2D Flexural Deformation of the Barents Sea

Abstract

The Barents Sea, located north of Norway and Russia, is a complex basin with several structures. The Barents Sea is characterized by a platform area to the north (e.g. Svalbard, Bjarmeland platform, Kong Karl platform); and area of rifted basins and highs to the southwest (e.g. Hammerfest, Tromsø basin, Loppa High), and an area of deep and large basins with gentle highs to the east. Several tectonic events have affected the basins since the Late Paleozoic, resulting in large areas of accommodation and erosion. However, many of these processes are poorly understood. Therefore, very little is known about the impact of tectonic and sedimentary loads on the basin geometry and evolution. In this study, three regional transects that cover large parts of the Barents Sea are constructed and analyzed to understand the flexural response that resulted from tectonic and sedimentary loads in order to provide insight into the possible processes that have accumulated in the current basin geometry. The results shows that there are a distinct change between the western and eastern Barents Sea and an increase of tectonic loads towards the southwest for the younger deposits. This study is important to understand the evolution of the Barents Sea in regards of tectonic and sedimentary loads.