Sequence stratigraphy and facies development of the Triassic succession of Svalbard and the northern Barents Sea

• Main Author: Lord, Gareth Steven
• Other Authors: Mørk, Atle, Olaussen, Snorre
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: NTNU 2017
• Subjects: Svalbard; Barents Sea; Hopen; De Geerdalen; Kapp Toscana; Flatsalen; Arctic; Isfjord*; Isfjorden; Polar Research; Svenskøya; Spitsbergen
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11250/2447576

The Triassic succession of Svalbard is regarded as an analogue to the subsurface in the Barents Sea. In this thesis the sedimentology, facies development and sequence stratigraphy of the succession in Svalbard is addressed. The project has resulted in 4 journal articles, a submitted manuscript and a manuscript in preparation. A geological map has also been produced. The project has created a new stratigraphic unit the Hopen Member, which is the south-eastern equivalent to the Isfjorden Member of Spitsbergen. This is based on the properties of the unit, its biostratigraphic and magnetostratigraphic characteristics. The Hopen Member is a succession of marine shale and subordinate sandstone deposits, different to the paralic deposits of the underlying part of the De Geerdalen Formation. A study of channel bodies on Hopen shows they are confined to discrete stratigraphical intervals in the De Geerdalen Formation, defined as channel zones. Three zones are described and categorised as; a lower fluvial, middle tidal zone and upper fluvial zones. A paralic depositional environment for the De Geerdalen Formation on Hopen is maintained, however the nature of channels shows a greater influence of fluvial deposition, for the formation in this part of Svalbard. A multidisciplinary study of the Kapp Toscana Group (De Geerdalen, Flatsalen and Svenskøya formations) on Hopen is also presented and this provides an enhanced palaeo-environmental interpretation for the Upper Triassic succession on the island. Upper Triassic deltaic sediments are seen throughout north-eastern Svalbard and analysis shows the De Geerdalen Formation to consist of three discrete informal units, defined by the gross depositional environment. The lower interval is dominated by shallow marine and delta front / shoreface deposits, the middle interval is composed of delta front to delta top deposits, and the upper interval is primarily delta top, lagoonal and lacustrine deposits. The De Geerdalen Formation represents a distal depositional setting in this ...