L.A. DARAGAN­-SUSHCHOVA, O.V. PETROV (VSEGEI), YU.I. DARAGAN­-SUSHCHOV (VNIIOkeangeologia), D.I. LEONT’EV (VSEGEI)

The formation history of the Arctic Basin and the Arctic Ocean according to seismic and geological data

Seismic and geological data suggest that the closed geodepression of the Arctic Basin emerged not earlier than in the Late Jurassic – Cretaceous on the site of a vast continent, gradually flooded by the sea. Until the mid­Mesozoic, most of the Arctic Ocean was an ancient platform (Arctida), reworked to varying degree by uneven folding and continental rifting, which resulted in the formation of a submeridional system of grabens and horsts in the Central Arctic Region, indicating extension processes and block movements. Further subsidence of the basin led to the formation of the recent Arctic Ocean not earlier then in the Neogene. An obligatory morphological and geological feature of the emerging ocean is the presence of the shelf–slope–deep­sea plain triad. The evolution of the sedimentary cover of the Arctic Ocean is illustrated by a set of seismic facies maps compiled after analyzing interconnected seismic facies lines that intersect major morphostructures.
Keywords: Arctic Basin, Arctic Ocean, seismic facies analysis, age, concepts.