RECONSTRUCTION OF THE DEEP STRUCTURE OF THE WEST SPITSBERGEN ISLAND AREA BASED ON THE RESULTS OF XENOLITE STUDIES IN QUATERNARY VOLCANOES

• Main Authors: Evdokimov A., Kireev V.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Zenodo 2023
• Subjects: West Svalbard; deep xenoliths; thermobarometry; crustal thickness; Svalbard; Spitsbergen
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7513809

A brief petrographic characterization of rocks of the area of manifestation of Quaternary volcanism on the island of West Svalbard is given, as well as the composition of deep xenoliths from the volcanic buildings Sverrefjellet, Halvdanpiggen and Sigurdfjellet. Peridotite and pyroxenite geotherms for the period of formation of the lower crust and upper mantle have been determined according to the data of temperature and pressure determination during crystallization of deep xenoliths. Comparison with modern geophysical data on the deep structure of the archipelago region, reconstruction of the depths of the formation of peridotites and pyroxenites in the Grenville era of tectonic-magmatic events allows us to conclude that the thickness of the modern Earth's crust in the area of West Svalbard island is reduced by almost 16 km over a period of almost 900 million years. Obviously, this process could occur due to the expansion of the volume of the planet or The Earth crust spreading.