Sediment structures and sediment ages of the Chukchi region, Amerasia Basin

• Main Authors: Hegewald, Anne, Jokat, Wilfried
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: Arctic; Arctic Ocean; Chukchi Shelf; Amerasia Basin; East Siberian Shelf; Chukchi; Alaska; Siberia
• Online Access: https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/25640/; https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.38602

In 2008, the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) of Germany, using the RV Polarstern, collected multichannel seismic reflection data in the eastern Arctic Ocean (73-79°N and 170°E-165°W), namely the East Siberian Shelf, the Chukchi Shelf, - Plateau, and - Abyssal Plain, and the southern part of the Mendeleev Ridge. For the seismic data acquisition an air gun array with up to six air guns (48 ltr. total volume fired at 200 bar) was used. With a 3000 m long streamer including 240 active channels and a 600 m long streamer including 96 active channels the seismic signals were recorded. Obtaining the ages of the sediments, the information of five exploration wells near the coast of Alaska were correlated into the new seismic lines. For this correlation an existing network of more than 200 seismic reflection lines on the East Siberian Shelf and Chukchi Shelf from the USGS, TGS-NOPEC and ION-GX Technology were used. The research area is dominated by two different sediment packages ranging from the Paleocene to the Jurassic. The upper part is an undisturbed unit with low amplitudes and flat-lying reflections. In contrast, the lower package is dominated by an undulated stratification with many fractures and faults. Moreover, the lower unit consists of higher amplitudes with strong reflection bands. The sedimentary thickness varied from the East Siberian Shelf to the Chukchi Plateau from more than 8 km to 4 km. In the basin between the Chukchi Plateau and the Mendeleev Ridge the sedimentary thickness is about 2 km. Furthermore, a series of prograding sequences at the continental margin of the Chukchi Shelf with ages of 65 Ma and younger were analysed. These sequences are the result of an enormous sediment influx from Siberia and Alaska and can be explained by variations in the sedimentation rate over time.