Northern Barents Sea Igneous Province: structure, formation and impact on petroleum systems

The existence of a High Arctic Large Igneous Province (HALIP) has been recently inferred from numerous findings of Early Cretaceous intrusive and extrusive mafic rocks on the circum-Arctic passive margin and observation of coherent magnetic anomalies. Based on joint analysis of geological, potential fields, and seismic data, we found the evidence that the regionally radiating pattern of magnetic anomalies corresponds to a giant dike swarm cross-cutting the entire crust east of Svalbard. Uplift was initiated already in Early Cretaceous times associated with the formation of the HALIP. Contractional structures which may form potential traps are widespread within the study area. A better understanding of the geohistory and paleogeography will also make it easier to predict the distribution and quality of potential source, reservoir, and seal units. The heat input associated with the igneous activity must also be included in the temperature history and petroleum system modeling.

Acquisition of Ocean Bottom Seismic data in the Barents Sea

In particular, we will focus on spatial distribution of the gabbro-dolerite intrusions at shallow and mid-crustal levels and it its genetic link to Carboniferous grabens, and major tectonic boundaries in the northern Barents Sea region. We will apply advanced processing/imaging techniques and joint interpretation of streamer and ocean bottom seismic (OBS) data from both the Norwegian and Russian parts of the northern Barents Sea. Gravity and magnetic data will also contribute to the integrated analysis.

Numerical modeling indicates that the emplacement of magma into the crust is controlled by the induced stress field related to the central magma source region, fluid magma pressure, far-field tectonic stresses, and the initial structure, inherited from the earlier rifting and orogenic events. However, the exact relationship between the pre-existing structural grain and the imposed deformation related to the HALIP is not clear. Therefore, we intend to develop a lithosphere-scale geodynamic model of the Early Cretaceous Barents Sea igneous province formation. A structural model constructed based on integration of the geophysical and geological data together with comparative studies of other large igneous provinces will be used to calibrate the model. The model temperature field as well as the evolution of the dynamic  topography will have an important implication for constraining the temperature histories and vertical motions  of sedimentary basins in the Barents Sea. 

Publications:

Cristiano, Luigia; Minakov, Alexander; Keers, Henk; Meier, Thomas.
Observation and modelling of P-wave polarization for teleseismic events. EGU General Assembly 2014; 2014-04-27 - 2014-05-02
 
Gac, Sebastien; Clark, A; Minakov, Alexander; Faleide, Jan Inge.
On the relevance of basin formation mechanisms on the maturation of source rocks: A case study from the East Barents Sea basin. Arctic Energy 2014; 2014-06-02 - 2014-06-05

Gac, S., Klitzke, P., Minakov, A.,  J.I. Faleide, Scheck-Wenderoth, M.,  Lithospheric Strength and Elastic Thickness of the Barents Sea and Kara Sea region, (Accepted in Tectonophysics) 

Lebedeva-Ivanova N., Gaina C., Minakov A., and Kashubin S.  A new model of the Arctic crustal thickness from 3D gravity inversion . In preparations.

Lebedeva-Ivanova, Nina; Minakov, Alexander; Gaina, Carmen; Kashibin, Sergey.
A preliminary crustal thickness map of the Arctic Ocean. EGU General Assembly 2014; 2014-04-27 - 2014-05-02
 
Minakov, Alexander; Faleide, Jan Inge; Sakulina, Tamara; Krupnova, Natalia.
Crustal architecture of a continental large igneous province. EGU General Assembly 2014; 2014-04-27 - 2014-05-02

Minakov, A., Keers, H., Meier T., Cristiano, L., Ray-Born waveforms and sensitivity kernels for elastic anisotropic media, to submitted in Geophysical Journal International

Minakov, A., Keers, H., Kolyukhin, D., Tengesdal, H., Acoustic waveform inversion for ocean turbulence (submitted in Journal of Geophysical Research)  

Minakov, A., Yarushina,V., Faleide, J.I., Krupnova, N., Sakulina, T. Formation of High-Arctic Large Igneous Province.In Preparations for Geological Society of London Special Publications (invited)