A 3D lithosphere-scale model of the Barents Sea and Kara Sea region
The Barents Sea and Kara Sea encompass one of the wide shelf margins of the Arctic Ocean. Since the 70-ies, scientific and economic studies contributed to a comparatively broad geological and geophysical database with regard to the remaining Arctic. A dense grid of seismic reflection profiles and fe...
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| Other Authors: | , |
| Format: | Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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RWTH Aachen University
2020
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| Online Access: | https://publications.rwth-aachen.de/record/807554 https://publications.rwth-aachen.de/search?p=id:%22RWTH-2020-11440%22 |
| Summary: | The Barents Sea and Kara Sea encompass one of the wide shelf margins of the Arctic Ocean. Since the 70-ies, scientific and economic studies contributed to a comparatively broad geological and geophysical database with regard to the remaining Arctic. A dense grid of seismic reflection profiles and few deep seismic refraction profiles clearly image that subregions experienced fundamentally different modes of basin formation. Extrapolation of structural geological information from onshore geology implies the presence of different tectonic provinces as a result from Precambrian to Paleozoic basement amalgamation. The deep crustal and lithospheric structure is only insufficiently imaged by seismic data across the Barents Sea and Kara Sea and the spatial extent of orogenic provinces and their potential influence on different stages of basin evolution from Paleozoic to early Cenozoic times remains only poorly understood. Therefore, the scope of this PhD thesis is to develop a 3D lithospheric model that captures first-order structural, compositional and thermal information on the sediments, the crystalline crust and the lithospheric mantle to understand the main factors controlling the evolution of these basins. Published datasets on the structural configuration, on physical properties and the temperature distribution are available but heterogeneously distributed across the study area. Therefore, a 3D modelling workflow is established. In a first step, all available geological and geophysical data, including interpreted seismic refraction and reflection data, seismological data, geological maps and previously published 3D models are integrated into one consistent model. This approach provides several advantages. The geological model can be constrained in more detail for regions where different types of observations exist such as for the top basement. In addition, the interpretation of coarsely scattered data can essentially be improved by applying physical principles in the frame of 3D gravity modelling in underexplored ... |
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