al, 2008;Glørstad-Clark et al, 2010;Høy & Lundschien, 2011;Anell et al, 2014a, b;Lundschien et al, 2014;Klausen et al, 2015) supports the Riis et al (2008), Lundschien et al (2014) and Klausen et al (2015). Riis et al (2008), Glørstad-Clark et al (2010) and Anell et al (2014a).…”

“…The archipelago represents an uplifted corner of the Barents Sea Shelf (Worsley, 2008) and is bound to its north and west by continental margins. The western part of Spitsbergen is dominated by a Cenozoic orogenic belt, whilst the eastern areas, including the study area, are part of a Palaeozoic-Mesozoic platform area (Riis et al, 2008;Worsley, 2008). The eastern areas of Spitsbergen are dominated by flat-lying strata of Permian to Palaeocene age, intruded by Cretaceous (124.5 Ma; Corfu et al, 2013) dolerite sills and dykes .…”

“…2B, 3A) represent the northwestward progradation of a deltaic system across the Barents Shelf, with its primary source area being the Uralide Mountains in the southeast (Riis et al, 2008;Høy & Lundschien, 2011;Lundschien et al, 2014;Støen, 2016).…”

“…The focus has been primarily on the Upper Triassic Tschermakfjellet and De Geerdalen formations. The primary objective is to understand facies distributions within these two formations and relate these to the development of a major deltaic system that has been well documented in other areas in the archipelago and the Barents Sea (Riis et al, 2008;Glørstad-Clark et al, 2010;Høy & Lundschien, 2011;Klausen & Mørk, 2014;Rød et al, 2014;Klausen et al, , 2015.…”

Crinoids from Svalbard in the aftermath of the end−Permian mass extinction

“…1; Riis et al 2008;Worsley 2008). Within a Tertiary fold−thrust belt, the lithological succession at Mariaholmen dips steeply eastward; the Lower Triassic sequence is well exposed along the south and southeast coast of the island (Fig.…”